Millet Chickpea Soup

First of all let me tell you a little bit about millet and chickpeas, especially why they are good for us.

I first came across the millet's benefits while reading a post on Irina’s blog. Those benefits definitely worked as a trigger as I said to myself that I must cook some millet ASAP.

Here’s what I found out on Wikipedia:

Millets are rich in B vitamins, especially niacin (or vitamin B3), B6 and folic acid (essential because one of its derivates is needed to produce and maintain new cells, and thus becomes pretty important during pregnancy and infancy both being periods of rapid cell divisions), calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, and zinc. Its protein content is very close to that of wheat (about 11%).

If you have celiac you can eat as much millet as you like because it’s gluten-free.

Still there is one drawback for those of you who have tyroid problems, millets should not be consumed in great quantities because they inhibit an enzyme with an important role in the production of tyroid hormones.

As for chickpeas, they are a good source of protein and of that folic acid’s derivate that I mentioned earlier. They are also reach in fiber and minerals (phosphorus, magnesium, iron, calcium – some sources say they have about the same calcium content as yoghurt) and low in fat.

Ingredients (serves 4-5)

• 125 g/ 4.4 oz dry chickpeas
• 50 g/ 1.8 oz millet
• 1 large orange bell pepper - sliced
• 300 g/ 10.5 oz chopped canned tomatoes in juice
• 1 ½ cup sliced carrots
• 2 tsp of hole caraway (Persian cumin) seeds
• 2 Tbsp sunflower oil
• ¾ cup finely chopped onions
• Sesame seeds – for sprinkling
• Salt – to taste

Directions

Rinse the chickpeas and the millet 3 times, then soak them overnight in water (in different bowls).

The next day, drain the water they've soaked in and rinse once again.

Pour 1 ½ cup of salty water in a medium-sized heavy-bottomed saucepan and toss in the millet (about ½ cup after soaking), cover the pan and bring to a boil. Uncover the pan as soon as the water starts boiling and continue boiling over low heat for 15 minutes. You should keep a close eye on the pan after the first 10 minutes have passed because the millet will absorb all the water and you might need to stir and prevent it from sticking to the pan’s bottom.

In the mean time let’s cook the chickpeas. After soaking chickpeas should have doubled in size so you now should have about 1 ½ cup of chickpeas. Toss them in another medium-sized heavy-bottomed pot, add 1 ½ cup of salty water, cover the pot and bring to a boil. You already know the drill: as soon as it begins boiling, uncover the pan and let it boil over low-medium heat for 1 hour.

Heat the sunflower oil in a 2 ½ l / 90 fl oz pot, toss in the chopped onions and the bell pepper, cover the pot and sauté over low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring at least once. The onion should become translucent, and the bell pepper slices should soften a little bit.

Empty the pot and put the sautéed vegetables aside. Pour in 1 l/ 35 fl oz of water, add some salt, cover the pot and bring to a boil. When the water starts boiling toss in the sliced carrots and let them boil, uncovered, over medium heat for 15 minutes. Toss in the chickpeas, the millet, the sautéed vegetables and mix well. Check if it needs more salt and add some more if necessary. Stir in the caraway seeds and boil uncovered for about 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat, toss in the canned tomatoes, stir well, cover the pot and let it rest for about 10 minutes.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds just before serving and serve hot.

It makes a great lunch! It was so nourishing that I didn’t feel the need to eat something else. Ok, maybe just a savoury scone :). Caraway seeds always remind me of savoury scones…