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| Chickpea | ||||||||||||||||
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| Cicer arietinum |
The chickpea, garbanzo bean or bengal gram (Cicer arietinum) is an edible pulse of the Leguminosae or Fabaceae family, subfamily Faboideae or Papilionoideae. The plant can also be used as a green vegetable.
Several dozen distinct chickpea varieties are cultivated. European varieties are large (typically around 15 mm diameter) and grey; Asian varieties are smaller (typically 5-8 mm) and dark brown in color.
Chickpeas can be eaten raw in salads, cooked in stews or ground into a paste called hummus.