Three Chickpea Recipes | Cup of Jo (2024)

A few years ago, when I was just starting out on my quest to dial back meatin our house, one of my daughters walked in the door and said she had a vision: “I think we should have Caesar salad tonight, but instead of chicken, just swap in crispy chickpeas.”

Caesar salad with chicken had long been a favorite in our house, and recently, so had crispy chickpeas, so her suggestion made a lot of sense. I fried up a can of drained, dried garbanzos in oil, then added cayenne, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and into the salad they went. It was such a success that now, when people ask me for advice on how to transition to vegetarian cooking, one of the first things I tell them is: Make friends with chickpeas, akagarbanzos, gram, ceci, chana. I think of the protein-packed humble legume the way I used to think about chicken — the starting point for dinner. Two more examples…

Antipasto Pizza — Toss chickpeas (completely drained and dried) with broccolini, onions, olive oil, salt and pepper, and pile on to a provolone-mozzarella topped pizza dough. (Add a little bit of Genoa salami if you need to convince any meat-eating hold-outs, including yourself.) Bake at 475°F on a greased cookie sheet (or pizza stone if that’s your thing) until crust gets golden and cheese starts bubbling, about 15 minutes.

Crispy Chickpeas with Yogurt — You can take those same crispy chickpeas from the Caesar salad and make them the star of the plate: just top with yogurt and tamarind sauce and serve with rice. (I would say by now this qualifies as a meal we’ve loved to death in our family.) We’ve also been known to toss spinach or kale in the skillet to up the green factor.

And just like the way I used to gravitate towards chicken recipes in cookbooks, now I flip to the index to look for chickpea-driven ideas first. Case in point: Vasudha Viswanath’s new book The Vegetarian Reset, which is a wonderful global collection of vegan and vegetarian cooking. The chickpea-centric recipes I’ve already dog-eared? Tagine with Lemon-Herb Cauliflower Rice; Paella; Falafel Salad; and the spiced coconut-y stir-fry Sundal which she was kind enough to share with us, below.

Sundal
From The Vegetarian Reset
Says Vasudha: “Sundal is ‘officially’ part of the Navaratri celebration for many Hindus in South India, but isserved on other occasions as well or consumed as a snack. The simple tadka of mustard seeds, green Chile, curry leaves, hing, and coconut instantly elevates this dish. I also suggest serving this as a main, on a bed of greens.”

1 heaping cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight, or 2 15-ounce cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons avocado oil, or other neutral oil of choice
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds (yellow mustard seeds are less pungent, but will work as a substitute)
2 Indian green chiles, jalapeño peppers, or Thai chiles, chopped
10–15 fresh curry leaves, chopped, or 20–30 whole dried curry leaves, crumbled
½ teaspoon urad dal (black gram, split and skinned; optional)
¼ teaspoon asafoetida (hing, sometimes called yellow powder)
½ cup finely diced onion
1½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon fresh or frozen shredded coconut, or dry unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tablespoon lemon juice

If using dried chickpeas, combine them with 3 cups of water in a pressure cooker and cook just until done (about 7 minutes on high in an Instant Pot; quick release pressure after 5 minutes). The beans should be cooked but crunchy. Skip this step if using canned chickpeas.