The chick pea is a common legume, due to its popularity in a salad, stews and soups or pureed into a dip (it is the main ingredient in Hummus). Most common is the yellow variety, although the brown is also available. There are also red, black and white varieties.
The chick pea is regarded mainly a Middle eastern or north African ingredient, but it features in Indian, Italian or French cooking, and Spanish speaking countries use them as well. In India, channa dhal is split chick peas and common flour for pakoras is besan flour which is chickpea flour. Chick pea flour is also used to make a traditional type of pancake in Nice, France, called the socca. The chick pea is known as garbanzos in America (garbanzo derives from the Spanish that call them garbanza).
Chick peas can be eaten fresh in late spring when they are young and a brilliant green but they are sold as a dried legume. Chick peas are common as a canned food due to the extended length of time they take to cook. However, the canning dulls the flavours of this wonderful legume. Chick peas have a long history and were the snack of choice for the theatre audiences of Rome during the Roman empire. Just as popcorn is eaten today, roasted chick peas were sold by Roman vendors.
Soak chickpeas overnight, or for as long as possible, discard the water, then cook on the stovetop until soft. Adding a peice of kombu seaweed will soften the skins and make the chickpeas more digestable.
Check out our recipe for the classic chickpea dip, – Hummus.