Chickpea mash with crispy basil
Chickpeas make a great alternative to mashed potatoes, thanks to their nutty flavour and creamy texture. This mash is chunkier than hummus, with some of the chickpeas keeping their form while others are creamy. The fried basil is simple to make, looks pretty and adds a different texture to the mash, but you could also use chopped fresh herbs.
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
- 500g of dried chickpeas
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 onion, peeled but left whole
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 dried chilli, smoky, such as chipotle, stalk removed
- 1.5l vegetable stock
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- extra virgin olive oil, to serve
Fried herbs
- vegetable oil, for frying
- 1 bunch of basil, leaves picked
Method
Cover the chickpeas with plenty of cold water and leave them to soak overnight
- 500g of dried chickpeas
The next day, drain the chickpeas and place them in a large saucepan with the bay leaf, onion, garlic, cumin seeds and dried chilli. Cover with vegetable stock and bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours, or until the chickpeas are tender
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 onion, peeled but left whole
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 dried chilli, smoky, such as chipotle, stalk removed
- 1.5l vegetable stock
Remove the bay leaf and transfer the beans and their cooking liquid (including the onion, garlic and spices) to a blender, working in batches to ensure the blender is never more than half full
Blend some batches until smooth and creamy and then just briefly blitz others so that they stay chunky. Season the mash well with salt and pepper
Make the crispy basil by heating the oil to a depth of 0.5cm in a frying pan. Add a handful of basil at a time - the leaves will crisp up in around 10 seconds. Repeat with the rest of the basil, draining the crispy leaves on kitchen paper
- vegetable oil, for frying
- 1 bunch of basil, leaves picked
Serve the mash drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, topped with the crispy basil
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