Smoked Paprika Fried Chickpeas

These are amazing in a salad, I tossed them with some chopped cabbage, cilantro, extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, and rice wine vinegar…the combination of flavors and textures was fantastic.

Strain a can of chickpeas then roll and let them dry for half an hour in a dish towel.  While they are drying heat an eighth inch of veggie oil in a pan until it’s hot enough for a pea to sizzle when it hits the oil.  In a large bowl combine a half teaspoon of salt with a teaspoon of El Rey smoked paprika, half dulce and half picante if you like a bit of a zip.  They have both here at the East Warren Store and most finer food stores.  After testing your oil to make sure it’s hot enough add the peas and roll around occasionally for ten minutes or until they are slightly browned and crispy on the outside.  Remove the peas from the oil and let them sit for a minute on a brown paper bag.  Then it’s just a matter of tossing them in the bowl with your smoked paprika mixture until they are evenly coated.  I actually used two cans of chickpeas so there would be leftovers, it just took a couple of minutes in the toaster oven to crisp them up again the next day....great snack with a drink or perfect in my squash curry soup.