Continuing with the Armenian theme, I decided to cook up a batch of nvig (or nevik, neeveeg depending on your transliteration), a traditional meat free dish eaten in Armenia during Lent (or all year round for veggies like me!), it's another quick and easy dish that requires very little in the way of preparation. The only requirement is a big enough pan to hold the masses of spinach before it wilts into nothingness.
Ingredients
250 g spinach
1 can of chickpeas
1 small onion (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (chopped)
Olive oil
150 ml water
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp Aleppo pepper
1/2 tsp sumac
2 sprigs tarragon (chopped - optional)
1 bunch dill (chopped - optional)
1. Fry the onion and garlic until softened
2. Add the spinach and water, you can either add the leaves whole, or chopped. Put the lid on the pan and leave for 5 minutes or so (until the spinach has wilted)
3. Stir in the spices and chickpeas
4. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes
5. Best served at room temperature with plenty of crusty bread (ideally Armenian) or pitta
As an aside, this was the view from my room. Can you imagine waking up to Mount Ararat every morning?
I've just returned from Armenia, so it only stands to reason that I start to post some Armenian recipes, as it's a country I have woefully neglected so far in this little blog. Unless you're familiar with it, the first question would probably be: So what is Armenian food like? Well, Armenian food shares many similarities with its neighbours (Georgia, Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkey) utilising fresh ingredients, nuts, fruits and herbs extensively, though traditionally not too much in the way of spices. Also, as a result of the Armenian diaspora it has also picked up influences from the lands the Armenians lived in such as Russia, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Greece, Romania and Lebanon. So... vaguely Middle Eastern with the occasional Slavic or Mediterranean touch. Mmm...
My first offering is fasolia, a green bean and tomato dish, a simple recipe with a few ingredients. It contains green beans, onions, oil and tomatoes (fresh or tinned), the onions are fried, the beans and tomatoes added, and the whole lot cooked down into a delicious stew. Simple eh? Well, that's the basic recipe, however there are numerous variations with regards to the additional flavourings or spices. My uncle used to make up batches of fasolia and bring them over, he would add cumin, chopped celery and some green olives to the mixture (Greek influence), a woman I was speaking to on the plane home (and swopping recipes with) just added black pepper. I've gone for olives, plus a good helping of fresh coriander.
Ingredients
200g green beans
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 onion (finely chopped)
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional:
1 handful coriander (chopped)
1 handful green olives (chopped)
1. Fry the onion and garlic in olive oil until softened
2. Chop the beans into 5cm pieces (roughly) and add to the onions. Stir and cover the pan, and cook for 5 minutes
3. Add the tomatoes (and olives and coriander if using) and simmer until the beans are tender - 30 minutes or so
4. Serve either warm, room temperature or cold as prefered.
