Fennel and Chickpea Stew (2024)

FAQs

What vegetable is similar to fennel? ›

Onion artichoke and bok choy are also suitable substitutes in a pinch.

For this recipe, you'll need garlic cloves, a yellow onion, extra-virgin olive oil, a can of diced tomatoes, a drained can of chickpeas, and vegetable stock. As for seasoning, this recipe keeps it simple but flavorful with cumin, ginger, and cinnamon.

Fennel is a member of the carrot family, though it's not a root vegetable. The base of its long stalks weave together to form a thick, crisp bulb that grows above ground. Above the bulb, at the tip of the stalks, it has light, feathery leaves that resemble dill.

Perhaps the best substitute for chickpeas across the board is white beans. They have both a similar taste and look to chickpeas. Any white bean will do, including cannellini beans (white kidney beans), lima beans (butter beans), great northern beans, and navy beans.

Fennel, both fresh and the seed, tastes very licorice-like, so anise is the perfect swap when it comes to swapping out fennel seed. Star anise works especially well in brines or marinades where the spices are left whole; use one star anise pod per teaspoon of whole fennel seed.

Fennel is a flowering vegetable and belongs to the same family as carrots and celery. It's a large plant, with stalks that can grow up to 8 feet tall. Its base is pale and firm, like celery, and its stalks are topped with feathery fronds.

A staple of South Asian and Greek cuisine, chickpea flour is an excellent thickener because it has a naturally creamy feel that adds a smooth yet rich texture to soups. You can also use regular chickpeas instead of the flour. Mash your cooked or canned chickpeas into a paste before adding them to your broth or soup.

Made from ground dry chickpeas, this gluten-free flour is a great thickener. When sifted and whisked into hot soup or a sauce, it absorbs liquids without clumping and melts into the liquid completely without leaving a gritty texture behind. It also lends a light buttery, nutty flavor to the soup or sauce.

Alternative uses for chickpea flour

Thickener: When used instead of cream, cornflour or wheat flours in soups, sauces and curries, it thickens and helps prevent curdling, especially in warm yoghurt based sauces.

Technically speaking, all parts of the plant are edible, but most people will find the stalks too tough and fibrous to eat. The leaves can be chopped and used to flavor salads, dressings, marinades and sauces. They tend to have a slightly more citrusy flavor than the base. The base (or bulb) is delicious raw or cooked.

What flavor does fennel give? ›

Fennel has a very mild anise or licorice flavor that can be enhanced or sweetened depending on how it is cooked (or not cooked). When diced and sauteed with onions as one of the first steps when making a soup or stew, fennel becomes very sweet.

Citrus: Fennel pairs well with citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, and limes. Herbs: Fennel pairs well with fresh herbs such as dill, parsley, and thyme. Cheese: Fennel pairs well with cheeses such as parmesan, feta, and goat cheese. Nuts: Fennel pairs well with nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts, and pine nuts.

And the winner? Kidney beans. Both are rich sources of plant protein, but the extra calcium and iron in kidney beans makes them a particularly good choice for people following a vegan diet. An 80g serving of either counts as one of your five-a-day (but they only count as one, no matter how many you eat).

Types of Chickpea:

Two of those varieties, namely Kabuli (macrosperma) and Desi(microsperma), as they are termed in India, are very important in terms of usage and commercial purposes.

Canned chickpeas are pre-cooked chickpeas. You can eat canned chickpeas straight out of the can! (Just be sure to rinse them off before chowing down to wash out excess sodium) Otherwise, you can roast them or turn them into any number of delicious dishes, like these here.

Fennel is a member of the Apiaceae (carrot or parsley family) and is related to cumin, dill, caraway and anise, all of which bear aromatic fruits that are commonly called seeds. It is native to southern Europe but is now naturalized in northern Europe, Australia and North America and is cultivated around the world.

For a mild flavor with a similar texture, you can use the white, thicker part of bok choy. Adding extra onion is also an option. Onion will add sweetness, bok choy a little bite. We like to add crushed fennel seed to a cooked dish when we use a substitute for the bulb so we do get fennel flavor.

There are three varieties of fennel, which are used in different ways: common fennel (Foeniculum vulgare var. vulgare), sweet fennel which is used as a herb (Foeniculum vulgare var. dulce) and the bulb fennel, also known as Florence fennel or finocchio, that is treated as a vegetable (Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum).

Unlike cumin, fennel seeds have an anise-like, licorice flavor. They will not deliver the same smokiness and earthiness as cumin but won't taste out of place when you're in a pinch. Use ground fennel to substitute for ground cumin and fennel seeds to substitute for cumin seeds.