A very ancient and close "relative" of peas is chickpeas. The plant is too thermophilic for cultivation in temperate latitudes, therefore, over seven and a half thousand years, becoming the food of Roman aristocrats and legionnaires, oriental dervishes, kings, sultans and simple poor people, “mutton peas” are still a rather rare guest in European cuisine, despite its interesting and useful advantages.
In modern world cooking, chickpeas, as one of the vegetable crops, firmly holds positions in North Africa, West and Central Asia, Turkey, Pakistan and India, in North America and Mexico. Recently, domestic breeders have been puzzled by its popularization in the southern regions of Russia, and since scientists have paid attention to the vegetable and have already bred some varieties, this circumstance definitely indicates the benefits of the product.
In our kitchen, chickpea dishes are, in a sense, legumes exotic. You can buy it, but it costs twice as much chickpeas as usual peas with external similarities. That is why, even venturing to try it out of curiosity, housewives often wonder how to cook chickpeas, how it differs from ordinary peas and what dishes can be prepared from it?
Let's try to understand and answer these questions.
How much to cook chickpeas after soaking: we study the useful composition
Agree, to buy a kilogram of peas, even exotic, at the price of two kilograms, you need a serious incentive. Indeed, what is valuable in this chickpea besides the cost of export, and why has mankind not forgotten about it for 7.5 thousand years?
It is noteworthy that dried chickpea peas contain up to 60% of “light” carbohydrates, up to 25% of protein, similar in structure to egg, and up to 4% of fats, which give the product a nutty taste and aroma. We pay special attention to “light carbohydrates” and emphasize that it is egg white that is completely absorbed by the body, without accumulating in the form of unwanted deposits. Germinated chickpeas seeds fully satisfy the daily human need for vitamins A and C, and dried fruits - a complete set of vitamins of group BB, folic, nicotinic, pantothenic acid, vital lysine - more than eighty components in total, including also minerals potassium and calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese and iron. Perhaps, from the entire periodic table, the composition of chickpea fruits does not include only elements that are harmful to humans. That's what chickpeas are!
Yes, we almost forgot about our usual pea. Of course, it is also not deprived of nature in terms of utility, but it is much more caloric, and saturated fatty acids are present in its composition. So, from the point of view of proper nutrition, the dietary components of chickpeas are more interesting.
How to cook chickpeas - choose a product
Chickpea seeds are not only grown for food purposes. The culture is widely used in animal husbandry. From here there is chickpeas of the first and second type. We are interested in chickpeas of the first type - food varieties, with a color palette from white to yellow-pink. All other species, from red to brown, are intended for other purposes, and they should not be in the package, like other impurities in the form of small stones, pieces of stems or some other obscure inclusions.
As for the country of origin, which should be indicated on the packaging, here you need to understand that imported chickpeas, of course, will cost more, but there is one caveat that you should not forget about: soil, climate - all that they eat and breathe plants, creates a taste of the fruit. You can create absolutely similar and necessary conditions for growing, but the lemon in the flower pot beyond the Arctic Circle will still be different from the lemon grown in tropical climates, like any plant, including chickpeas. So, the choice is between price and quality.
How much to cook chickpeas after soaking and what to cook?
We will start with the most important feature of this product, which significantly affects the preparatory stage of processing before preparing chickpea dishes, to consider the issue of technology for preparing legumes.
Bean dishes in many cause bloating during digestion. The oligosaccharides that make up all legumes are to blame. Reacting with gastric juice, oligosaccharides release gas, which irritates the walls of the gastrointestinal tract, causing discomfort. For this reason, many people often refuse to eat all types of peas and beans. The situation can be corrected at the very initial stage of preparation.
Preliminary preparation of chickpeas consists in thoroughly washing and soaking the seeds. This process has two objectives.
First of all, after swelling in water and increase in volume by 2-2.5 times, the cooking time of chickpeas is significantly reduced, and if cooking without preliminary soaking requires an average of two and a half hours, then the prepared chickpeas will be cooked in 1.5 hours.
