Serves: n/a
Cost: ~€0.80
Preparation time: ~1 hour 5 minutes
Calories: ~50 calories per 1 tbsp serving
Greetings folks. I hope you’ve all been having a good week thus far. I returned to work yesterday after an extended weekend involving a couple of vacation days and a bank holiday. It’s weird thinking it “already” Thursday, and will soon be the weekend again, although you certainly won’t hear me complaining! Anyway, here I am, lying on my couch writing this; we’ve just picked up some groceries and my wife is pottering about in the kitchen. I had a sudden urge to eat cake (don’t you just hate it when that bug bites you?). She was also in the mood for a bit of cake and so she’s whisking and beating away in the kitchen right now, making an apple cake. A healthy one mind you – I’m trying to drop a few kilos right now – but a cake nevertheless. No doubt soon the air will be filled with the wonderful smell of baking apple and warm cinnamon. A glorious thing to offset this rainy evening, when I couldn’t even find a parking space next to my apartment building and had to park all the way down the other end of the road. My cat is dashing around the apartment like a loon – obviously chasing invisible mice, or pretending he’s super-cat, rescuing little miss kitty from the clutches of dark overlord Dog – who the heck knows what goes on in the mind of a cat.
Anyway, I digress – I mentioned that I was trying to drop a few kilos. Did I also mention that I have a bit of a penchant for snacks? Therein lies the problem my friends. Snacking is not conducive to a toned, trim six-pack. Segments of apple and kiwi are all well and good but sometimes you want something… something different, y’know? Something salty, with a bit of substance to it. Well – enter the chick pea. Roasted, cooled and served in a bowl these babies will rival the mightiest potato chip! Ok, maybe that’s going a bit far, but a handful of these are better than grease-soaked wafer-thin potato slices. I probably say it a lot but yeah – you can go ahead and customise these just about anyway you like. Have you ever had wasabi peas? They’re a bit like that – oh yeah!
I was looking around because I was sure that at least one of the bloggers whom I read regularly has made a form of roasted chick peas in the not too distant past. Searching around on Google for roasted chickpeas (apparently there’s just shy of 30 million hits!) I saw that it was actually Lisa, from Smart Food and Fit. The last time I checked as well, a post for roasted chickpeas was also one of the most popular items of all time posted to Foodgawker!
I opted for flavourings of garlic, cayenne pepper and cumin. Olive oil as the fat gave a beautiful colour and flavour and they’ve been sitting in a bowl here and whenever I get a bit snackish I can grab a few of these. The cayenne pepper has the added effect of burning up my mouth ever so slightly so that I can’t eat too many in one go! If you’ve never tried these before, I strongly recommend you do. If you have, share your favourite seasoning with me – I’d love to know how you eat them!
Have a great day and remainder of the week and see you all soon!
Garlic and Cumin Roasted Chick Peas
[learn_more caption=”Video Recipe”]
Ingredients
- 1 large can of Chick Peas (~500g)
- 3 tbsps Olive Oil
- 2-3 tsps Cumin
- 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper (adjust to taste)
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- A handful of garlic cloves
Instructions
- Start by pre-heating your oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Drain the chick peas and place into a large bowl. Add the cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Peel and mince the garlic and add this too. Mix well before finally adding in the olive oil and mixing well again to ensure that the chick peas are coated in oil. Place into a large baking tray or roasting pan and transfer to the oven.
- Allow to roast for about an hour until the peas are shrunken and crispy, and a rich golden brown in colour. Stir the peas every 20 minutes or so during the cooking process. Allow to cool before serving as a delicious snack!
Charles, what a fantastic and original snack idea! You know, I often work at home, so snacks are my nightmare. I try to keep some healthy ones at hand and am open to new ideas! using canned chickpeas is also a great way to shorten the preparation time. You can be certain I will make these soon! (By the way, I am always furious when I remember one of my blogging friends posted a recipe I want to make and I cannot find it. Sadly it happened to me recently and I haven’t found the person… I don’t even remember now what I was looking for.)
