Chickpea Poppers

Total Time: 45 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 4 cups cooked chickpeas (see below) or 2 (12 ounce) cans chickpeas
• 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
• 1 tablespoon chat masala (chaat masala or garam masala or sambhar masala may be used)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder or 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or 1 teaspoon paprika, plus more for sprinkling

Recipe

• 1 heat the oven to 425 degrees f. drain the chickpeas in a large colander to get rid of as much moisture as possible, 15 minutes. if using canned, rinse first then drain.
• 2 mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl, coating the chickpeas well.
• 3 arrange the seasoned chickpeas in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet.
• 4 bake 15 minutes. remove the tray from the oven; mix gently so the chickpeas cook evenly. return to oven and bake 15 minutes more.
• 5 cool 15 minutes. sprinkle with the additional red chili powder if you like.
• 6 to prepare your own cooked chickpeas:
• 7 singla says soaking the chickpeas first isn't necessary. they will cook up just as soft as if they were presoaked. don't have a slow cooker? use a heavy pot, such as a dutch oven, reduce the amount of water by 1/2 to 1 cup, use a very low flame and keep a careful eye that the chickpeas don't burn.
• 8 pick over and rinse 3 cups (about 18 ounces) whole, dried chickpeas.
• 9 place in a 3 1/2-quart capacity slow cooker with 5 cups water.
• 10 cook on high 4 hours.
• 11 rinse the beans with cold water to stop the cooking process; drain excess liquid.
• 12 store in the refrigerator up to 1 week or the freezer up to 3 months. makes 7 cups.