Does anyone fry chickpeas?

[Mare749]

I've seen a few recipes for these and it appears that most of them use salt and chili powder. Does anyone have a tried and true recipe? The site I was on said they are good for snacking and in salads. All you have to do is put 1/2 cup in 1 cup of hot oil (like 350F) for 4-5 minutes, then drain and sprinkle with your favorite seasoning.

I thought this might be something to play with for the mystery meal, especially for anyone who isn't too crazy about them.

[cjs]

Tom Douglas has a wonderful fried chickpea recipes that I've had a number of times - from his book "Tom's Big Dinners"

Olive oil as needed for frying (do not use Extra Virgin – use pure olive oil, it has a higher smoke point.)
8 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced about 1/8” thick (about ¼ cup)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas) (if starting with dried beans 1 cup raw yields a little more than 2 cups of cooked)
1/2 lemon wedge for garnish

Preheat oven to 200°F.
To fry the garlic, fill a heavy saucepan with oil to a depth of about 1-inch. Heat the oil to 325°. Add the sliced garlic to the oil and scoop it out with a skimmer or slotted spoon as soon as it starts to turn golden, after about 10 seconds. Drain the garlic on p.towels and leave at room temp. Season the garlic with salt l& pepper.

Start adding the garbanzos to the oil, a small handful at a time, and fry until golden and crusty, 2-3 minutes. (don’t add too many beans at one time as it will decrease the oil temp too much) As you are frying, keep checking the temp. of the oil and adjust heat as necessary to keep it between 325° and 350°F. Using a skimmer or slotted spoon, scoop the garbanzos out as they are done and drain on p.towels. Season the fried garbanzos with salt and pepper, transfer them to a baking sheet, and keep warm in the oven.

To serve, transfer the beans to a serving bowl, scatter garlic over the top and sprinkle with lemon juice if desired.

These are really good served on a wilted escarole salad, but wonderful to just eat like candy.

[Gourmet_Mom]

Thanks, Maryann! I actually saw this in a holiday book I got last year. I'm going to check there as well.

[Mare749]

I like the sound of Jean's recipe better, so I'm going with that one. Thank you Jean!

[cjs]

Be very careful, Maryann - they are addictive.

[BarbaraS]

OMG, I love chickpeas...

Where do you get raw ones? I one see the chick peas in a can.

Barbara

[labradors]

I imagine you could purée them, form them into balls and deep fry them...

...Oops! That's falafel.

[Harborwitch]

Dried garbanzos are usually in the dried bean/pasta/rice section.

I've been wanting to try these for so long, hmmmmm - sounds like a bar snack to me. I agree Jean's recipe sounds really good. May have to whip up a batch and risk the addiction!

[Mare749]

You know, it's just amazing to me that I live in such a multi-cultural city, yet I can't find dried chickpeas in any of our grocery stores! I have to go to the Indian grocers or the Mediterranean food store to buy them. This makes no sense to me at all! But, I can buy 5 different varieties in a can.

[Harborwitch]

I think I got mine in a Mexican grocery. . . and I think I got them to cook and fry. Now why haven't I done this?