Gather all your ingredients and prepare your Mise en Place (French for "put in place", meaning proper planning of equipment and ingredients, measuring and cutting it all up so it is ready to go).
Start with dry sautéing the onions* After you finish the onions, add the garlic for around 30 seconds before adding all the other ingredients.* Note: To dry sauté (or sautéing without oil!) use high heat and frequent movement to caramelize the food. An important thing to keep in mind is that foods will not brown, color or caramelize if you use liquid or have too much moisture. Once you achieve the desired coloration then add your liquid.
Next add the veggie stock, carrots, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, smoked paprika, cumin, chili powder, tomato paste and cinnamon sticks and increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Also add some salt and pepper to taste. After getting everything to a boil, reduced the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
The picture shows all the ingredients in one big pot towards the end of the simmering process. I love one pot meals, easy to create and clean afterwards!
Add the apricots and simmer for another 10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and fragrant.
Towards the end add the parsley and pomegranate seeds and you can use them also to garnish the final dish. And do not forget to take out the cinnamon sticks!
Notes
The final dish is sweet, savory, creamy with a kick to it. I did add a little extra sambal because the ½ teaspoon of chili did not provide the heat I was looking for to balance out all the sweetness in this dish.I loved this dish and the great thing about making a stew, is that there is plenty of leftovers.