Australian-grown Chickpeas could puff up trade to India: study

Australian-grown chickpeas could find a new home in India's growing snack food market if they can puff without oil, according to a new study led by an Indian-origin scientist.
Puffed chickpeas are already a common snack food in India, said the study led by Soumi Mukhopadhyay of Charles Sturt University in southern New South Wales.
"The puffing, is like making popcorn, the good thing about this process is we are not using any oil," Mukhopadhyay was quoted as saying by ABC News.
"We are puffing it and roasting it in the hot sand, so for the health conscious consumers these are really good."

Associate Professor of Food Science, Chris Blanchard, said the prospects for Australia to increase its exports to India is promising.
"Fortunately in the research that we've done so far, we have identified some Australian varieties that puff well.

If we can make sure that we're producing varieties which taste as good as Indian varieties and hopefully better than our competitors, then we think there's a really good outcome for the chickpea market in Australia," he said.
The research has the financial backing of the Grains Research and Development Corporation, which is trying to improve the quality and export potential of Australian desi chickpeas in the Indian subcontinent and globally.

Notably, Chickpea seeds are high in protein.