Chickpea Recipes

Fried Chickpeas
A quick and easy appetizer

Chickpea recipes make up the staples of Middle Eastern and Arab diets. This is a quick and easy appetizer to make if you are craving chickpeas or legumes (which are excellent source of protein for those who do not eat meat)…

This is a very simple chickpea recipe which requires just chickpeas, oil, paprika, and cayenne peppers, ingredients you will most likely have at home any ways…

Chickpeas have dated back to human history as far as the Neolithic times (circa 8000 to 3500 BC). Domesticated chickpeas have been found in several archeological sites, including Tell el-Kerch in Syria; Cayonu (7250-6750 BC), Hecilar, and Akarcay Tepe (7280 – 8700) in Turkey; and Jericho (8350 – 7370 BC) in the West Bank…

By the Bronze Age, chickpeas were known in Italy and Greece. In classical Greece, they were called erebinthos and eaten as a staple. The Romans ate several varieties including venus, ram and punic chickpeas. They were booked down into a broth or roasted as a snack. In fact, Roman gourmet Apicius offers several recipes with chickpeas. Carbonized chickpeas have been found at the Roman legion for at Neuss, Germany in layers from the 1st century CE.

Try this one of the basic chickpea recipes when you have nothing else at home; it will be delicious (of course that is IF you like chickpeas… I know people who don’t like them and that is ok too!)..

Ingredients

300 g (10 oz) dried chickpeas
oil, for deep-frying
½ teaspoon mild or hot paprika, to taste
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

1. Put the chickpeas in a large bowl, cover with plenty of cold water and soak overnight. Drain well and pat dry with paper towels.

2. Fill a deep heavy-based pan on third full of oil and heat to 180 C (350 F), or until a cube of bread dropped into the oil browns in 15 seconds. Deep-fry half the chickpeas for 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon. Drain on crumpled paper towel and repeat with the rest of the chickpeas. Partially cover the pan as some beans may ma. Don’t leave the oil unattended.

3. Reheat the oil and fry the chickpeas again in batches for 3 minutes each batch, or until browned. Drain. Season the paprika with salt and cayenne pepper, and sprinkle over the hot chickpeas. Cool.

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