Talking about sweet food cravings… I try to make several portions of light creams (like the ones I prepare with agar) and now that the weather is warm, I hope they will satisfy my sweet tooth! Otherwise, I always keep a bar of good 72% dark chocolate or buy good quality chocolates from my favourite chocolatier. I have discovered that having just one square of the dark chocolate or one mini chocolate from the chocolatier calms my sweet cravings for much longer than cakes or cookies.
Good luck with weight loss!
Hi Sissi, I do hope you have a chance to try these, and that they will satisfy your “snack needs”. I know just what you mean about the chocolate. I find one square of really dark chocolate will really satisfy my sweet cravings usually too. Sometimes it will be impossible to get rid of them and I have to quickly find something with caramel, but in general, a square with a nice cup of coffee is very effective!
Snack attack! I get that all the time … not good. This is a great idea. I love chickpeas, I love cumin, chillies, crunch … what’s not to like about this one? It’s great that you’ve used canned chickpeas. The recipes I’ve come across mostly ask to soak dried chickpeas overnight … who can wait that long when one gets a snack attack?!
Hi Ping, I know, right? I have so many packets of beans at the back of my cupboard but I just use cans all the time because if I want to use the beans in the packets it means I have to plan the dinner about 24 hours in advance which is really not convenient sometimes!
Soak and cook your beans and then freeze them. You can take them straight from the freezer and drop them into a soup, stew, curry etc and cook with them as if they were straight from a tin. Or I take them out of the freezer in the morning and leave them defrosting over the course of the day to be perfectly ready when you need them in the evening.
Hi Michael – I’ll admit that I hadn’t thought of that way to be honest… great idea. It is still harder than just grabbing a can of them to be honest though, and my freezer is in a semi-permanent state of being jam-packed with God knows what… One day I hope to get a chest freezer and I’m going to try and bring a bit of order to it then so I’ll hopefully be able to employ your tip then! Cheers 🙂
Crisps are a big weakness for me and I try and avoid buying them or I´ll just have to scoff the lot! Something like this would be perfect as I am more a fan of savoury than sweet (mind you, your wife´s cake in the making sounds good!), and we love our chick peas. Brilliant recipe.
Hi Chica, the cake was lovely in the end – filled with plump apple, with lovely cake on top… ah yeah.
It seems really simple and it’s so surprising I haven’t heard of these before. What a great snack for those who are trying to find that elusive six-pack. I have a few cans of chickpeas in my cupboard so I will definitely give these a try – like you say, so much better than throwing back handfuls of chips xx
Hi Charlie, I hope you have a chance to give these a try – they’re really very nice and I had them over a couple of days, out on my coffee table as a nice snack when I got peckish!
I like your seasonings, Charles, although I’m thinking I would add some lemon zest to make them reminiscent of crunchy hummus. I’ve been seeing these for months in the blogosphere, but haven’t made any yet.
Hi Sharyn – lemon zest would be a good one – or if not that then toss them in some lemon juice before roasting… Nice one, I’ll try it next time, thanks a lot!
From the land of cumin monsters, I think this is wonderful idea. I love it.
In Morocco, some dodgy mobile stalls can be found in some busy streets during the afternoons. They sell boiled chickpeas and serve them with salt, cumin cayenne and lemon juice. I know it’s tasty, I tried it once.
Hi Nada, I love the sound of those stalls – I really enjoy chick peas a lot actually – they have a wonderful quality to them!
What a fantastic idea! I love the sound of this, all that garlic and spice mmmmmm 🙂 Cheers! Def filing this one away!
Thanks Jen – Sharyn mentioned above adding lemon zest… I think that too would be a fantastic addition, so remember that one!
I saw a recipe for roasted chick peas on a few blogs too, Charles and I too was thinking I would love them (perhaps a bit too much), so I haven’t made them as yet! But I think I may try it for our first weekend at the cottage for cocktails!
I love that you can use the canned stuff, and I adore the colour the chickpeas get. Very, very nice indeed. I may have to try this with navy beans somehow.
