The chickpea or chick pea (Cicer arietinum) is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram or Bengal gram, chhola, chhana, chana, or channa, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are high in protein. It is one of the earliest cultivated legumes, the oldest archaeological evidence of which was found in Syria. – (wikipedia)

The chickpea is a robust, hearty bean. One of my personal favorites.

Appearance

Before cooking, a typical chickpea has a very light beige color and a bumpy, irregular spherical shape with a nub (formally called a radical) at the top. Once cooked, it has more-or-less the same shape, and a softer, deeper yellow color.

Cooking

You gotta cook these guys longer than most beans. After a 12-or-more hour soak, pressure cook for fifteen minutes.

Flavor profile

Suggested seasonings and dishes

The robust, nutty flavor and rather dry texture of these beans makes them best paired with a rich sauce or some saucy side dish. Of course, you can’t go wrong with chickpeas in a curry.

Spices and flavors that work well with these beans:

• turmeric
• garlic
• cumin

Sound

Dry, chickpeas are pretty dense. They make a solid, sharp plink dropped in a jar, much like a small rock, almost always with significant bouncing and rolling around drawing out the sound profile.

Cooked, the sound mellows out with the softening of the bean, making for a robust patter like solid rainfall on a windshield.