Black chickpea

Cicer arietinum

legume

Small chickpeas with a thick, rough black skin, richer in fibre than large pale chickpeas; soak them well before cooking. They provide protein, fibre, iron, zinc and folate.

Origin

India and Italy (ceci neri)

Season (United States)

all year round

Preparation

They soak for 12 to 24 hours, the water is discarded, then they cook for 1 to 2 hours, their skin staying firm; eaten cooked, never raw — in curry (kala chana) or salads. Soaking, sprouting or sourdough bring its phytates down — and release the zinc and iron they were holding. High in purines: to rotate rather than stack, if the ground is sensitive.

Molecules

Resistant starch RS1 · GOS (galacto-oligosaccharides) · Saponins · Folates (B9) · Vitamin B1 (thiamine) · Vitamin B6 · Plant iron · Zinc · Magnesium · Potassium · Copper · Manganese · Protein · Lysine · Tryptophan · Vitamin B3 (niacin) · Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) · Phosphorus · Molybdenum · Choline · InositolWhat slows things down Phytates · Purines

Did you know?

It belongs to the desi group — “of the country” in Hindi — of chickpeas with small, angular, rough seeds, brown, red, black or green; the large pale ones are called kabuli, “from Kabul”.