Garbanzo Beans

The chickpea or garbanzo bean is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae.  Chickpea seeds are high in protein. It is one of the earliest cultivated legumes, and 7500-year-old remains have been found in the Middle East. Chickpeas are a key ingredient in hummus and chana masala, and it can be ground into flour to make falafel. It is also used in salads, soups and stews, curry and other meal products like channa. The chickpea is important in Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine, and in 2016, India produced 64% of the world's total chickpeas.

Mature chickpeas can be cooked and eaten cold in salads, cooked in stews, ground into flour, ground and shaped in balls and fried as falafel, made into a batter and baked to make farinata or cecina, or fried to make panelle. Chickpea flour is known as gram flour or besan in South Asia and used frequently in South Asian cuisine.

Ḥummuṣ is the Arabic word for chickpeas, which are often cooked and ground into a paste and mixed with ṭaḥīna (sesame seed paste), the blend called ḥummuṣ bi ṭaḥīna. Chickpeas are roasted, spiced, and eaten as a snack, sometimes called "leblebi".

Chickpeas are used to make curries and are one of the most popular vegetarian foods in South Asia countries served with variety of breads or steamed rice.

This particular legume is probably one of my favorite foods currently. 

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