We have done well for our two weeks on the no/low (read me/JT) carb, sugar and fat routine, we’re each down 3-4 kilos, so we’re both very happy. I still have 1-1.5 to go in the following week, but we’re happy we are almost there!
Hope you have a great weekend.
Eva
Hi Eva – I’ll admit that it’s very easy to get carried away with these… but like any snack one needs to exercise some restraint. I too would like to try this method with other types of beans… I wonder if such good results could be had with kidney beans for example? Must try I think!
Congratulations on your weight loss – it must feel great!
Okay, I’m hooked. I’m going to try this one out on the weekend. I’ve been eating natural pb with celery, edamame, and almonds for snacks the past week. This will help liven things up a bit. Good luck with your health kick Charles.
Hi Barb. My health kick got off to a bad start when I accidentally made a triple ginger cake (which was “omg, so delicious!”) but I’m a bit more back on track now :D. I love edamame… do you buy them shelled? I always think part of the fun is shelling them! 😀
Yes, I buy them shelled and frozen in a bag….although I love to shell them too. It’s just that the shelled bag is readily available at my grogery store. I went a little off track this morning also I was eating a little danish treat that I’m going to post on tonight. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
“little danish treat”…. mmm, my mouth is watering already 😀
Another good recipe to try out-and I do love chickpeas-thanks Charles!
Thanks GD – I see we share the love of chick peas! 😀
What a great snack idea with simple ingredients! I always have chick peas in my pantry, so I am going to definitely try this. Thanks!
Hi Hyosun, nice to see you 🙂 Sharyn suggested above adding lemon zest, so next time I will do this or add some lemon juice… I think it will make an excellent flavour addition!
I am so loving these, Charles! I’ve been looking for a good recipe for roasted chickpeas as a snack and I am definitely going to try yours with all this nice garlic, plus I like that you have the little bit of lime on the side to zest it up. 🙂 We think sometimes our cats see ghosts when they are chasing nothing! Definitely something only cats can see.
Hi Betsy – do let me know if you give these a try… I found them very satisfying!
You know, today, my cat found a pipe-cleaner and I kid you not… he spent literally about 4 hours non-stop this morning playing with that thing. He finally took a nap and then spent the afternoon playing with it again. Never have I seen an inanimate object amuse him so much 😀
I’ll definitely let you know if I give these a try…which I do intend to do…I have several tins of chickpeas in the pantry just waiting! I also haven’t forgotten my charge to share jellied salads…just had too many things going on here lately! 😉
Oh yes! I will be making these for sure. I love, love, love chickpeas and love, love, love roasted chickpeas. I usually toast them slightly and then toss them in a salad or in pitas with hummus. These look fabulously seasoned and I like the idea of roasting them for an hour. I’m all over this one Charles. And love the description of your cat! Mine doesn’t dash around, but rather jumps up the wall. You’re right…never really know what’s going on in their minds!
Hi Kristy – thanks for your very enthusiastic comment. Nice to see another chickpea lover. You know, I never tried them toasted before… I’ll definitely have to try this! And you know … damn, now I have this insane urge to eat falafel, hummus, pita bread and shredded cabbage + roasted aubergine… mmmmmmmmm
I love wasabi peas so if that’s what you are comparing these to, then they must be fantastic! Love all that garlic!
Hi MJ – I’m wondering actually if one could make “wasabi chickpeas” with the same crispy shell too? I have a tube of wasabi here… I think I might have to experiment a little!
Charles – if you try it and like it let me know. Let the world know! 🙂 Hope you’re having a marvelous weekend!
I’ve always wanted to make roasted chick peas – great use of garlic and cumin here!
Thanks Laura! I’m going to add lemon juice or zest next time too!
My husband is going to love this snack. is there a snack trend going on right now online? lol
I am not into chickpeas so not for me…
whats wrong with getting a cake craving? 😉
Hi Helene, it’s too bad you don’t like chickpeas… does that even include hummus? For me, hummus is really “food of the Gods”… I could eat it non-stop!!
