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Leblebi

Roasted in stages over several days with rests between, which is what loosens the skins and makes them crisp through.

Vegan.

Ingredients

Method

  1. THEY ARE ROASTED IN STAGES OVER SEVERAL DAYS WITH RESTS BETWEEN. This is the whole thing and it is why shop leblebi tastes as it does and a tray of chickpeas roasted in one go at home does not. The cycle is: soak, then a short moderate roasting, then a rest of a day in a covered container; another roasting, another rest; and a final longer roasting. Three or four cycles over three or four days. Between roastings the residual moisture in the centre migrates outward and evens out, so each roasting removes water from a chickpea that is uniformly damp rather than dry outside and wet in. The result is crisp all the way through with no hard raw core. One long roast gives a chickpea that is scorched outside and chalky inside -- it cannot be fixed by roasting longer.
  2. THE SKINS COME AWAY DURING THE RESTS AND ARE RUBBED OFF. After the second roasting and rest, the chickpeas are rubbed between the palms or in a cloth and the loosened skins fall away, then are winnowed off by tipping between two bowls. Attempting this at the start, on soaked chickpeas, is slow and tears the flesh; after two heat cycles the skins practically fall off.
  3. THEY ARE SOAKED ONLY BRIEFLY, NOT OVERNIGHT. Four hours. Fully soaked chickpeas are too wet and swell too much -- they split in the oven. Four hours takes up just enough water to let the inside cook.
  4. EACH ROASTING IS AT A MODERATE HEAT, NOT A HIGH ONE. 150°C. Twenty minutes for the first, twenty-five for the second, forty for the last. At 200°C the outside colours and hardens before any moisture has left the middle, which is exactly the fault the staged method exists to avoid.
  5. THE RESTS ARE IN A COVERED CONTAINER AND NOT IN THE OPEN. Lidded, at room temperature, a full day. Covered, the moisture redistributes within each chickpea; uncovered, it simply evaporates from the surface and the point of the rest is lost.
  6. THE SALT GOES ON AT THE LAST ROASTING. Sprinkled on with a few drops of water so it sticks, for the final forty minutes. Salted at the start it draws moisture outward between cycles and the surfaces go leathery.
  7. THE FINAL TEST IS THE BITE AND THE SOUND. A cooled one should SNAP cleanly between the teeth with no give and no chalky centre, and a handful poured into a bowl should rattle hard.
  8. The chickpeas SOAKED 4 HOURS ONLY -- not overnight -- then drained and patted dry.
  9. FIRST ROASTING: spread in one layer and roasted at 150°C for 20 MINUTES.
  10. RESTED in a COVERED container at room temperature 1 DAY.
  11. SECOND ROASTING: 150°C for 25 MINUTES.
  12. RESTED, covered, a further 1 DAY.
  13. RUBBED between the palms or in a cloth so the loosened SKINS come away, then WINNOWED by tipping between two bowls.
  14. The salt sprinkled on with a few drops of water so it sticks.
  15. FINAL ROASTING: 150°C for 40 MINUTES.
  16. COOLED COMPLETELY on the tray.
  17. TESTED: a cooled chickpea should SNAP cleanly with no chalky centre, and a handful should rattle hard in a bowl. A soft or chalky middle means the rests were skipped.
  18. Keeps 2 months in a sealed tin.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Turkey · All recipes