THANKS LUCAS!

one of the best gifts i have ever received! a bag full of garbanzos (chickpeas) from my housemate's farm. i had never soaked and boiled my own beans from dry before so i was pretty nervous to give it a go... but success! no longer will i stare longingly at those dried beans in kakulas sisters (when i am back home that is) and walk away thinking its too hard or not worth the effort - it so is!

all you need to do is place about a cup (this will swell up to about 2 cups) of beans in a large enough bowl to consider swelling overnight and cover with about 3 times as much water as beans - cold is probably best if you are bunging these straight into the fridge before heading off to bed

in the morning you'll find nice little swollen chickpeas. at this point i drain of the water, give the beans a rinse and return them back to the fridge in their bowl covered with the same amount of water before heading off for work

a day and night of soaking in the fridge seems perfect for cooking that evening for about an hour to an hour and a half (depending how soft you like your beans)

i have used these so far in salad (rinsing again after cooking to cool them down before transferring into my salad mix) and in a soup - but they'd also be perfect for making your own hummus or frying in a little seasoned oil with some spices for some tasty spiced chickpea nibblies - yum!!