Boiled Chickpeas

Ada dished out a small bowl of boiled chickpeas as appetiser. I was fascinated with the dish as they tasted very good - light and refreshing. It is the kind of healthy snack which I can snack all day long without worrying extra calories. As information from the internet, 100g contains just 164 calories (Click here)

The recipe shared by Ada is very simple - just dried chickpeas, salt and water. The ingredients are although simple, it is a bit time consuming to cook the chickpeas. That's the main reason why most of the people opt the canned chickpeas instead of the dried chickpeas. Canned chickpeas are no doubt convenience but they are less healthy since they are packed with excessive salt, sugar and preservative.

Ingredients
400g dried chickpeas
2 liter water
salt for flavouring

Directions
1. Wash dried chickpeas and sock them in the water overnight.
2. In a big pot with 2 liter of water, boil the socked chickpeas at high heat for 15-20 min.
3. Add in good amount of salt.
4. Remove the bubbles with a strainer and continue to boil the chickpeas at a medium heat for another 30-40 min, until the chickpeas soften.

To check whether the chickpeas are thoroughly cooked, you may take a chickpea out and press it using a folk. If it breaks easily with a light press, this indicates that they are cooked. Otherwise, continue to boil them for a couple of minutes.

Chickpeas are so versatile; you may use them for salad, vegetarian curry, chili, hummus etc. You may prepare a big batch in one go and store them in the freezer for later use. Another good tip is to pre-soak the dried chickpeas for overnight to cut down the cooking time.