As for cake cravings… haha, I think they’re not so helpful to your waist-size!
Our cat goes snake too. It happens more in the winter though when it’s too cold for the little guy (ok, big guy) to go outside. I know what you mean about this rainy weather (we are on day 5 of consecutive rain) and it’s not as ‘light food’ conducive as a brilliant spring day normally would be. I think I’ll be making my Mexican comfort casserole again ce soir… ;-).
Charles, this is my kind of recipe… I just love it!! And who knew roasted chickpeas would have such mass appeal? (really, the most hits ever on FoodGawker – how many are we talking? ;-)). Since potatoes are an admitted weakness of mine, I must try this on Saturday night (chip night in this house) and see how I make out :). I buy wasabi peas for my husband – he digs them, I find wasabi a bit over the top flavour wise but love your spicing here. Great, great, post Charles.
Hi Kelly, you know what we really got into last week… baked potatoes… I
commandedkindly asked my wife to make them two nights in a row (because damn, she makes one fine baked potato!!!) and we started doing them in the microwave too… 10 minutes, job done, and so warming and nice!I do hope you have a chance to try this – I’m not sure how many hits it was on Foodgawker… it may very well have been usurped by now. I remember seeing it when I was browsing around some time ago and being shocked. I think my reaction was “chickpeas…. seriously?”.
I’ll tell you my dirty secret about wasabi peas… I suck all the wasabi off and then put the peas in a little pile. Once I have a big pile of about 15 peas, I eat them all at once, lol 😀
I can’t wait to make these.
Thanks Debra – I hope they turn out well!
yum! when I was little, there used to be these indian street vendors touting their roasted nuts and seeds and pulses, called kacang putih. it was a treat after school, and now come to think of it, a pretty healthy one comapred to what kids these days eat after school. sadly, it’s almost impossible to find them now in singapore. oh wait now I can make my own 😉 thanks charles.
Thanks Shuhan, that sounds like a really nice after-school treat! Nowadays it seems to be all Mars bars and Coke 🙁
Holy mackeral, look at all that garlic. I love it and these are definitley the way to go. Skip the chips, eat more roasted garbanzos. Great snack while lounging on the sofa and you know later you get to eat some of that delicous apple cake. Hope the weather clears for you over the weeken.
Hi Suzi – the apple cake was amazing… it lasted all of 20 minutes, lol 😀 As for the weather clearing: “ha, ha, ha!”. We’ve had constant rain since about 5pm today which was preceded by a big thunderstorm!
Looks quite easy to make and I love that this is healthy snack…as summer getting closer I seriously need ONLY healthy snack and I need to be very creative before I rebound and eat sugary stuff… I love the cumin and my husband will get addicted to this with beer!
Hi Nami, it’s outrageously easy to make! I know what you mean with needing healthy snacks. With hot evenings coming along, it’s very easy to pick at food and snack and eat too much because maybe it’s too hot to cook or spend much time in the kitchen!
I tried a chick pea recipe that was similar but they were not crunchy. I think the trick is the long baking time. Thank you for the recipe Charles. This is a nice dish to share with friends while having a glass of wine.
Hi Karen, it definitely makes a lovely little snack. I can imagine they would be good “un-crunchy” too, although I really like the idea of a “healthier chip”, and you get that feeling when they’re crispy!
This is such an awesome snack. I love all the flavorrs here especially the cumin. I would love to serve this with cocktails. It’s what i call chatpata khana which means something savory , big on flavor.
Thanks for your kind comment Asmita, and I learned something new today… “chatpata khana”… thanks for teaching me 🙂
Maybe substitute 1 tablespoon soy sauce for the salt?
Hi Norma, I can imagine that would give a delicious flavour too. Sharyn mentioned above adding lemon zest, or, as I thought, one could add lemon juice too, so I might try this as well next time – thanks for the idea!
Hey Charles, thanks for the mention! I’m definitley loven’ your seasoning. I thought I add too much fresh garlic to my recipes, but holy moly that looks like alot of garlic but I bet it tastes awesome. I too hate it when I try to find recipes from other food bloggers, I seem to spend hours trying to remember which blog I found it from. I still want to try your seed cracker recipe that I pinned a few months ago, perhaps it was back in January of this year.
