Revithada from Sifnos – Easy chickpeas for all

Steps

• The night before add the chickpeas into a bowl with enough cold water to cover them even when they double in size and let them soak over night
• The next day wash off the chickpeas
• Peel and chisel finely the onion
• Heat-up a cast iron casserole or a casserole of similar technology
• Once the casserole is hot enough add the onion and the chickpeas
• Stir without any oil until the onion starts to shine
• Add the olive oil and stir again
• Add the flour and stir again until it’s spread all around the dish
• Add the cold water until it covers the chickpeas on top for 1,5cm
• Add the salt and stir
• Put the lid on and cook in a very low heat for 2h15, don’t forget to stir from time to time
• At the end the chickpeas will be soft and creamy and there will be almost no water, if needed continue to cook with the lid on to make chickpeas softer or without the lid to evaporate the remaining water
• Succulent!

What’s the story behind this recipe?

This is a traditional Greek dish coming from the Greek island of Sifnos which belongs to the Cyclades complex. It’s prepared during important occasions in a traditional manner which consists in adding all ingredients in a covered earthenware pot, which is then placed in a hole into the ground and is covered with vine branches that are lit up and covered in their turn with earth soil and are cooked in very low heat over night. The island of Sifnos used to have a great tradition in making earthenware dishware and pots and in the beach of Platis Gialos, there used to be a lot of small manufactures of this kind of earthenware dishes and pots. Unfortunately, they’ve told me that these past years only very few of the manufactures still stand which is a pity because their craft was very good.

Try to make this dish and you will see that is really good and that at the end the chickpeas are just succulent! Moreover, there is no black pepper in this recipe and the result is still very good!

Inspiration

This recipe is adapted from a Greek recipe I found on the web site of M. Elias Mamalakis who is an epicurean guy that used to have a great television show in Greece where he presented recipes from all territories in Greece.

His site is still online and even if it seems a bit old, we can still find great recipes in Greek.

Nevertheless, I found a page where there is a list of recipes in English and especially an interpretation of the recipe I am presenting here. This interpretation uses oregano but in the traditional dish there is none, like in my recipe. If you like try both versions and choose the one you prefer.

If you ever visit the Greek island of Sifnos don’t forget to try this dish on the island because even if it’s not made as I explained above they still know how to make this dish very well as it’s a traditional dish of the island.

 To your forks as the French say, or to your spoons because this dish is eaten with a tablespoon!