Chickpea Spanish stew, also called Madrilenian stew, is a very popular dish from Spanish gastronomy because of its strong flavour, and it contributes an important caloric and proteinic value to the daily diet. Its historical origin comes from the old Jewish recipe that was prepared in a covered pot every Friday night to honour the Sabbath. It was left cooking all night so that it could be consumed the following day without having to ignite the flame anew, in this way respecting the religious rest. The later Christianization of the recipe added pig meat.

Ingredients

400 gr. of chickpeas
1 kg. of cabbage
1/2 kg. of carrots

5 medium sized potatoes
1/2 kg. of knuckle meat
1/4 of hen breast
1 chorizo
A little piece of ham
1 blood sausage
150 gr. of bacon
Sal

Preparation

The knuckled meat, the bacon and ham, are put into a big pot, which has been filled with water until three quarters of its capacity. When the water begins to boil, we add the slipped chickpeas, which have been soaking in water during the entire previous night. Next we add the onion and salt. When the whole mixture starts to boil again, we lower the flame so that it cooks slowly. The chorizo is added one hour later. The entire time the pot has to be covered. The entire preparation will last approximately three hours. The carrots have to be thrown in one hour before the end, and the potatoes are added half an hour after adding the carrots. The cabbage has to be chopped and cooked aside, frying it lightly with oil and garlic cloves before serving it. The blood sausage also has to be cooked aside. When the cooking has finished, the stock can be separated to make a noodle soup. Balls are an optional element of the dish, and they are made by beating three eggs and mixing them with breadcrumbs and parsley. Balls can be made with this dough, that have to be fried and subsequently can be added to the Madrilenian stew a few minutes before finishing the cooking.