CHICKPEAS

The chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is a legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its seeds are high in protein. It is one of the earliest cultivated legumes: Other common names for the species include garbanzo bean, ceci bean, sanagalu, chana, hummus and Bengal gram.

India is the world leader in chickpea (Bengal gram) production

Dried chickpeas need a long cooking time (1–2 hours) but will easily fall apart when cooked longer. If soaked for 12–24 hours before use, cooking time can be shortened by around 30 minutes. To make smooth hummus the cooked chickpeas must be processed while quite hot, since the skins disintegrate only when hot.

Because of their high protein content, chick peas are increasingly used as animal feed.
Chickpeas (Cicer arietinum) do not cause lathyrism. Similarly named “chickling peas” (Lathyrus sativus) and other plants of the genus Lathyrus contain the toxins associated with lathyrism.