Crispy chickpeas with sumac and lemon

This recipe was originally written for eco age.

A perfect snack to nibble on I love to serve these to my dinner party guests before sitting down for supper. If you are a patient person I do recommend peeling the chickpeas. It’s not as hard work as it sounds and rubbing them in a tea towel gives you a good head start.  Removing their skins allows the chickpeas to get beautifully crispy on the outside whilst remaining soft on the inside. I often make them in sync with my aqua-faba chocolate mousse with amaretto soaked cherries as it makes the most of the chickpeas and saves wastage. Usually I’ll toss the leftover chickpea skins into something else I’m making that week or often for the main course. They add some good roughage to curries, sauces, soups or stir-fries.

Serves 3-4 as a snack

Ingredients

  • 1 can chickpeas drained 240g drained weight (*note reserve chickpea water for my aqua-faba chocolate mousse with amaretto soaked cherries)vegetable oil for frying

  • 1 tsp sumac

  • 1 tsp ground coriander

  • 1 tsp salt

  • good grind of black pepper

  • zest of 1 lemon

  • juice ¼ lemon

Method 

  • Drain your chickpeas and give them a rinse (reserving the chickpea water if you want to make my aqua-faba chocolate mousse with amaretto soaked cherries). Place your chickpeas on a clean and dry tea towel. Fold it over and gently rub them together. This will help rub off most of their skins.

  • Peel off the remaining skins and place your chickpeas in a bowl.

  • In a separate bowl combine your spices, salt and pepper.

  • Place about ½ cm depth of vegetable oil into a medium sized sauté pan and bring to a medium heat. To test whether it is hot enough throw a chick pea into the oil. It should fizz when it is ready. If your oil is spitting reduce the heat slightly.

  • Pour your chickpeas into the oil and fry until golden brown – about 10 mins.

  • Using a slotted spoon remove the chickpeas and place them on a paper towel lined tray. Allow them to cool for a minute or so before transferring them to the spice mix and tossing well. Add the lemon zest and juice and give them another toss.  

  • Transfer to a serving plate and finish with a little more lemon zest if you like. Eat right away.

Canapés, Dinner Party, Starters, Vegan, VegetarianAlexandra Dudley