Doubara Biskra, a hearty chickpea and broad bean stew that’s simple to make. Spiced with harissa and ras el hanout for a wonderful flavour that will keep you warm on a cold winters day.
Ingredients of note
Harissa is a spiced chilli paste that’s used traditionally in Algerian and other North African cuisines. If you can’t find harissa then you could substitute it for a fresh red chilli and by adding 1 teaspoon more ras el hanout.
Ras el hanout is a spice mix that’s used in North African cuisine. If you can’t find it then substitute the tablespoon of it for 1 teaspoon of ground coriander and ground cumin with ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon and ground ginger.
Serving Doubara Biskra
We like serving Doubara with some fresh toppings such as tomatoes, spring onions and pickled green chillies suggested in the recipe. These are optional but help make the stew feel like a full meal. It’s also great served with some bread such as Algerian Kesra.
Doubara can also be served as a side dish and in the summer months is sometimes served at room temperature rather than hot.
Algerian Doubara Biskra
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon harissa
- ½ tablespoon ras-el-hanout
- 1 large sweet red pepper chopped into 2cm chunks
- 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
- 400 g tin of chickpeas
- 300 g frozen broad beans
- 5 g fresh parsley chopped
Toppings
- 1 medium tomato thinly sliced
- Pickled green chillies
- 1 spring onion thinly sliced
- Flaked almonds toasted
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Once hot add the cumin seeds and fry for 30 seconds then add the minced garlic. Sauté until the garlic is lightly golden, around 2 minutes, then add the tomato paste and harissa and continue to sauté, stirring continuously for 1 minute.
- Add the ras el hanout, chopped red pepper and the tin of tomatoes. Add 200ml of water then stir to combine, bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer for 8 minutes stirring frequently.
- Taste then adjust the seasoning. We added ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper. However, watch out for hidden salt in the spice mix or the harissa.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add them to the pan together with the frozen broad beans. Bring back to a simmer and continue to cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Taste then adjust the seasoning then serve with the garnishes on top.
