Kicking off the Sri Lankan recipes I promised – here’s one of my favourite party foods. Post your own recipes and link to the Facebook party (or post recipes at the FB party itself) and you could win a copy of either Having a Ball or Kick Assitude.

Fried Chickpeas ( or ‘kadala thel dala’)

Fried chickpeas are the Sri Lanka equivalent of popcorn. A handful of these in a twist of newspaper and you’re good to go. I sometimes make a chilli-free version in the summer, as something to nibble if we’re sitting out in the garden.

Ingredients

1 tin of chickpeas

Dessicated coconut, the coarser the better

Mustard seeds (about a teaspoon full)

Curry leaves – 10

Onions diced finely

Garlic, finely diced

Dried chili flakes to taste

Vegetable oil or ground nut oil – a good splash

Method

Heat the oil gently in a pan and add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start to pop, the oil is hot enough. Add onion, curry leaves and garlic and fry until the onions are translucent. Then add dessicated coconut, chili flakes and chick peas. Give them a good stir so that all the chickpeas are coated with the mixture. Leave to cool a bit. Enjoy.

I’ve used store cupboard ingredients. The real thing uses rampe, which I can’t get hold of easily.