Fried chickpea with crispy buckwheat shell

As a semi-permanent traveler I used to long intensively for a way to travel with beans that didn't involve cans or hours of cooking, to have always a relatively big stash in my bag. Little did I know you could fry chickpeas.

Fried chickpeas??? was one of the first things I thought when I entered my first general Asian food shop ever. I was 20 (yes, I know, but they just don't have these things where I come from, except for Japanese). I was wild. Fried chickpeas, fried peas, fried chickpea dough strips, and fried mix. Everything piping hot, making me sweat like a popping popcorn, steaming (try making popcorn with a glass lid and you will see what I mean). And it made me pop too.

Well, the thing is, I know what I will make before my next trip. If I'm too lazy I will just take canned hummus but it is very likely I will get my hands on the dough. I always do. Next time with something other than a freshly cooked meal, since it goes partly spoiled, since we like to try new flavours we find on the way and end up eating it for breakfast and not wanting to repeat it for lunch (we already ate the same thing before leaving too).

Fried chickpea with crispy buckwheat shell

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked/canned chickpeas (can be firm)
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp spaghetti spices
• 1 tbsp salt (if chickpeas aren't salted yet)
• 5 tbsp buckwheat flour
• Coconut oil, for deep frying

Cooking Directions

1. Drain chickpeas, making sure they are still a bit wet.
2. Let the chickpeas marinate with spices and salt for 12 hours (1 is fine too but 12 is nicer).
3. Add the flour, mix well, making sure the flour is well distributed.
4. Heat the frying oil (my stove has 6 marks, I use the 5).
5. Throw a little piece of bread or a piece of onion peel in the oil, and if it fries immediately, the temperature is good. Take off the bead/peel (so it won't burn) and add the chickpeas carefully (so you won't burn :-) ).
6. Fry until it becomes a bit golden, about 3-5 minutes.

Kuttu ki puri (gluten free buckwheat poori)

I love Indian food. Besides being a spice junkie, I'm enticed about their ability of combining health, yumminess and variety.

I make these very often, for a nice lunch with a raw carrot, cauliflower and spring onions and mayonnaise salad (picture) and a nice green tea; and sometimes to curb my craving for chips with a much more nourishing set of ingredients at midnight while writing. I usually make dough for 2 days.

This kuttu ki puri recipe is usually made with potato to make the dough stick together. That works and it is handy, but I don't feel like cooking and chopping and mashing potato for making kuttu ki puri. So I made the buckwheat poori without potato and it worked :-) I used a very fine buckwheat flour, Doves farm. I'd say, giv it a try buckwheat flour + water and if it falls apart a bit too much add a binding ingredient (aside than potato, a spoon of psyllium husks or an egg and more flour to get the right consistency.

Kuttu ki puri (gluten free buckwheat poori)

Yield: 2 portions
Ingredients

• 1 part water or water+egg or mashed potato for coarser flours
• 2 parts buckwheat flour (depending on the flour you might need quite some more, plus extra for dusting)
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 drizzle olive oil
• Ghee/coconut oil for frying

Cooking Directions

1. In a bowl, add flour, water, olive oil and mix well with a fork until it is an even dough, adding more flour if necessary. Let it rest a bit (15 minutes) and take a ball a bit bigger than a cherry tomato, repeating with th rest of the dough, add flour to a little plate and grease your hands a bit with olive oil.
2. Add the little ball to the flour plate, roll it around a bit to coat it with flour, and flatten it on your hands until thin (you can also use a rolling pin, yet it's easier to know if the dough is sticky when you use your hands). Let the ghee/coconut oil simmer in a frying pan.
3. Check the ghee/oil for the temperature (add a tiny bit of dough and see if it starts frying immediately), and add the rolled flatbreads one by one (or more if the pan is really big). Fry it until it starts going golden on the side, and turn it around. Fry a minute more, and repeat with all the flatbreads you wish to eat soon. You can keep the rest of the dough for 1 or 2 days in a glass bowl with a lid (avoid sealing it).