Seed of the Week: Chickpeas or Garbanzos

The mystery seeds from last week were

chickpeas!  Also called garbanzo beans or Indian pea, the common name chickpea is thought to go back to the Latin name Cicer. The scientific name is Cicer arietinum.

Have you ever grown garbanzos? They are commonly used as sprouts as well as beans.

The flowers are like pea flowers and the pods resemble pea pods, but are more short and squat.

Thought to be originally from the Mediterranean, they grow well in Arizona.

Chickpeas are used extensively in a number of cuisines, including Middle Eastern and Indian.

Do you have a favorite chickpea recipe?

5 Comments

  1. Karen

    You’d think for the number of these I put on salads that I’d have recognized them! LOL

  2. Roberta

    Isn’t it amazing how seeing things close up and out of context makes them harder to recognize?

  3. rebecca

    Yeah, I didn’t recognize them either! I’m planning on making cholay (curried chickpeas) later this week.

  4. Mike B.

    We love chickpeas. Our favorite dish is one we call “Indian Chili”. It has chickpeas, onions, garlic, tomatoes, ginger, and a tad bit of cashew nut butter (peanut works fine too). Oh, and ground lamb, and a bay leaf, turmeric, coriander, cumin, and garam masala. Delicious!

  5. Roberta

    You are making me hungry 🙂

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