I finally made the chickpea salad recipe which I had seen in the Washington Post earlier this year:
(Their photo, not mine.)
It took me some months to find I had actually gathered all of the relevant ingredients and all were still OK to use. (We don't routinely have mango chutney in the house, nor plain Greek yoghurt. We also tend to use curry spices more than curry paste. But I did use Japanese mayo, and we always have a large bottle of that delicious stuff in the fridge.)
As I expected, it is very nice as a side dish, and when layered thick as a sandwich filling.
Chickpeas are just the best legume.
Update: because I am sure there is a large audience out there as interested in them as I am, I found a list of "10 interesting facts about chickpeas", compiled by an Australian snack making company. (On the Sunshine Coast, so not so far from me, too.)
Actually, most of the facts aren't that interesting, except for these two:
Ground chickpeas have been used as a coffee substitute since the 18th century and are still commonly used as a caffeine-free alternative today. Widely available, the taste is said to be delicious – why not give it a go!
[Never heard of that before.]
India is the world’s number one leader in chickpea production, with a staggering 8,832,500 metric tons reportedly produced in 2013. Interestingly, the country coming in second place was Australia! With 813,300 tons produced in the same year. “Production of chickpea by countries” UN Food & Agriculture Organisation 2014.
And yes, more recent figures still show Australia was the second biggest producer in 2018 (figures are for 1,000 metric tons):
But there's more!
I didn't realise that it's a variety of chickpea that is made into split peas, and ultimately dhal:
The larger variety that is canned and favoured in Mediterranean cooking are the kabuli variety.
This is setting me up for some great dinner time imparting of knowledge to my offspring!
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