Culinary In Spain, they are used in
tapas such as cooked with spinach, as well as in
cocido madrileño. Hummus is the Arabic word for chickpeas, which are often cooked and ground into a paste and mixed with
tahini (sesame seed paste) to make
ḥummuṣ bi ṭaḥīna, usually called simply hummus in English. By the end of the 20th century, hummus had become common in American cuisine: by 2010, 5% of Americans consumed it regularly, In the Middle East, chickpeas are roasted, spiced, and eaten as a snack,
leblebi. Chickpeas are used to make curries. They are one of the most popular vegetarian foods in the Indian subcontinent and in
diaspora communities of many other countries, served with a variety of bread or steamed rice. Popular dishes in Indian cuisine are made with chickpea flour, such as
mirchi bajji and
mirapakaya bajji. In India, desserts such as
besan halwa. Chickpea flour is used to make "
Burmese tofu", first known among the
Shan people of
Burma. In South Asian cuisine, chickpea flour (
besan) is used as a batter to coat vegetables before deep frying to make
pakoras. The flour, known as kadlehittu in
Kannada, is used for making the sweet dish
Mysore pak. The flour is used as a batter to coat vegetables and meats before frying or fried alone, such as
panelle, a chickpea
fritter from
Sicily. Chickpea flour is used to make the Italian flatbread
farinata (or
socca).
Ashkenazi Jews traditionally serve whole chickpeas, referred to as
arbes (אַרבעס) in Yiddish, at the
Shalom Zachar celebration for baby boys. The chickpeas are boiled until soft and served hot with salt and lots of ground black pepper.
Guasanas or
garbanza is a Mexican chickpea street snack. The beans, while still green, are cooked in water and salt, kept in a steamer to maintain their humidity, and served in a plastic bag. A chickpea-derived liquid (
aquafaba) can be used instead of eggwhite to make
meringue or ice cream, with the residual
pomace used as flour. In 1793, ground, roasted chickpeas were noted by a German writer as a substitute for coffee in Europe. In the
First World War, they were grown for this use in some areas of Germany. They are still sometimes brewed instead of coffee. Soaking and cooking of dry seeds possibly induces chemical modification of protein-fibre complexes, which leads to an increase in crude fibre content. Thus, cooking can increase protein quality by inactivating or destroying heat-labile antinutritional factors. This can be prevented by skinning the husks from the chickpeas before serving. In some parts of the world, young chickpea leaves are consumed as cooked green vegetables. Especially in malnourished populations, it can supplement important dietary nutrients because regions where chickpeas are consumed have sometimes been found to have populations lacking micronutrients. Chickpea leaves have a significantly higher mineral content than either cabbage leaves or spinach leaves.
Animal feed Chickpeas are an energy and protein source as
animal feed. Raw chickpeas have a lower
trypsin and
chymotrypsin inhibitor content than peas,
common beans, and
soybeans. This leads to higher nutrition values and fewer digestive problems in non
ruminants. Nonruminant diets can be completed with 200 g/kg of raw chickpeas to promote egg production and growth of birds and pigs. Higher amounts can be used when chickpeas are treated with heat. Experiments have shown that ruminants grow equally well and produce an equal amount and quality of milk when soybean or cereal meals are replaced with chickpeas. Pigs show the same performance, but growing pigs experience a negative effect of raw chickpea feed; extruded chickpeas can increase performance even in growing pigs. Only young broilers (starting period) showed worse performance in poultry diet experiments with untreated chickpeas. Fish performed equally well when extruded chickpeas replaced their soybean or cereal diet. Chickpea seeds have also been used in rabbit diets. Secondary components of legumes—such as
lecithin,
polyphenols,
oligosaccharides; and
amylase,
protease, trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors—can lead to lower nutrient availability, and thus to impaired growth and health of animals (especially in nonruminants). Ruminants generally have less trouble digesting legumes with secondary components since they can inactivate them in the rumen liquor. Their diets can be supplemented by 300 g/kg or more raw chickpea seeds. However, protein digestibility and energy availability can be improved through treatments such as germination, dehulling, and heat. Extrusion is a very good heat technique to destroy secondary legume components since the proteins are irreversibly denatured. Overprocessing may decrease the nutritional value; extrusion leads to losses in minerals and vitamins, while dry heating does not change the chemical composition. ==Gallery==