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Chick (pea) it to me

by Leah Koenig · August 14th, 2007
Cookbooks, Cooking, GMO, Vegetarian

Chickpeas, also known as Garbanzo beans, are those little flesh colored legumes that come in a Goya can. Sometimes they’re mashed into a creamy paste by Sabra - or some other inferior brand of hummus. At least that’s what I thought until tonight’s dinner.

chickpeas.jpgI went over to a friend’s apartment to make supper, and along with fresh green beans, ripe tomatoes, and multiple bulbs of garlic, she whipped out a bowl of what looked like dried out raisins. “They’re heirloom chickpeas,” she said. “My sister got them for me.” What? On closer inspection these brown spheres did resemble a bean, but definitely not the plump spheres I occasionally tossed into green salads. But that’s just the thing about heirloom vegetables. Most of the vegetables found in supermarkets are bred (or genetically modified) to 1. look pretty 2. stand up to the long distances they travel from farm to table. Heirlooms are, as their name suggests, an older variety of a plant that has been largely knocked off the agricultural playing field. If you’ve ever wondered why heirloom tomatoes often look so ugly, it’s because they pre-date our cultural obsession for fat, uniform - and tasteless - produce.


According to Madhur Jaffery, author of the James Beard Award Winning, World Vegetarian cookbook (and one of the fiercest foodies out there): “Chickpeas originated in ancient times, probably in the southern Caucasus region, helping to feed Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Armenia…The early chickpea was probably small and dark, and was eventually bred to be large and pale.”

These chickpeas were not gorgeous, but upon tasting one I was more than willing to overlook trivial things like surface beauty. My friend and I made fresh hummus, which resembled a black bean dip and literally made my night. Check out the recipe below.

Heirloom Hummus

(This recipe is very loosely based on Jaffrey’s “Bead Hummus.” Like a good bubbe’s recipe, the quantities are approximate. Just fuss around with it until it “looks right.”)

* 2 cups chick peas (black or “kala chana” if you can find them - otherwise Goya will do the trick)
* 4-5 cloves garlic (whole, skins removed)
* 4-5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
* 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 4 sprigs fresh mint
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
* 1 3/4 teaspoon salt

Puree the chick peas and garlic cloves in a food processor until roughly chopped. Add all other ingredients and process again until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning, tahini, etc. until you reach the right consistency and flavor.

(x-posted at Jewcy’s The Daily Shvitz)

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8 Responses to “Chick (pea) it to me”

  1. Alix Wall Says:
    August 15th, 2007 at 2:03 am

    Leah (and other bean-lovers)
    Check out http://www.ranchogordo.com. Its our local heirloom bean grower…I haven’t tried his beans (yet) but the variety on his web site makes me dizzy, and I’ve heard that just one taste will make you never go back to Goya again (but you do have to reckon with the shipping).
    Second, Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian is one of my absolute favorite cookbooks. I’ve literally never tried a bad recipe in there…and many are outstanding. Her “Sri Lankan Greens” is my favorite way to cook greens of all time.

  2. Phyllis Bieri Says:
    August 16th, 2007 at 10:32 am

    Thanks for this new morsel of information, Leah. I have always loved chick peas, and can count on my kids nibbling on them for snacks. I buy them dry from the organic bin in the grocery store and cook them up, or wimp out and buy them canned. Now I will be combing the stores looking for black chick peas, or kala chana.

    And thanks to Alix for mentioning Madhur Jaffrey’s world vegetarian cookbook. Am embarrassed that I don’t have it. I cook a ton of greens, which my kids faithfully eat, but I am stuck in the Italian mode of preparation and could use something different.

  3. Alix Says:
    August 16th, 2007 at 11:46 am

    Phyllis,
    Leah mentioned it first! That’s why I brought it up!

  4. Michael Says:
    August 16th, 2007 at 12:24 pm

    Although they don’t carry chick peas, the Arizona-based Native Seeds (nativeseeds.org) carries many kinds of heirloom southwestern and Mexican beans, as well as a lot of other cool stuff. We originally got a basket of Native Seeds goodies as a wedding gift, and have since sent many a Native Seeds gift to friends and family, as well as to ourselves. You do have to pay shipping, but its worth it. The beans are amazing.

    Meanwhile, I can barely find dried chick peas, let alone fresh or heirloom. It’s all canned. I’ll have to try harder.

  5. Elisheva Says:
    August 17th, 2007 at 1:47 pm

    one time I bought some ho-hum dried chick peas, did the whole soak-rinse-soak-rinse thing, cooked them up, and then - drumroll please - I removed the skins. ta da! the chumus they produced was awesome! it’s really worth it :)
    b’te’avon!

  6. Leah Koenig Says:
    August 20th, 2007 at 9:34 am

    Alix - http://www.ranchogordo.com looks amazing! I recently popped into Kalyustans, a market on the Upper East Side that sells dried beans and other things like that, and I was also overwhelmed! I bought Saffaron Rice which has a gorgeous golden color.

    Phyllis - I’ve heard that roasting chick peas makes them especially snackworthy - they get a little crunchy and the flavor deepens.

    Michael - thanks for the resource. Native seeds looks like a cool site!

    Elisheva - you’re making me crave fresh hummus again! Too bad I don’t have a pressure cooker at the office :)

  7. Marilyn Says:
    August 30th, 2007 at 7:09 pm

    What ingredients are used to make tahini?

    I was trying to buy in a regular supermarket and no one knew what I was looking for. “Miss M.”

  8. Crazyblackdog Says:
    September 2nd, 2007 at 10:38 pm

    Marilyn, tahini is seasame paste. Justlike peanut butter but made with seasame seed! I can buy it in most of the grocery stores in my area, and I live in Northern Ontario, Canada.

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