Recipe Chickpea, Onion and Chopped Tomato Curry

[Amateur1]

I would like to make the recipe below using raw chickpeas rather than tinned.
How long should I soak the chickpeas before using them?
What else should I do after soaking them?

Chickpea, Onion and Chopped Tomato Curry​

Ingredients

2 onions
1 tsp salt
8 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp mild chilli powder
2 tsp turmeric
400g chopped tomatoes in basil
1 tsp garam masala (recipe says 1 tbsp)
2 400g tins of chickpeas

Method

Drain chickpeas and wash
Heat oil and fry onions for about 7 minutes until they are golden brown
Add tomatoes, turmeric, salt and chilli powder
Stir the contents and fry on a medium heat until mixture is well blended and oil has separated.
Add chickpeas
Cover and cook on a medium heat for 10-15 minutes
Add water if it gets too dry
Sprinkle garam masala and stir.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Soak the chickpeas overnight. Drain them, rinse and put into a pot covered with water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 1 hr, until the chickpeas are tender. Then go ahead and make your curry.
100 gms of dried chickpeas is roughly equivalent to 400 gms tinned, so you´re going to have to soak 200 gms.
And yes - I´d go for the tablespoon of garam masala. Add it 5 minutes before finishing.

 

[Amateur1]

thanks

 

[Morning Glory]

To be honest, I rarely use dried chickpeas. Here in the UK the tins are so cheap and if you factor in the cost of fuel to cook them from scratch, I doubt there is much saving in money unless you use a pressure cooker. Do they taste better if cooked from dried? Not really, in my experience although some brands of tinned chickpeas have more flavour than others. But its a bit the same with dried chickpeas. Also, if dried chickpeas are a bit old they take forever to cook.

All the above advice is correct. You must soak and thoroughly cook them before using them in this recipe.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

Both are great, and while I prefer canned chickpeas for their convenience, I love dried chickpeas for their nutritional properties that remain intact as opposed to canned chickpeas that usually contain a little too much salt for my taste. Another difference I make is between packages, and I much prefer pre-cooked chickpeas stored in glass jars because they have fewer preservatives.
Dried chickpeas need to be soaked overnight (I often add some fresh rosemary or a bay leaf) and then cooked the next day.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I much prefer my own chickpeas made from dried, so I rarely use tinned.

I soak overnight, then cook in garlic and turmeric to add in something extra. I also cook them in the pressure cooker if time is short because 15-20 minutes and they are very soft.

And that's the beauty of cooking your own, you can control how soft they become. if the recipe says soft or you are making them to puree or mash, cook your own.

As for garam masala, 1tbsp of the spice mix would be fine. remember it's a mix of others, so you use much more of it. As for when, add it add per the instructions, but if it were me cooking it, I'd be adding it much earlier because i want the flavours to get into the dish.

 

[MrsDangermouse]

I love chickpeas - they're so versatile. I very rarely buy tinned chickpeas or beans - dried is so much cheaper and with a pressure cooker there is often no need to pre-soak so no need to plan ahead either

My rule of thumb for converting recipes using tinned chickpeas is to divide the tinned weight by 4.
Without pre-soaking chickpeas take 45 mins in my pressure cooker to be just cooked (ie. not falling apart), if they are pre-soaked then they only take about 15 minutes (but to be honest I hardly ever pre-soak now because I can't tell any difference)

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

but to be honest I hardly ever pre-soak now because I can't tell any difference

the only difference I've seen is the size they swell to. I've not noticed a taste difference. plus I'm at altitude which affects the pressure cooker... I just can't remember which way it affects it, but with bread I use about ⅓ the quantity of yeast because that's another thing affected by altitude (just below 1,000m for all intents and purposes)

 

[karadekoolaid]

Two reasons I don´t use tinned, really. The first is that they´re much more expensive. The second is that I often make falafel as well as hummus, so soaked chickpeas are required. Tins don´t work.