Revithada
Greek chickpeas slow-baked with onion, olive oil, bay and lemon until soft and creamy in a rich broth.
Photograph credit: Revithia by topsyntages.gr from Greece · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Most home versions come out watery or dry, and the fix is to bake the chickpeas covered and uncover them for the last stretch. A covered dish traps steam so the chickpeas stay moist, while an uncovered finish lets the broth thicken and the top brown.
Tinned chickpeas make this quick, and the long, slow bake does the rest. Drain them, tip them into a deep dish with the onion, oil, bay and water, and put them in the oven. Add the lemon at the end. Acid added early can keep chickpeas firm; lemon at the end brightens the dish without slowing the cooking.
Olive oil is important here, about 4 tablespoons for six servings. It should float on top and enrich the broth, and it is part of what makes the dish taste Greek.
The finished revithada has soft, creamy chickpeas in a thick, golden broth. Serve warm with bread and a salad.
How to Make Revithada
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Heat the oven to 180°C / 355°F (160°C / 320°F fan).
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Put the chickpeas, onions, oil, bay, oregano, water, salt and pepper in a deep ovenproof dish and stir.
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Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
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Uncover and bake for 20 minutes more until the broth is thick and the top is golden. Stir in the lemon juice.
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Worth Getting Right
- Keep the dish covered for the first part.
- Stir in the lemon at the end.
- Use good olive oil; it is a main flavour.
- Add hot water if the broth cooks away too fast.
Changing the Recipe
- Fresh herbs work in place of the dried oregano at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.
What to Serve With It
Crusty bread · Green salad · Feta · Olives
Leftovers and Storage
Keeps in the fridge for 4 days. Good warm or cold.
Revithada Nutrition
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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