Similar style to cooking the pintos, but I only add carrot, onion, celery, and garlic. Since I use chickpeas only for hummus and soups, I try to keep them fairly neutral. For an extra bit of depth you can fry the veggies up in smoking hot oil. Brown them on all sides without burning, then add your water and beans.
1 lb garbonzos, soaked over night in plenty of water
1 carrot, peeled and halved lengthwise
1 onion, peeled and halved
1 stalk celery, halved
6 cloves garlic
1-2 bay leaves
Drain and rinse the beans. Place in stock pot and add double the amount of water, the veggies, bring up to a boil, then turn down and simmer until the beans are soft. Sometimes this takes 90 minutes, sometimes 3 hours. Again, I don’t understand why. They might squish easily between your fingers when you pinch them and still be gritty in the middle. In my experience they will soften up once you let them cool and absorb the water. I’ve also failed to overcook a garbonzo bean.
When the beans are ready remove from heat and salt generously. When cool remove all the veggies. Refrigerate and keep them submerged in the cooking liquid until you’re ready to use them.