Hi Lisa – thank *you* for the inspiration. I was sure I’d seen these and recently too. I’ve had them on my “to do” list for months now 😀 Thanks for the reminder about the seed cracker recipe too – I must make it myself again too. Don’t forget to spread the seed batter really thin before baking if you do it!
Charles of course I was very intrigued when I heard the word garlic in your chick peas and then to see the quantity of a handful of garlic on your recipe and I am still laughing and so happy to hear your are supporting the garlic cause. What a super delicious snack. Take care, BAM
Haha, I was hoping you’d take a look – I gotta say I don’t make a habit of using quite that much – only when I really want the flavours to shine through, lol 😀
These are for sure one of my all time favorite snacks, it is amazing how roasting transforms them completely
Thanks Sawsan – it’s true, they do undergo a complete change… so delicious 🙂
I’m at work rereading some of my favourite blogs and realized that I hadn’t commented on this. Savoury snacks are my favourites and though I tried to make something similar a while back, the results were less than satisfactory. I didn’t find that all the chickpeas had the same degree of dry crunch so some of the nuggets needed a lot of chewing. And I had to use a lot of salt and spices to get them to have a good flavour. I guess I prefer not knowing how much slat is in the chicks and other snacks I eat.
Love wasabi peas and treat myself to the occasional bag/container full and then just devour them until they’re done. Indian grocery stores have the best snacks, many made with chickpea flour or besan like masala sev which is a spicy noodle like snack. I wonder if you could make them at home using a potato or one of those cookie presses ricer instead of the special press.
http://nishamadhulika.com/en/297-besan-masala-sev-recipe.html
PS: Of course, I meant ‘salt’ NOT slat. 🙂
Aaah, I know well the indian snacks. Damn, they’re good – you’re right. The spicy noodle snacks, oh dear, they’re a weakness of mine. I’m not sure if you can buy it there but in England we have something called “bombay mix”. A mixture of all sorts of things – the spicy noodle things, crispy peas etc… SO good!
i have always store bought these but i’m guessing i should give it a go by myself, the pics look fantastic! i’m glad to have found your blog and i’ll be sure to pop over sometime again to see what you’re cooking. feel free to drop by my web-home sometime! x
Thanks so much Megan – nice to see you! Hope you enjoy what you see! 🙂
I still haven’t roasted chick peas. These look amazing and are going on my must-do list.
They’re really good Greg – you’ll love them I think with one of your wonderful cocktails!
Hi Charles,
Just discovered your website, and it’s rocking! You have so much variety! This is a brilliant idea for a snack. Love it! I think I now have a snack ready to be served whenever I need. Awesome!
Thanks Minnie 🙂 I hope you enjoy them – they’re very versatile. I saw someone even using them as a topping for a salad too… yum!
I made some a couple of days back. I added some green chillies and a few leaves of cilantro. It was totally delish!!
Green chillies and cilantro – that sounds like a fantastic variation – thanks for the idea!
Chick peas are a regular ingredient in the Indian kitchen. Mixing them up with onions and tomatoes, plus cilantro, chilies and chat masala make a regular and delightful snack. This variation was definitely a delight and somewhat of a departure from the regular taste.
They are looks very crispy….so i will try this very soon…thanks for sharing..
http://www.mjaayka.com/2013/01/08/rasmalai-recipe/
Hey Charles, Really liked your recipe it’s looks delicious. i am trying to be new chef in India and looking for some new recipe to try out on my hand. Thanks for sharing.
okay these are seriously good! I just made them and I LOVE them! I went about 45 minutes at 400 and next time I might try just a tiny bit longer. I used a lot of garlic because I’m a garlic fanatic! I love how spicy they are. Thanks for the recipe
Thanks Abby – glad you liked them! Reminds me… I didn’t make them since a long time… should do them again. They’re a great, healthy snack!