Revithia (Greek Chickpea Stew)

Instructions

1. The night before cooking, rinse the dried chickpeas well, place them in a large bowl, and cover with plenty of cold water — at least triple their volume, since they will roughly double in size. Stir in ½ teaspoon of baking soda and let them soak, uncovered, for 10 to 12 hours or overnight.
2. Drain the soaked chickpeas and rinse thoroughly under cold running water. Rub handfuls of chickpeas gently between your palms to loosen the loose skins, then tip everything into a bowl of water so the floating skins can be skimmed off; discard the skins for a smoother, creamier stew.
3. Transfer the chickpeas to a large pot and cover with fresh cold water by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat and let them boil hard, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface.
4. Drain the chickpeas once more and rinse briefly. This first boil-and-rinse step removes excess starch and any bitterness, leaving a cleaner-tasting broth.
5. Return the chickpeas to the pot and add fresh warm water to cover by roughly 1½ inches. Stir in the olive oil, chopped onion, garlic, bay leaf, oregano, and the remaining ½ teaspoon of baking soda, but do not add salt yet.
6. Bring the pot to a gentle boil, then immediately lower the heat so the liquid barely simmers. Partially cover the pot and cook low and slow for 1½ to 2½ hours, checking occasionally and topping up with hot water if the level drops below the chickpeas.
7. For the traditional Sifnos approach, you can do this stage in the oven instead: transfer the seasoned chickpeas and their liquid to a covered clay or Dutch oven dish and bake at 300°F (150°C) for 3 to 4 hours, which yields an even creamier, more concentrated stew with almost no stirring required.
8. Test a few chickpeas after about 1½ hours; they should be tender enough to mash easily against the roof of your mouth but still hold their shape. Only once they are fully tender, season generously with salt and pepper — adding salt any earlier will toughen the skins and slow the cooking.
9. If you would like a thicker, more velvety broth, ladle out a cup of the hot cooking liquid, whisk it into the flour-and-water mixture until smooth, then stir this slurry back into the pot. Simmer uncovered for another 5 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the broth lightly coats the back of a spoon.
10. Remove the pot from the heat and discard the bay leaf. Stir in the juice of one lemon, taste, and add more lemon juice, salt, or pepper as needed — revithia should taste bright, not flat.
11. Let the stew rest for 10 minutes before serving; it thickens further as it sits and the flavors settle. Ladle into bowls, finish each with a generous drizzle of raw olive oil and a lemon wedge on the side.
12. Revithia keeps beautifully and many cooks consider it even better the next day, once the chickpeas have had time to fully absorb the broth; reheat gently over low heat with a splash of water and adjust the lemon and olive oil before serving.