Chick pea is pois chiche in French and sounds like pwa-shish. In Deutsch, it is kichererbse and sounds like key-chair-herb-sea. Chickpea is more popularly known in its Spanish name garbanzo from “garau” which means seed and “antzu” which means dry. Kabuli chana is a Hindustani term for chick pea.
Chickpeas are noted to be one of the earliest cultivated legume in the Middle East. Paired with tahini, an oily condiment made from toasted ground hulled sesame, the Arabs invented hummus, the popular chickpea dish. Hummus, by the way, is also the Arabic term for chickpea.
Chickpeas take about a week and a half to two weeks to germinate. It is best to sow the seeds without prior soaking. Store-bought chickpeas have about 25 percent germination rate. Chickpeas like other legumes are known to enrich the soil when the bacteria that live in nodules of the plant’s roots transform substances in the air into the organic form of nitrogen that plants need to grow.
Rabbits and night critters love young garbanzos especially grown alongside soybeans. I’m determined to propagate them so I protect them from the local wildlife residents by planting them in self-created screen planters or sheltering them in the balcony.
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