Pressure-steamed chickpeas

Mon 01 Aug 2022 16:48:23 PDT

After many experiments this is the very best way to cook chickpeas. Not only for the "beans" themselves, but also for the cooking liquid, also called "aquafaba". Using the pressure cooker not only is quicker but also saves energy, and very reliably produces consistent results.

Pressure steaming uses exactly the same setup as described in Pressure-steamed rice. Refer to that page for the details.

Unlike rice cookery, there's not much controversy over preparation methods for chickpeas. But people do have differing opinions about "quick" vs. "regular" soaking methods. We favor the "classic" overnight soaking of dry chickpeas for best possible results. Measuring dry chickpeas by weight is definitely the most accurate and easiest so it's highly recommended to buy a scale if you don't already have one. Fortunately excellent scales are available quite inexpensively these days, no question it's well worth the modest investment needed to acquire one.

Soaking

chickpeas, dry 228g (½ lb)
water, cold (soaking) ~3-4 cups

Put chickpeas in a quart container. Rinse a couple of times then fill container.
Let stand at room temperature overnight (at least 12 hours).
Rinse chickpeas in cold water a few times and after last rinse leave drained.

Cooking

water, cold (cooking) 480g or 2 cups

Make sure to put water into your pressure cooker, usually 2½ cups is about right.
Put soaked/drained chickpeas in a heat-proof container that fits inside your pressure cooker, and add the cooking water to the container.
The container should sit on a rack, not directly on the bottom of the pressure cooker. Cover the container with a pot lid, small plate or foil.
Close the cooker and apply medium-high to high heat.
Once it reaches full pressure, reduce heat and cook the chickpeas for 9 minutes.
Remove from heat source and let cool naturally at least one hour, preferably as long as 3 hours or until contents cool to about 100°F.
Open the cooker and carefully remove lid/cover, avoid getting condensed water into container contents.
Then remove container from the cooker, drain chickpeas. Make sure to reserve the cooking liquid.
Rinse chickpeas in cold water a few times, drain well and store in refrigerator, or use right away.
Store the aquafaba (about 1-1½ cup) in a glass container in refrigerator. Use as a stock, thickener, or making chickpea ice cream.

The biggest problem is finding a good inner container, one that fits inside the pressure cooker and holds the chickpeas comfortably. One solution is modifying an old saucepan, removing handles, etc. (possibly requiring "surgical" procedures). Devising a method to lift the container out of the cooker takes some ingenuity but the resulting convenience is well worth the effort!

Categories: chickpea

About Thinair Recipes

Recipes developed with low-sodium diets in mind—so easy to use!

Here's a quick guide:
Recipes have one or more “boxed” ingredient lists grouped with step-by-step instructions, for example:

garlic, chopped 3 cloves
chicken stock 2 cups
...other ingredients...

Saute garlic in oil until soft.
Add chicken stock to pan...
...next step...

Ingredient boxes show what you'll need for the numbered steps. Not too complicated!

BTW “salt” in our recipes refers to salt substitute, i.e., potassium chloride, KCl. (Since KCl may not be healthy for some people, ask your doctor if it's OK for you to use it.)

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