Any peppers of your choice can be used in place of jalapeno. Add a little fresh lime at the end of cooking. Any dried bean will work in place of the pinto. Meats can also be used, replace half the beans with meat and saute them in fat before sauteing vegetables.

Chickpea stews with flavors similar to this one are often made in Ethiopia using ground roasted chickpeas or even split peas. Here, the method is simplified but the stew’s sweet, fragrant spice mixture, which Ethiopians call berbere, remains. If you’re in a hurry, omit roasting the chickpeas and simply add them to the stew after they’ve been rinsed and drained. This recipe was inspired by a Whole Planet Foundation micro credit client who runs a chickpea roasting business.