Sanctuary from The Mad World
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch. - Orson Welles

One restless Monday evening, I was craving for something to munch and there was nothing in the pantry. I reached for the freezer and took out Mövenpick’s vanilla ice-cream. After a few half-hearted spoonfuls, I realized I wanted salty snacks and there was none in the house.

Suddenly, I thought, "Why not roast chickpeas?" I love chickpeas and I wonder how they taste roasted. A quick googling brought me to this and this site. Apparently, I wasn’t crazy. There is such thing as roasted chickpeas.

I used dried chickpeas so the snack was available only the next day. Mine didn’t turn out completely crispy: some were still soft in the centre. I’ll just have to play around with the temperatures and dryness to ensure that I get it right (I’ll put the notes later as an afterthought). You should too (and tell me, please…)

Ingredients:
1 cup dried chickpeas (Canned ones are possible, but might result in longer cooking time due to the water content)
Salt - to taste
Garlic-infused olive oil - to taste, but about 1-2 tbsp
Garam Masala (Opt) - to taste


Directions:
Soak the peas overnight and cook them the next day until tender. Drain and towel until dry.

Preheat the oven at 220 degrees Celsius. Toss the chickpeas with a mixture of salt and olive oil. Spread the peas in one layer on a baking sheet. Bake for about 25-40 minutes, shaking them every 10 minutes (and checking to ensure that they’re sufficiently crispy and not burnt)

When brown and crispy, toss the hot chickpeas with garam masala (completely optional and experimental. You can add cayenne pepper or other seasoning). Eat them while watching your favourite TV show or reading your favourite book!

PS:  the chickpeas shrink quite a bit when roasted. 

Afterthoughts:

Try experimenting with the oven temperature and amount of oil.  The best result was achieved when I generously seasoned the peas with olive oil and increased the temperature to 250 degrees.  I roasted the peas for 10 minutes, shook them, then roasted again for another 10 minutes at 220 degrees.  80% turned out crispy.