Char the peppers first, then everything else is easy

Method

1. Blacken the peppers

   Whole peppers, under a hot grill, as close to the element as they will fit. Turn every few minutes until they are blistered and properly black in patches all over. Ten minutes or so.

   You want char, not a light suntan. If they look like they might be slightly overdone, they are about right. A gas hob works too if you can balance them on the burner.

2. Steam them, then peel

   Put them in a bowl and cover it with a plate for ten minutes. The trapped steam lifts the skins away from the flesh, and afterwards they slide off in sheets under your thumb.

   Never rinse them.

   Running a charred pepper under the tap washes away the smoky oil sitting on the surface, which is the only reason you spent ten minutes at the grill. You will be left with something wet and sweet and ordinary, and you will not know why the stew tastes like every other stew.

3. Build the base slowly

   Oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Onion with a good pinch of salt, eight minutes, until soft and translucent rather than coloured. Garlic for one minute more.

   Then the paprika and cumin, stirred into the oil for about thirty seconds. Long enough to smell them properly, short enough that they do not catch. Dry spices need fat and heat to give up anything; thrown into liquid they stay dusty and taste of nothing.

4. Simmer uncovered

   Tear the peeled peppers into strips and add them with the tomatoes, chickpeas and stock. Simmer uncovered for twenty to twenty-five minutes.

   It is ready when a spoon dragged across the bottom of the pot leaves a trail that holds for a second before closing over. Covered, it will never reduce.

5. Vinegar off the heat

   Take the pot off the heat, stir in the vinegar, then taste for salt. This step is not optional and it is not a garnish. Without the acid the whole thing reads as sweet and slightly flat, and no amount of extra salt will fix that.