Fascinating chickpea question

[FreezerBird]

It doesn't get more exciting than this!

I have a recipe which asks me to soak dried chickpeas overnight, then they will be going in the slow cooker for 6-8 hours. No preheating or anything before going in. Recipe also specifically says tinned chickpeas won't work for this.

My packet of chickpeas tells me very sternly that after soaking the chickpeas must not be cooked in a slow cooker without being boiled for ten minutes first. It is adamant on the subject.

If I plough on, how ill am I going to make my family....?

I'm enjoying the split pea/lentil conversation. I may be clueless about chickpea prep, but I did know that!

Here's the recipe, and the book.

Yearofthemum I simmer for 20 mins (300g split peas to 1L water plus 1tsp tumeric & 1tsp salt) then add to a frying pan where I've fried 3 chopped tomatos, garlic & chilli powder in a little oil. Cooked for a further 15-20 mins and you have the perfect split pea dhal.

You have to boil dried kidney beans for 10 min to get rid of a toxin whose name escapes me. But chick peas are OK AFAIK. Perhaps the advice on the packet is generic and the suppliers apply to all beans just in case.
BTW don’t cook chickpeas in salted water or add salt before they are cooked, as it stops them softening properly.

I've cooked dried, unsoaked chick peas in slow cooker many times. They come out cooked and have not caused us any issues.

@borntobequiet Thank you, I did not know that.

This thread has made me want a slow cooker. Do I really need one though?

Mmm chickpeas, food of the gods.

Anyway, I make felafel from tinned chickpeas and a spoonful of gram to help them hold together then quenelle and shallow fry. Not authentic but it works for me.

@Squ1ggle, I stand corrected. I always thought they were the same.

Is it something to do with them exploding in the slow cooker, rather than poisoning you?

Well that brings a whole new level of excitement to the proceedings!

(They're in!)

If people don't know that split peas are not red lentils then I suspect I might just explode some people's minds right now.

Did you know that you can use chickpea water (including from tinned chickpeas, in fact that's recommended for beginners) to make vegan meringues? They call the chickpea water aquafaba.

The chickpea water meringue was on Bake Off.

Chickpeas give me such bad wind 🙄

i have never been able to get past the whole falafel being raw soaked chick peas thing....it all seems so so wrong and death inducing.

I think the dire warning in the 70s about not boiling your pulses enough have scarred me for life

I only use tinned chick peas, for fear.

The chickpea water meringue was on Bake Off

Wow, that both surprises and impresses me! Don't they usual stick to traditional-but-difficult stuff? I haven't seen it for a while though so I could be today off the mark.

It’s only kidney beans you have to boil to stop them killing you.

Don’t put tinned chickpeas In a cooker for 8 hours unless you want daal. Which you might-it would be delicious.

I don’t think you can call anything that’s not fried a felafel.

Oh, and I made aquafaba meringues- of the 5 people who are them, 4 thought they were great- and one thought they tasted so strongly of chickpeas that they were inedible. It must be a coriander thing.

I love chickpeas, but the thought of chickpea meringue with the tinned liquid is making me feel very 🤢. I wash the chickpeas until they’re screaming for mercy because that stuff always looks so vile.

My mum uses chickpea water as a substitute for egg white as she is vegan. I just can't see how they can have the same properties!

Yeah, I knew about aquaflava in vegan meringue thanks to GBBO, too. Imagine someone feeling bored enough to think 'what shall I do, hang on a minute, let me whisk up some chickpea water to see what happens'.

I made a chocolate mouse with aquafaba. It tasted like chocolate chickpeas, completely inedible.

I don't even soak them. If I want to cook them on their own I just pour boiling water on and cook for 1-2 hours until tender/4-5 in the slow cooker. If I want to cook them with something else then I pour in boiling water and bring to the boil for 5-10 minutes then sling them in as if presoaked.

Update: my kitchen smells amazing. Nothing has exploded.

I was once talking to a Lebanese guy about making hommous - the Lebanese are hommous connoisseurs - and he was truly horrified by the idea of tinned chickpeas. I still use them though!

I don’t think you can call anything that’s not fried a felafel

I agree, to be honest, but I don't know what else to call them.

Split peas: soak overnight preferably, then they should soften with an hour of cooking (like previous poster said, only add salt/flavourings at end). I have had the odd packet that simply wouldn't soften even after doing all this and concluded they were seriously old split peas that had just gone fossilised. Chucked them away.

Yes, the Bake Off featured chickpea water in Vegan Week.

Glad they didn't explode, OP if also a teeny bit disappointed