Spicy Baked Chickpeas - Blog Hopping and a snack with evening Tea (or coffee)

Snacks - there is something extremely enthralling about this genre of food, kids and adults alike love it over regular food, yes that is how it is at my home. Lot of people associate snacks with deep frying but there are loads and loads of low calorie, low fat snacks you can create without the sizzling oil.

Roasted or fried chick peas (garbanzo beans) are a snack from childhood. You would see these spicy, crunchy peas in most of Mysore and Bengaluru's bakeries filled in those plastic, transparent jars in the front, inviting you to try them on. Believe me, they are addictive. You cannot stop eating a fistful especially when the spices are just right.

When I got Radhika's email with the BHW-17 details, I went to Tasty Curry leaf by Sweatha to choose my recipe. She has been blogging for a while now and has a wide variety of desi and international food recipes. I didn't have to search long or hard to pick what I was sure me and my family would enjoy.  I loved the baked chickpeas recipe she has on the blog as soon as I saw it. These turned out delicious with our evening tea.

Here I am with spicy baked chickpeas for my second Blog Hop Wednesday.

What do you need for Baked Chick peas? 
1 cup dry garbanzo beans/chick peas
1 Tsp cooking oil
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1/2 Tsp Turmeric powder
1/4 Tsp asafoetida powder
1 Tsp red chilly powder

How do you make Spicy baked chick peas? 

• Soak the beans over night in 4 cups of water, let them plump up.
• Wash and drain water from the beans, cook them with salt until just soft. I used my pressure cooker and switched it off after two whistles.
• Drain the beans, spread it on a towel or tissue paper and let it air dry. Pat dry them if your tea time is creeping up on you :-) 
• Pre-heat the oven to 400F.
• Take the cooked beans to a bowl, add oil, spice powders and mix it well. 
• Spread it on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 30-35 minutes. 
• Let it stand for a few minutes and serve warm, crunchy, spicy chick peas with your tea/coffee/milk... 

Notes:

• Sweatha gives you a free hand on the spices to add, I used the ones I like, you have the choice to try garam masala or any other spice that is your favorite.
• Addition of turmeric and asafoetida gives the baked beans a wonderful aroma and flavor. 
• Sweatha mentions you can use the canned garbanzo beans, I stayed away as some of the brands have really mushy garbanzos which do not work well with the baking part. 
• Make sure you cook the beans just soft and watch the baking time as it depends on your baking sheet, oven temperature and the amount of chick peas you are baking. Mine were done in 35 minutes. 

Here goes my baked chick peas to Radhika's Blog Hop Wednesdays