Chickpeas

Channa can refer to the whole chickpea (Cicer arietinum), one of India’s favorite munch foods, sold everywhere to everyone. Channa dal refers to the husked and split version, a particularly tasty legume. Whole roasted channa is used in Parsi cooking as a thickener for curries. The dal is turned into a warmly spiced stew on its own or a part of dhansak. Chickpea flour (besan) is used in patrel and as a thickener for Yogurt Soup. It’s also a good facial scrub, often mixed with rose water, cleaning without drying out the skin.