How to Prepare Dried Chickpeas

Nicola Taylor • June 28, 2021

We asked our Fair Trade Foodie, Fiona to explain how to prepare our new Fairtrade, Organic Chickpeas. Here’s her advice – and it’s painless. Follow the steps below or alternatively, scroll to the bottom to view a video showing how to prepare dried chickpeas.

We have been enjoying chickpeas for thousands of years. Tasty, high in protein and fibre with loads of vitamins and minerals. Plus they are a satisfying slow release carbohydrate. What’s not to like?

Why choose JTS dried chickpeas?

It’s easy to open a tin but try dried chickpeas and you might be converted. Tinned or jarred ones can have salt and preservatives, whereas the tasty organic JTS chickpeas are simply harvested and dried before they reach you from the fairtrade farmers in India. You can then decide whether you want them nutty or melting when you cook them and how much salt, for example, you want to use.

Economical

When they soak and cook, chickpeas more than double in weight and bulk so the packets contain far more than you think. A 500g pack takes up little cupboard space but gives you more than a kilo of ready to eat chickpeas. That would be nearly five tins worth (as the tin weight includes the liquid the chickpeas are in).

How to prepare chickpeas

All you need is a large bowl and water. Simply leave the chickpeas in deep water for about 8 to 12 hours – overnight or doing it in the morning is easiest. You can add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda if you want them to get really soft but it’s not necessary.

They will swell up and after a quick draining and rinsing are ready to go in a pan covered with fresh water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about an hour.

Start testing after about 50 minutes to see if they are to your liking – softer makes silky humus but for some recipes like a curry you might fancy them with a bit more bite. If you have used bicarbonate of soda they could take less time to completely soften. My test batch took 45 minutes with bicarb.

That is all there is to it!

Is it too much work?

If you are thinking you don’t want to be “cooking” for over a day for one dish, remember it will only take you a minute to get a bowl, put chickpeas in and fill the bowl from the cold tap. That’s you done. The next day (or at dinner time if you put then to soak in the morning) you only need to put them on to simmer in fresh water and they can just sit on the hob while you cook the rest of the food.

Bulk Cooking

Chickpeas will keep covered in the fridge for three days but put them in the freezer (patting them dry with kitchen roll first) and they will be ready to go into action for months.

The hands-on work of chickpeas is absolutely minimal but the reward is maximum!

Your plump chickpeas can be put in a tasty curry or falafel, added to a salad, roasted as a snack or get your processor out, whizz them with crushed garlic, lemon juice, tahini and olive oil for the best hummus you ever tasted!

Fiona

PLEASE WATCH VIDEO BELOW TO SHOW YOU HOW TO PREPARE DRIED CHICKPEAS

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