Lebanese Style Chickpea Salad Recipe

I'm back from the land of tikkhat (pungent) shev bhaji, smoky flavoured bharit (roasted brinjal mash), and sweet creamy badam shake. I've been to Jalgaon for a long weekend to meet my brother who has moved there 2 months ago for his job. And like always, I've associated the place with it's food.

Lebanese Style Chickpea Salad

 Before I left for the trip, I came up with this lovely salad recipe. A refreshing Lebanese style chickpea salad. It can be put together quickly and makes for a good mains or even a starter.

Lebanese Style Chickpea Salad

The smooth creaminess of the yoghurt plays well with the sharp flavour from the garlic. Added to this are the hints of nuttiness from the tahini paste that surprise your tastebuds and comfort them!

Lebanese Style Chickpea Salad

Lebanese Style Chickpea Salad Recipe

Preparation Time: 8 hours (soaking time for chickpeas)

Cooking Time: 25 minutes (for pressure cooking the chickpeas and cooling them)

Assembly Time: 5 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the salad

2 cups white chickpeas (kabuli chana/ chhole chana) soaked overnight
4 cups water (for cooking the chickpeas)
2 medium sized onions finely chopped

For the dressing

4 tbsps yoghurt/ curd
2 tbsps tahini paste (recipe here)
4 cloves of garlic
Salt to taste

Method

Pressure cook the chickpeas with the water and some salt till they're done. It takes about 15 minutes.

In a blender, blend together the yoghurt (you don't need to hang it, the tahini paste thickens it enough), the garlic cloves and the salt to make the dressing.

Drain the excess water from the chickpeas and let them cool a bit.

Mix the chickpeas and the onions in the salad bowl.

Add in the dressing and let it coat the salad well. It helps to use your hands and fingers for this!

Serve fresh. I have garnished it with a few slices of pickled jalapenos. You can garnish with corriander leaves or flat parsley leaves.