Orange and wine-infused chickpea and mushroom stew (vegan)

A fancied-up vegan and vegetarian main with chickpeas and mushrooms, with hints of white wine and orange to make it a bit more special than your average meal of chickpeas. :) I even ventured to use orange blossom water in it (in addition to zest), which is usually only used in desserts, and it was the best decision I could have made :).
I created this at home when I was visiting my parents and it was during the Holy Week (in 2013), so it had to be vegan, and everyone (myself included) loved it. 
I'm also submitting this to this month's Sweet Romania challenge.
Enjoy it with people you love. :)

Last year: New York-style pizza crust (puffy and thin) (vegan).
Two years ago: Dukkah (Egyptian and generally Middle Eastern) (vegan).
Three years ago: Simple chicken stock and Chicken risotto with bell pepper.






Ingredients (serves 4-5):

• 30 ml sunflower oil
• 2 large yellow onions
• 7-8 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons caraway seeds
• 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
• 200 ml red wine
• zest of one orange
• 1 tablespoon orange blossom water (optional)
• 4 cans of boiled chickpeas, drained (1 kg total drained weight)
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes (400 g)
• 1 handful of fresh champignon mushrooms, scrubbed and sliced
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• two bunches of fresh parsley

Peel and chop the onions. Peel and slice the garlic. Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the caraway and tarragon to the oil. Mix and fry for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Add the onion and garlic.

Mix and let it cook on low heat until they soften (about 5 minutes). Add the orange zest, orange blossom water (if using) and the red wine.

Smell the flavors and marvel :). Mix well, then add the chickpeas, the tomatoes and the mushrooms. Let them cook for 5-6 minutes until the mushrooms look cooked.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool a bit. Finely chop the parsley and add it.

Mix well, season with salt and pepper and transfer to serving plates. It's done, dig in! :)

Note: you can serve this with crusty country-style wholegrain bread or polenta :)