Chickpea Salad (with cucumber and tomatoes) fit for a SuperBowl Party!

The place I work right now does not miss a chance to hold a party. So of course there was a pre-superbowl party last Friday. How can they when our local team was playing in the finals. Super bowl party means there will be lot of chicken wings, pizza and other popular finger foods. I decided to make a salad. Not the green kind which I am not that fond of but a cooked salad with chickpeas which was surprisingly a hit.

I initially thought of making a Sundal, the South Indian quick recipe for cooking beans. I started with the idea of making sundal but veered towards adding some fresh vegetables and came up with this.

This could just as easily be a meal by itself. There is nothing much that can go wrong with chickpeas so go on get creative and see what you end up with.

Chickpea Salad with Cucumber and Tomatoes

1. 2 cups Chickpeas soaked overnight
2. 1 English Cucumber cubed
3. 1 cup of grape tomatoes split in half
4. 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
5. 1/2 tbsp red chili powder or use black pepper powder
6. a pinch of cumin seeds and a pinch of mustard seeds
7. 1 tsp of olive oil
8. salt to taste

Method

1. Cook the chickpeas until they are soft but not mushy.
2. Heat the olive oil in a pan and season with cumin seeds and mustard seeds.
3. Add the chickpeas and the chili powder and toss in the oil.
4. Add salt and lemon juice, toss together and turn off the heat.
5. Toss with the cucumber and tomatoes.