Secondly, the very oligosaccharides that cause problems when digesting food, when soaked, interact with water, which, when reacted with them, causes the breakdown of sugars and causes the onset of fermentation and the release of carbon dioxide before the digestion process begins.
Soaking time - 10-12 hours, but it is necessary - in cool water, not higher than 150 ° C, so that yeast fermentation does not begin, given the high sugar content in beans. In addition, it is advisable to change the water 2-3 times in order to partially remove carbohydrates and make chickpeas an even more dietary product.
Cooking time from 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on the required degree of digestion. The ratio of water and peas during cooking is 1 part of seeds per 2.5 parts of water. Cook peas, dipping in cold water. But the indicated amount of water is only the necessary value for cooking peas. When boiling, a foam forms, which must be removed, which must be done together with part of the water. Therefore, add a little more water - in extreme cases, the excess can then be drained after cooking.
Chickpeas are very popular in oriental and asian cuisines. This product is an indispensable ingredient in dietary and vegetarian cuisine.
Chickpea puree with butter and herbs can be a filling for pies, and can also be an excellent side dish for meat and vegetable dishes. Chickpeas, like all types of peas, serve as a good thickener for mashed soups. Chickpea puree is added to the dough or used as a filling for pies.
1. How to cook chickpeas: mashed soup, vegetarian
Products:
Onions, 120 g
Yellow carrot 100 g
Potato 250 g
Oil, olive 100 ml
Celery (root) 50 g
Garlic 30 g
Chickpeas 200 g
Butter, 90 g
Parsley and dill 50 g
Spice:
curry,
red and black ground pepper,
Bay leaf
Salt
Water 2.4 L
Cooking:
Prepare chickpeas as described above. Boil it until cooked. In a pan with boiled chickpeas, add cubes of peeled and finely chopped potatoes. Continue to cook. Finely chop the onions, carrots and celery and sauté in warmed olive oil until tender, then add to the pot with vegetables. Grind the garlic and, along with spices and salt, season the soup with it. Pour the contents of the pan into the blender bowl and beat until smooth. Pour the finished soup into the pan again, add the butter and chopped herbs. Bring to a boil, immediately remove from the stove.
2. How much to cook chickpeas after soaking for a salad with beets and pomegranate
Composition:
Boiled beets 300 g
Boiled chickpeas 150 g
Pomegranate seeds 100 g
Fried sesame seeds
Parsley
Red, sweet onion
Refueling:
Lemon juice
Oil, peanut (or olive)
Spice
Cooking:
Boil the chickpeas until soft, but do not boil, drain the water, cool. Cut beets and onions thinly, in strips. Peel the pomegranate seeds. Combine all the ingredients in a salad bowl, pour over the cooked dressing, mix, garnish with greens and sesame seeds.
3. How to cook chickpeas - pea filling for yeast pies, fried
Product Composition:
Pea puree 400 g
Ghee 70 g
Vegetable fat 50 g
Spices to taste
Garlic 50 g
Greens 100 g
Onion 180 g
Salt
Cooking:
Make mashed hot chickpeas, mashed to a uniform consistency. In hot puree, add ghee, chopped herbs and garlic, fried in vegetable oil, chopped onion in small cubes. Bring to taste your favorite spices. Shuffle.
This is an excellent filling for pies, samosas and other unsweetened dough products, but also such a filling is tasty in itself, as a separate dish or side dish. About this looked like porridge from chickpeas in ancient Rome.
How to cook chickpeas - useful tips
If during the cooking of chickpeas it turned out that there was not enough water, then you can add only boiling water. When cold water is added, peas are worse digested, and grains lose their shape.
Salt when cooking peas is added only at the very end, when it is completely boiled.
Some housewives, to speed up the process of cooking chickpeas, add baking soda, in the process of soaking or in boiling water. Please note that the taste of the product and the finished dish when using this technique noticeably worsens.
The water in which the chickpeas have been soaked can be used to feed indoor plants.
