How to Cook Dried Chickpeas: Cooking Garbanzo Beans

Chickpeas are a type of legume common to Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Indian cuisines. Also known as garbanzo beans, chickpeas are both a protein and a vegetable. You can eat chickpeas raw, roasted, or ground into a spread. Some popular dishes that incorporate chickpeas include chana masala, hummus, and falafel, as well as stews and salads.

Native to the Mediterranean region, chickpeas grow on an annual that belongs to the plant family Fabaceae. The chickpea plant blooms thin stems with feathery leaves and edible seeds called pulses. There are two main types of chickpeas: kabuli and desi.

Dried chickpeas triple in size after you soak and cook them. Keep this factor in mind when cooking dried chickpeas, as one cup of dried beans results in three cups of cooked chickpeas. Follow these steps when cooking dried chickpeas:

• Soak the chickpeas. Allowing your chickpeas to soak overnight gives the seeds time to absorb the water solution and expand in size. You can do a quick soak, however, to prepare dried chickpeas for immediate cooking if you are short on time. To soak your beans, add the dried chickpeas to a large pot of water. Use four cups of water for every cup of dried chickpeas. Add one tablespoon of kosher salt and mix the solution until the salt dissolves completely in the water. For overnight soaking, leave the mixture out overnight. For the quick soak method, cover the chickpeas and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let the chickpeas soak for five to ten minutes.
• Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Pour the soaking water and chickpeas into a colander to drain the salt mixture. Rinse the soaked beans under cold water before cooking them.
• Season the chickpeas. You can cook your chickpeas with a pressure cooker, slow cooker, or on the stovetop. Regardless of which cooking method you choose, the prep and seasoning process is the same. Add your soaked chickpeas to the pot with your choice of seasonings, then cover the chickpeas with two inches of cooking water. Some popular chickpea seasonings include combinations of diced garlic cloves, sea salt, olive oil, cinnamon, and lemon juice.
• Cook the chickpeas. In a slow cooker on high heat, the chickpeas will require four to six hours to cook. When pressure cooking on a high-pressure setting, the beans cook for twelve minutes. For the stovetop method, bring the pot of chickpeas to a boil before lowering the heat. Then let the chickpeas simmer for about two hours or until they reach your desired tenderness. As the beans cook in the pot on the stove, a foam might develop along the top of the water. Scoop out the foam with a spoon.
  
• Store the chickpeas. Refrigerate leftover chickpeas in an airtight container. For long-term storage, freeze cooked chickpeas in a sealed bag. You can use the frozen beans for up to six months in different chickpea recipes, such as a chickpea salad or chickpea soup with lentils. After that time period, discard any remaining chickpeas and cook a fresh batch.

Consider the following tips for cooking flavorful, crispy chickpeas:

1. 1. Add flavor with herbs. Seasoning your chickpeas with fresh herbs is a simple way to enhance the flavor of the beans. As the chickpeas cook in the hot water, they absorb the flavors of the herbs. Consider adding rosemary, thyme, or bay leaves to your cooking liquid. Wrap delicate herbs in cheesecloth before adding them to the pot.
2. 2. Prep the chickpeas by soaking them first. While you do not have to soak dried chickpeas before cooking them, soaking reduces the overall cooking time and improves the texture of the beans. Unsoaked chickpeas are more likely to split and break during the cooking process.
   
3. 3. Use fresh beans. Fresh chickpeas become soft and tender after cooking. While chickpeas can sit on the shelf for a few years, older beans tend to stay hard after cooking. If you can’t use fresh beans, add baking soda to the brine mixture to soften hard chickpeas.

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