Cooking with Chickpeas
Recipes with Chickpeas — The Humble Pulse Behind Moroccan Comfort Food
Chickpeas (hummus, or l'hemmez) are the quiet backbone of Moroccan home cooking — nourishing, cheap and everywhere. They thicken the Ramadan soup harira, crown the Friday couscous, and simmer into hearty meatless tagines that stretch a modest budget across a large family. Moroccan cooks often slip the skins off for a silkier result, a small labour that marks a careful kitchen. This guide covers the dishes chickpeas anchor, how to soak, peel and cook them properly, and how to choose good dried chickpeas over tired ones.
How Moroccans use chickpeas
Chickpeas are almost always cooked from dried, soaked overnight then simmered until tender. In many households the cook rubs the soaked chickpeas to loosen and float off the papery skins, giving a smoother texture in soups and couscous. They act as both protein and thickener: mashed lightly they lend body to harira, left whole they add substance to couscous and vegetable tagines. A pinch of bicarbonate of soda in the soaking or cooking water speeds softening and helps the skins slip, a common trick in Moroccan kitchens.
The best Moroccan recipes with chickpeas
Harira — the tomato, lentil and chickpea soup that breaks the Ramadan fast, thickened with a flour-water tadouira. Couscous with seven vegetables — chickpeas scattered through the steaming pile. Chickpea and beef or lamb tagine with onions and warm spice. Bissara-style pulse purées in some regions. Chickpea and chard (selq) tagine, a thrifty meatless supper. Street vendors also sell warm salted boiled chickpeas by the bowl. Harira is the dish to understand first — chickpeas give it its comforting heft.
Soaking, peeling and cooking times
Soak dried chickpeas in plenty of cold water for at least eight hours or overnight; they double in size. To peel, rub the drained soaked chickpeas between your palms and rinse so the loose skins float away — worth it for harira and couscous. Simmer soaked chickpeas for roughly one to one and a half hours until creamy inside, longer if old. Salt only once they are nearly tender, as early salt can toughen them. A teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in the water shortens cooking, but too much makes them mushy and soapy, so use it sparingly.
Buying and storing chickpeas
Buy dried chickpeas that are plump, pale gold and uniform in size; small, shrivelled or very dusty ones are old and will cook unevenly however long you boil them. Souks and grocers sell them loose by weight cheaply. Older dried pulses can stay stubbornly hard, so buy from a shop with quick turnover. Store dried chickpeas airtight in a cool, dry cupboard, where they keep for a year or more, though the fresher the better for even cooking. Cooked chickpeas keep several days refrigerated and freeze well in their liquor.
Cook's tips
- Soak dried chickpeas overnight in plenty of cold water — they double in size.
- Rub and float off the skins for a silkier harira or couscous.
- Salt only near the end of cooking; early salt keeps them tough.
- A small pinch of bicarbonate of soda speeds softening and loosens skins — don't overdo it.
- Buy plump, uniform dried chickpeas from a shop with fast turnover; old ones never fully soften.
Questions about cooking with Chickpeas
Do I have to peel chickpeas for Moroccan recipes?
Not strictly, but many Moroccan cooks do for harira and couscous because it gives a smoother, more refined texture. Rub the soaked chickpeas between your palms and rinse away the floating skins. For rustic tagines and quick meals you can happily leave the skins on.
Can I use tinned chickpeas instead of dried?
Yes, tinned chickpeas save hours and work well in tagines and quick soups; drain and rinse them and add near the end, since they are already cooked. Dried chickpeas cooked from scratch have a firmer bite and better flavour, and their cooking liquor enriches soups like harira.
Why won't my chickpeas soften?
Usually they are old — dried pulses stored too long can stay hard no matter how long you boil them. Hard water and salting too early also slow softening. Soak them well, cook in unsalted water with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, and next time buy from a shop with quick turnover.
What role do chickpeas play in harira?
Chickpeas give harira much of its body and heartiness, alongside lentils and a tomato base. They are usually peeled for smoothness and simmered until tender in the pot. Together with the flour-and-water thickener called tadouira, they make the soup substantial enough to break a day's fast.
How long do cooked chickpeas keep?
Cooked chickpeas keep three to four days in the fridge, ideally stored in their cooking liquor to stay moist. They also freeze well for several months — freeze them in the liquor in portions. Cook a big batch of dried chickpeas at once and you will have a head start on soups and tagines all week.
Cook these dishes with a local in Marrakech
Learn to handle chickpeas the Moroccan way in a hands-on cooking class, or taste it across the medina on a guided food tour.