Have just discovered delicious chickpeas.

Westiesmum - is this what you are looking for.
Chickpea Nibbles (Rose Elliot)
125g chickpeas
4T wholemeal s.r./ flour
1 cl garlic crushed, s&p
25g marg 2T oil
Cook and drain chickpeas. Mix wholemeal flour and garlic, season with s&p,
toss chickpeas in seasoned flour, coating well. Heat marg and oil in frypan and add chickpeas, sprinkle any remaining flour on top. Gently fry chickpeas turning frequently until they are crisp and golden all over. Drain and serve immediately while crisp and light.

Last night I made a chickpea and brown rice pilaf and it was YUMMY.

Just cooked some onions and celery in butter and olive oil, added in some sliced mushrooms, 1 cup brown rice, cooked chickpeas (1/2 cup dried) and 750ml vege stock, then baked it at 180 for 45 minutes. Stirred in chopped silverbeet at the end. The nice thing is you could do it with any veges you have. It would be good with fennel.

thanks frances1266

Cooking Chickpeas is easy I do it about once a fortnight :)

I buy mine in 500gram bags at the supermarket. Tip the whole bag into a large bowl and soak overnight minimum but 24hrs is OK. Make sure there is plenty of water maybe a couple of inch's coverage over the dried peas they expand quite allot. You can then make Fallafel from them uncooked (my fav rather than falafel from cooked peas) or cook them by changing water then just covering with water and simmer until soft which usually takes about 12 hour of simmering. If you boil hard then they can break up and go a bit mushy. its not unlike boiling potatoes only takes a little bit longer. I started cooking in slow cooker but eventually discovered no advantage and they tend to go a bit mushy which I am not a fan of when using in salads etc.

Once cooked I store in a Tupperware sealed box in fridge I don't rinse but store in the cooking liquid maybe just a bit less than covering, the liquid is good in soups stews etc otherwise just strain for salads etc through slotted spoon. The liquid when chilled sets slightly into a light jell.

Easy to do and very cheap. A 500gr bag makes about a Kilo or more of cooked peas which costs about 2 dollars (from memory I stopped looking at the price a while back). I find with our family of 4 throwing a few into most casseroles stews salads etc etc that that lasts about a week or more its a great meat extender in cooked dishes and a good addition of texture to salads. Also excellent for everyones health certainly good for bowel issues. I use falafel as a way of reducing wheat and potato based carbs in our diet.

Aquafaba which is the brine from a can of chickpeas can be used instead of eggs for meringues and many other similar uses. Havent tried it myself yet but it all over the internet at the moment. Works really well apparently.

Grilled aubergines with spicy chickpeas salad
I personally don't add the walnuts to the sauce, and generally use sour cream instead of yoghurt as that is what I generally have on hand. Fresh coriander and mint also compliment this dish well, I add to sauce and add a little to the dish once complete.

4 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2cm piece ginger, finely chopped
½ tsp each ground cumin, coriander and cinnamon
400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
200g tomatoes, chopped
juice ½ lemon
2 aubergines, sliced lengthways
For the walnut sauce
200g tub Greek-style yogurt
1 garlic clove, crushed
25g walnuts, chopped

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan, add the onion and fry until soft and lightly browned, about 10 mins. Add the chilli, ginger and spices and mix well. Stir in the chickpeas, tomatoes and 5 tbsp water, bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 mins. Add a little salt and pepper and the lemon juice.
Arrange the aubergines over a grill pan. Brush lightly with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then grill until golden. Flip them over, brush again with oil, season and grill again until tender and golden.
Mix the yogurt with the garlic, most of the walnuts and coriander and a little salt and pepper. Arrange the aubergine slices over a warm platter and spoon over the chickpea mix. Drizzle with the walnut sauce and scatter with the remaining walnuts and coriander.
Recipe from Good Food magazine, April 2010

Beaker, how long do you find that you can keep them like that in the fridge for. I usually cook mine by the pack, drain and freeze them, taking out what I need and adding boiling water to thaw. Always make my own hummus and I love eating them just as they are, added to salads (especially curried chickpea salad) as well as lots of other dishes.

I find a week is OK and occasionally longer though I once had some go badly off when forgotten for about 2 weeks. I am careful about cross contamination though if intending to keep long. Having said that usually a batch doesn't last that long. They aren't expensive though so losing a few isn't so bad or freeze half and get them out early so they thaw in the fridge. Our family is big enough to get through them pretty quick sometimes.

Thanks for that info., I do store some in a jar in the fridge if I know that I will use within a couple of days but think I will stick to my method of freezing the surplus in bags and thaw as needed. We use quite a lot so they don't last too long anyway.

1 cup cooked chickpeas, strained and cooled until at room temperature - not cold in the fridge.

Make your favourite bread dough, and as you're kneading it before shaping the bread/rolls, etc. add the cooked and lightly squashed chickpeas into the dough a few at a time, kneading the dough lightly so you leave some of the chickpeas in small pieces.

Shape and bake as usual.

Works great with pizza dough or focaccia type bread dough too. makes a rustic appearance too.