Mediterranean chickpea salad

Ingredients

For 6 servings.

Volume measures: 1 cup = 240 ml; 1 tbsp = 15 ml; 1 tsp = 5 ml. Use gram quantities where provided.

• 2 × 425 g cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp Aleppo pepper
• 56 g olive oil
• 1 tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp minced preserved lemon, or lemon zest
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1 tbsp sumac, optional
• Salt to taste
• 100 g red onion, thinly sliced
• 285 g cucumber, diced
• 32 g toasted sesame seeds
• 8 g parsley, chopped
• 8 g mint, chopped
• 75–112 g tahini, stirred
• 3–4 tbsp iced water
• ½ tsp maple syrup
• Flaky sea salt to taste

Step-by-step method

1. Drain the chickpeas. Chop garlic and combine with Aleppo pepper. Lightly crush the coriander seeds.
2. Heat the oil and toast the coriander and cumin seeds in it for 2 minutes. Pour over the garlic and leave for 1 minute.
3. Toss this oil with chickpeas, preserved lemon, 2 tbsp lemon juice, sumac and salt. Set aside while preparing the rest.
4. Soak the onion in iced water for 10 minutes and drain. Dice cucumber and chop herbs.
5. Mix tahini with 3 tbsp iced water, 2 tbsp lemon juice, syrup and salt. Add the remaining water as needed for a creamy dressing.
6. Add cucumber, onion, sesame and half the herbs to the chickpeas. Serve over the tahini dressing with the remaining herbs.