This is a review of the slow cooker chickpeas recipe.
From Nigella’s excellent Simply cookbook.
Which required NO pre-soaking.
And was a very easy recipe.
With better results, compared to cooking chickpeas on the hob or in an oven.
This is one of the many benefits of using a slow cooker!
Especially as I love houmous.
Or it is, hummus?
More slow cooker cookbook recipes, coming soon!
Slow Cooker Chickpeas
I prefer making my own houmous/hummus from scratch. But I’m not very good at remembering to soak dried chickpeas the night before!
So when I read Nigella’s Spinach and Chickpea recipe. In her Simply Nigella Cookbook. With her method of cooking dried chickpeas in a slow cooker. That, not only didn’t require pre-soaking. But with the simple addition of bicarbonate of soda. Meant that I could easily cook chickpeas from dry. And get better results than the tinned chickpeas. I had to give it a go!
There are 5 slow cooker recipes in Simply Nigella. And this chickpea recipe, was the first I tried.
The bicarb is supposed to soften the chickpeas. Making the end result plumper and with a better texture. Compared with tinned chickpeas.
Putting the dried chickpeas, measured water and bicarb into the slow cooker. Set it to low and cook for 4 hours. The end results, were indeed softer but not mushy chickpeas. And the chickpeas were twice the size of the dried. They were definitely bigger, plumper. Compared to the chickpeas I get from oven-cooking from dried.
The outer layer of the chickpeas actually came away easily. The bicarb seemed to softened the outer skin, making them fall off. As a result they absorbed more water, and grew plumper.
So after removing these outer skins (much like you would with a broad bean), you get a tender plump chickpea. Which blended to a smoother consistency than I had achieved with oven-cooked or tinned chickpeas. Then I added the usual houmous ingredients – i.e tahini, garlic, lemon, olive oil etc. And blended to get a lovely velvety and smooth houmous.
Cooking 250g dried chickpeas with this slow cooker chickpeas recipe. Yielded 575g of cooked chickpeas.
Benefits of Cooking Pulses or Beans in a Slow Cooker
- No pre-soaking required.
- Cooking from dried is cheaper than buying tins of pre-cooked chickpeas. Even if you include the cost of cooking them in the slow cooker. Which is much cheaper than cooking them in the oven.
- And the bag of dried chickpeas weighed less. And took up less space in my cupboard.
Ways to Use Chickpeas
Like all pulses and beans, Chickpeas are a very versatile ingredient. They can be blended to make a variety of dips or flavoured houmous.
They are also good in Moroccan tagines and Indian curries. Plus they are excellent in bulgar wheat or mixed bean salads. And for a vegetarian option, such as in a chickpea chili.
More Morphy Richards Slow Cooker Recipe Reviews
For more details about the slow cooker I used. And the recipes I’ve tried so far. See my post: Buying My First Slow Cooker.
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