Moroccan-style Chicken and Chickpea Stew

So here's to the first of many, hopefully! This is that stew I was telling you all about in my last post about chicken (see, it's all interconnected here!). It has chilli in it but it actually isn't spicy at all:

Ingredients:

• 300g chicken fillets
• 2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 1 can chickpeas (in water, not dried)
• 2 carrots, cut into chunks (makes it easier for your baby to pick up)
• 1 parsnip, cut into chunks
• 1 tsp caraway seeds (in with the jars of spices at the supermarket)
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander (dried, not leaves- although you could use 1tbsp fresh)
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
• pinch of black pepper (optional)

Serves: 

Well it did me for two lunches, Vienna for tea and lunch and there was some left for Steve so I'm going to say 2 adults and one baby.

Method:

1. Grill the chicken (feel free to see "The trick to chicken" for this ;) ) until cooked all the way through.
2. Boil the carrots and parsnip in water for about 15 mins until fairly soft.
3. Put all the spices in a large pan and fry for a couple of minutes, then add the chilli and fry that for a further couple of minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, carrots, parsnip and chicken. Leave to simmer until the chickpeas are really soft.

Notes:

• Dad said after I made this that it needed a touch of garlic. If anyone makes this before I get a chance to give it a go with some onion & garlic see what you think and let me know but otherwise I was pretty proud.
• when frying the spices, two things here: one, this is not really a job you can leave because spices burn quite quickly which makes them taste horrid and sets your fire alarm off in a matter of seconds, and two, most recipes will say to grind/crush the caraway seeds... I don't know if you've ever tried this but I wouldn't recommend it. It's nigh impossible. And they taste nice whole. They aren't big.
• most importantly, the chickpeas need to be very soft when you give them to your baby- the rest it doesn't matter quite so much because carrots/tomatoes you can eat raw, and you've already cooked the chicken and parsnips right the way through anyway