Crunchy Channa (Roasted Chickpeas)

Who doesn't love a good crunchy, salty snack once in a while? Unfortunately the options are usually full of hydrogenated fat and empty calories. Well, there's always roasted chickpeas! When chickpeas are baked the dry heat causes their moisture to evaporate. The end result is light and crunchy. They make a great snack on their own or they make an interesting alternative to croutons in salads and soups. You can flavour your chickpeas any way you like. In fact, you never have to make them the same way twice. Here I'm using some Indian flavours but you can do anything from jerk, cajun, Chinese 5-spice, tex-mex, ras el hanout, cinnamon & sugar, dried herbs, just literally anything you like! 

This is an easy and inexpensive recipe to put together. It's a fun experiment you can do on your own, with friends and even kids. Not to mention very good for you!  



Ingredients

2 cans of chickpeas
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
Salt
Pepper




Preheat your oven to 400 F/205 C.

Drain the chickpeas in a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Use kitchen towels to dry them. You want as little water as possible on them. 

Add 1 tbsp of olive oil. It won't seem like quite enough but when you toss with your fingers you should have just enough to lightly cover the chickpeas. Season to taste  with salt and pepper then add all of the remaining spices. Toss with your fingers to evenly disperse the spices throughout. 

 

Sprinkle the spiced chickpeas over a dry, rimmed pan or baking tray. In this photo you will see that I have a silicon "Silpat" mat on my pan. That's just there because that's where it lives. You do not need a Silpat, parchment paper or any kind of equivalent.

 



Place in your preheated oven for 45-60 minutes or until they are light, crunchy, and golden brown. Every 15-20 minutes or so, remove the chickpeas from the oven and give the pan a gentle shake or stir the chickpeas with a spatula or wooden spoon. As the chickpeas roast they will shrink in size.

Allow them to cool to room temperature and store them in an airtight container. They last for weeks. Whenever you're looking for a quick, crunchy snack they're right there. Just remember, chickpeas are much more dense in nutrition then say potato chips so they will fill you up a lot faster. That's a good thing, but remember to pace yourself. These are really tasty and oh so easy to munch and munch on. How easy is this though? All you need are canned chickpeas, olive oil, salt, pepper and any kind of spices you like. You might even have all of those things in your home already. 

I hope you enjoyed this quick little recipe idea. I'd love to see how your version turns out. Feel free to post your photos to the blog's Facebook page. 

Until next time,

B