Chickpeas
Chickpeas
or (Garbanzo beans) are large, white beans that are often
used in Indian cuisine for making dahls.
Cooking Dried Chickpeas
Dried chickpeas are
fairly easy to prepare, if you allow enough time. They
taste far better than the canned version. Dried chickpeas
expand to at least twice their volume when cooked. Soak
the chickpeas overnight in water. The next day they are
ready to cook. Chop 2 stalks of celery for every cup of
chickpeas (a cup is approximately a large handful) and put
the drained chickpeas and celery into a pot. The chickpeas
will continue to expand, so you should not fill the pot
more than half full of the bean and celery mixture. Add
water until the chickpeas are covered. Cook on medium for
2 hours.
The cook time is not an
exact science; you will need to bite into a chickpea to
see if it is fully cooked. Once the chickpeas are done,
drain the cooking liquid. (Incidentally, the cooking
liquid from chickpeas makes a wonderful stock.) You can
season with salt, pepper, and a dash of olive oil and
vinegar if you would like to eat them plain, or they can
be used in other recipes calling for canned chickpeas.
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