6 oz/150 g chickpeas
6 oz/150 g soya beans
2 pints/1 liter water
1 packet dried onion soup
2 tbsp. chilli powder
4 tbsp. oil
1 small hot green pepper, chopped
Tabasco sauce

Soak the beans overnight in cold water. Drain, add the water, soup powder, chilli powder, oil and chopped pepper. Pressure cook for 10-15 minutes at 15 lbs pressure. Mash with a fork or potato masher. Boil off any excess liquid. Season with Tabasco sauce to taste.

Serve on buns or toast or as a filling for tacos.

Serves 4

8 oz/200 g cooked chickpeas
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. Yoghurt
¼ tsp. thyme
½ tsp. basil
½ tsp. oregano
1 garlic clove, crushed
salt and pepper

Mash the chickpeas, add the lemon
juice, yoghurt, thyme, basil, oregano and the crushed garlic. Season to taste.

Serve as you would paté, with toast or biscuits.

½ lb/200 g chickpea flour
½ tsp. ground turmeric
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chilli powder
1 egg, beaten
2 red or green fresh (or pickled)
chillies, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large onion, finely chopped
yoghurt
salt and pepper

Mix the chickpea flour, turmeric, cumin and chilli powder, add to the beaten egg with the chopped chillies, garlic and onion. Add yoghurt to make a thick batter. Season to taste.

Drop spoonfuls of the batter into deep boiling fat and cook to a golden brown.

4 oz/100 g chickpeas
4 oz/100 g whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 garlic clove, crushed
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 oz/25 g butter
2 tbsp. oil

Soak the chickpeas overnight in cold water, drain and cook in fresh water.
Meanwhile mix the flour, baking powder and garlic, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss the chickpeas in the seasoned flour.
Heat the butter and oil together in a frying pan and add the chickpeas; sprinkle any remaining flour over. Fry the chickpeas gently, turning frequently until they are crisp and golden. Drain on absorbent paper and serve immediately.

2 oz/50 g chickpea flour
¼ pint water (approx.)
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. chopped parsley or coriander
ghee or butter for frying

Make a thin pouring batter with the chickpea flour and water. Season with salt. Mix in the parsley. Beat lightly and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
Heat a griddle or heavy frying pall. Add a generous amount of butter. When it is hot pour in a layer of batter and spread to cover the pan. Turn once after about 30 seconds.

½ lb/200 g chickpeas
juice of 1 lemon
½ pint/125 ml vegetable oil
4 tbsp. tahini (sesame seed oil)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
sea salt

Soak the chickpea for 24 hours. Cook in fresh water until soft. Strain but reserve the cooking liquor. Put into a liquidizer and blend to a smooth paste, add the lemon juice and some of the cooking liquor, if necessary. Add the oil, tahini, garlic and salt. Turn into a shallow bowl. Sprinkle with chopped mint or a few cooked chickpeas, deep fried and used to garnish.

Serve as a dip with corners of Arabic (or Pita) bread.

For the Middle Eastern version replace the vegetable oil with more tahini (sesame seed oil).

4 oz/100 g chickpea flour
2 eggs, separated
¼ pint/150 ml water
4 tbsp. milk

First divide one cauliflower into florets and cook in salted water until just tender. Drain carefully. Sieve the flour and salt, add the egg yolks, water and milk, then fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Heat the oil or fat. Dip the sprigs of cauliflower into the batter and fry for 1-2 minutes only. Drain on absorbent paper.

Soak beans in cold water overnight and remove the skins. Split the beans. Dry them. Fry in hot oil until golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper and sprinkle with salt.

Serve as a snack.

The beans can also be roasted instead of fried but sprinkle them with salt before roasting.

8 oz/250 g dried broad beans
2 tbsp. red lentils
2½ pints/1¾ liter water
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
salt
4 tbsp. olive oil
I garlic clove, crushed

Garnish:
a sprig of parsley or coriander paprika

Soak the broad beans and lentils overnight in the water. Cook under 15 lbs pressure for 20 minutes; the beans should be soft and the water absorbed. Mash with a fork and add salt, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil to taste (2 tbsp. lemon juice and 3 tbsp. oil is about right).
Put into a dish and pour over about 1 tbsp. of olive oil, sprinkle with a little paprika and place a sprig of parsley (or coriander) on top. Serve as you  would paté with bread, rusks or cheese biscuits.

450 g whole lentils
cooking oil or ghee
1 tsp citric acid or
1 tsp salt and
1 tsp garam masala powder

Soak the lentils overnight in cold water. Drain and dry on a cloth. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Drop in a handful of lentils and deep fry them, turning all the time until the oil stops bubbling and the lentils are crisp and cooked. Drain on paper towels and put in a jar with a lid. Shake with citric acid or the salt/garam masala mixture. Store until needed.

½ lb/225 g fine red lentil flour
1 tsp. salt
2 level tsp. baking powder
½ teacup warm water
1 tsp. caraway seeds
1 tsp. crushed cardamom seeds
1 tsp. crushed (not ground) black
pepper
1 tsp. chilli powder (optional)
2 tsp. oil fat

Makes 15

Set aside ½ tbsp. flour and place the rest in a mixing bowl with the salt. Mix the baking powder  in the water; gradually add this to the flour and mix into a stiff dough. Pound the dough vigorously with a pestle for 15 minutes, dabdabbing with oil to prevent it sticking. Mix in the spices and pound again (the more it is pounded, the lighter the finished result). Shape the dough into a long sausage, and cut into small portions. Cover them with the rest of the flour.

To shape paparhs: Take a portion of the flour-covered dough, grease it slightly, then roll it into a ball. Roll it out as thinly as possible and as round as possible, using more oil if necessary. Roll out the rest of the paparhs in the same way. Dry them in the sun or in a hot cupboard (takes a few hours), and store in a covered tin. Either bake the paparhs slowly on both sides on a gas ring or fry in smoking oil or fat.

Serve with main meals or as a snack.

Variation: The spices may be omitted.

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