The market · Beans and pulses · The Middle East, South Asia
Chickpeas
A nutty, creamy pulse, and one of the first crops ever domesticated.
nutty · creamy
What to do with it
PunjabiChole bhatureChickpeas cooked dark, sharp and spicy, with bhature — big, puffed breads of soured dough, deep-fried.No one here has made it yet
LevantineHummusChickpeas cooked very soft and blended with tahini, lemon, garlic and salt until silky.No one here has made it yet
LevantineFalafelBalls of soaked, raw chickpeas ground with herbs, onion and spice and deep-fried — crisp outside, green and soft within.No one here has made it yetLevantineFattehLayers of toasted flatbread, warm chickpeas and garlicky yoghurt with tahini, finished with pine nuts sizzled in butter or ghee.No one here has made it yetPersianAsh reshtehA thick soup of beans, chickpeas, lentils, herbs and flat noodles, topped with kashk, fried onions and dried mint.No one here has made it yetMoroccanCouscous with seven vegetablesSteamed couscous heaped round meat and a broth of seven vegetables — carrot, turnip, squash, courgette, cabbage, tomato, chickpeas — with broth to pour over.No one here has made it yet
MoroccanHariraA soup of tomato, lentils, chickpeas and a little lamb, thick with herbs and thickened at the end with flour, served with lemon and dates.No one here has made it yetCastilian and MadridCocido madrileñoChickpeas, meats, sausages and vegetables simmered for hours in one pot, then served in turns: the broth with noodles, then everything else.No one here has made it yetKinds
- Kabuli
- Large and pale — for hummus.
- Desi / kala chana
- Small and dark — for Indian cooking.
Goes with
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Dried, from Middle Eastern or South Asian grocers — they cook creamier than tinned.
- Worth knowing
- A pinch of bicarbonate of soda in the cooking water softens the skins for smooth hummus.
Kitchens that keep it in
Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and JordanLevantineThe cooking of the eastern Mediterranean: olive oil, lemon, tahini and herbs, eaten as a spread of small dishes to share.11 classicsThe Valencian Community — Spain's eastern coast, from Castellón to AlicanteValencianRice country: rice cooked dry in wide pans, soupy in pots and baked in the oven, beside the oranges, almonds, tiger nuts and turrón of Spain's orchard coast.7 classicsAndalucía — the south of Spain, from the Atlantic at Cádiz to the Mediterranean at AlmeríaAndalusianThe hot south: cold soups pounded from bread, oil and garlic, fish fried crisp in olive oil, sherry from Jerez, and a little something to eat with every drink.7 classicsCastile and Madrid — the high central plateau of Spain, the mesetaCastilian and MadridThe kitchen of the high, dry meseta: suckling pig and lamb roasted in wood-fired ovens, chickpeas and garlic soups for hard winters, and a capital that eats out, late and standing up.10 classics