Thursday, March 25, 2010

An Ode to the Chickpea

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I adore the chickpea. I would give the chickpea hugs if I could. I would sing it lullabies and tuck it in at night if there were a chance I wouldn’t be looked upon in horror. It is a wonderful and underused ingredient, full of fiber, protein and vitamins, and delicious to boot. It is incredibly versatile and a great substitute for meat should you want to cut back on carnivorous activities. I love my meat, but lately I have been trying, for economical reasons, to scale back on our meat purchases and include at least two vegetarian dishes each week. The chickpea comes in quite handy for this. I recently made chickpea and black bean burgers with a mango avocado salsa and believe me, the meat was not missed by anyone.

My main adulation for the chickpea comes from its versatility. Hummus is a household favorite and chickpeas are the base for any hummus. I also often replace all purpose flour with chickpea flour, which is how this recipe came about. Chickpea flour has a rich nutty flavor that adds a bit of substance to a dish that might not come from all purpose flour. It does not have the same baking quality though, and I wouldn’t recommend making a batch of cupcakes with it, but for savory dishes, I greatly enjoy the flavor imparted by chickpea, or garbanzo bean flour. Try using it when making a roux or white sauce, it gives the dish a little something extra without throwing off the original flavors of the dish.

The back story to this recipe is the time I made cheese puffs with chickpea flour replacing the ap flour in the dough for the puffs. A cheese puff is basically made from cooking flour butter and water together then mixing in eggs. When I cooked the flour, water and butter together, I thought it might make a nice batter for other items as well. Enter the chickpea fry. Once the batter is made, the dough is chilled and cut into fry-like sticks then shallow fried in oil. Yummy. The nuttiness of the flour gives the “fries” a hearty, substantial taste and they are a great accompaniment to a flaky white fish or grilled pork tenderloin. I think they do justice to the chickpea. It would be proud of me.


Chickpea Fries

2 cups chickpea flour
2 Tbs minced fresh parsley
2 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp salt
2 ¼ cups water
½ cup vegetable or canola oil, for frying

In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients except oil and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil and whisk constantly for 1 to 2 minutes, until it forms a thick paste. Pour the dough onto a small rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread evenly with a spatula to form a smooth surface. Refrigerate 1 hour. Remove from fridge and lay on a large cutting board. Cut dough into ½ inch wide sticks, about 4 inches long, or whatever size is to your fry liking. Prefer matchstick fries? No problem, cut them smaller.

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In a large heavy skillet, heat several Tbs of the oil over high heat. Add ¼ of the fries and cook on all sides until golden brown. Repeat with remaining fries, adding oil as needed. Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with more salt, if desired, and serve hot. Serves 4-6 large portions.

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