Chickpea Fries …

While I was tripping around New York City this spring with friends we dined at a cute little vegan restaurant in the Upper West Side called Peacefood Café.   I get SO excited any time I can eat at a vegetarian or vegan restaurant and usually go for the food coma when ordering.  One of the stand out dishes we ordered was chickpea fries.  We had no idea what they were or what they would look like and were blown away not only by the look of them but  the quantity in the order.   The taste was a festival for the taste buds!

Once home, three states away, I began obsessing about chickpea fries, as I do with all things no longer in my reach, and decided to explore the possibilty of knocking off the recipe at home.  All my internet searches brought me back to chickpea flour.  I’d never heard of chickpea flower to this point and began a search to find this ingredient.  Well it was not to be found in my neck of eastern NC, but,  I was lucky enough to find it on a trip back home to my in laws at the most amazing little shop inside the Covent Garden Market in London, Ontario, Canada.

Once home I got to work scouring the internet again for recipes for chickpea fries and after reading a few I opted for creating a recipe of my own using some of the spices that stood out in my memory.    They’re fried so we won’t call them clean or even totally healthy, however – they are a real treat-  packed with protein and are without a doubt delicious!

2 Cups Water

1 Cup Sifted Chickpea Flour

2 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp Sea Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper to Taste

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp Oregano

1/4 tsp Cayenne

1 1/2 – 2  TBSP Cumin

Set the water to boil,  in a separate bowl sift the flour, add in the spices and oil and mix with a fork.  Once the water is boiled add the flour to the water and stir until well mixed.  It will be a thick paste.  Remove from the heat and pour into a greased baking pan.  Put it in the fridge for an hour or  until you are ready to cook and serve.

TO PREPARE

 Slice the pan of set chickpeas into fingers.  Heat a pan with a little bit of oil that can take high heat like peanut or coconut oil and fry each side of fingers until golden. Lay them out on a paper towel to cool and absorb any excess oil & serve with a salad and a dipping sauce.  It goes nicely with a ranch flavoured dressing for dipping or a cucumber based dressing like tzatziki.

VEGAN DIP / DRESSING

One 325 g package of silken tofu in the blender or food processor with 2 TBSP Vegan Mayo, 2-4 TBS rice vinegar (I let the blender gage the amount – if it’s having a hard time blending add a little more rice vinegar until the dip blends easily, sautéed garlic and onion, add 1 TBS dill, sea salt, ground pepper and any other spices you may like.  You can use all dried spices too and skip the sauté step for simplicity.  Can refrigerate for up to a week.