These crunchy chickpea roasted potatoes are a great way to make spuds healthy and more delicious than ever. Baby potatoes are tossed in a savory mix of chickpea flour and spices, and roasted in a piping hot oven.
If I could eat potatoes every day, I'd be the happiest person ever, especially when they are these masala potatoes or these masala smashed potatoes. Happy, happy, happy. I have probably told you this story only a dozen times before, about how, as a kid, the only thing I would eat in a restaurant -- even a fancy one -- was potato chips, or French fries. They could be hot and fresh or soggy and dripping with oil, I could put them down, no questions asked. (Now I satisfy that craving with these delicious Air Fryer French Fries).
Once I was old enough to handle basic cooking, I developed an even closer relationship with my BFFs. So much so that if I decided to make anything with a potato in it, chances that it would make it to the dinner table for others to eat dropped rather drastically.
Time is a harsh teacher, and now that my waistline is not as unforgiving of those carb follies as it once used to be, I have learned to scale back my obsessive love for potatoes. Er, did I say scale back? Correct that to controlled. Reluctant, screaming-out-to-be-free controlled. Because I still pick up that bag of potatoes at the grocery store almost every other week, and although I am better at sharing, I do have to convince myself sometimes not to steal down in the middle of the night to pop a spud into the microwave and eat it with my fingers, standing over the sink, skin and all. True story.
These crunchy chickpea roasted potatoes are SO MUCH better than a microwaved spud. The great thing is, they can be made with no added fat except for a quick spritz from one of those zero-calorie cooking sprays. It takes all of two minutes to mix up the chickpea flour with some spices, and then another five minutes, tops, to prep your baby potatoes. After that it's into the oven and 45 minutes of hands-free time later while you catch up with your other BFF, hello gorgeous golden potatoes!
You want to be sure and use less batter-- you want a light coating of chickpea flour and spices on the potatoes, not a heavy, pakora-type batter that puffs up around it. As delicious as that would be, I love the lighter, cleaner flavor of these less encumbered potatoes.
Did I say they were super-easy? And had the shortest ingredient list for a dish of such delicious proportions? So what are you waiting for?
Oh, the recipe. Here goes!
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Chickpea Roasted Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds new potatoes (halved or quartered if large)
- 2 tablespoon chickpea flour (besan)
- 1 tablespoon rice flour
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon ajwain (carom seeds, optional)
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard (optional)
- Salt to taste
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Pound the cumin seeds and carom seeds in a mortar and pestle until coarsely powdered.
- Place the powdered seeds and all other ingredients except the potatoes in a bowl. Mix well and drizzle in the water, using a small wire whisk to ensure there are no lumps.
- Toss the potatoes in this mixture, ensuring each potato gets coated.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spritz the surface with a cooking spray. Place the potatoes on the baking sheet, ensuring they are spread evenly and do not overlap.
- Spritz once more with the cooking spray and place in the hot oven. Roast for 45 minutes, turning over once halfway through roasting with a spatula, or until the potatoes are golden and cooked.
- Garnish with some cilantro, if you wish, and serve hot as a snack or a side.
Ruth Eisenbud
Hi Vaishali,
Thanks for the information on carom seeds. I like use them with cabbage and potatoes.
Ruth
Vaishali
Hi Ruth, I love fingerling potatoes! About the carom seeds, I am quite certain they are good for your digestive health and, like most seeds used in Indian cooking, probably certainly have other benefits. They taste so yummy too!
pi
carom / ajwain seeds have the following health benefits :
a) Help digestion and prevent flatulence - hence always used along with the difficult to digest Besan 9 can cause abdominal distension)
b) It can help heal respiratory ailments and also prevent them
c) Helps boost Immunity
d0 Heals Ulcers
this is all i know of.. there are possibly many more..
Hence, it is used in medicines from infancy stage ( ajwain or Omum water to relieve colic up to a ripe old age)
With Besan or chick pea flour, one always uses a combination of ajwain / Ginger / Asafoetida one or all...
Ruth Eisenbud
It must be serendipity. A local food co-op was selling Russian fingerling potatoes for $1.50/lb. They usually sell for much more - $3 - $5 /per pound. So I bought 5 pounds, but was not sure what to do with all those potatoes... Now I know I will use at least 2 pounds to make chickpeas crunchy roasted potatoes... and for once I have all the ingredients at home, except for the dijon mustard, so I will use mustard seeds instead.
I have been told that ajwain seeds are very healthy... do you happen to know their health benefits?