Dried Chickpeas / Garbanzo Beans Questions

[Shel_B]

Today I bought some organic dried chickpeas at the local natural grocery. Compared to other dried chickpeas I've purchased, these were small, maybe about half the size.

Might these be a different variety? Might they taste different or have a different texture when cooked?

What characteristics should I look for when purchasing dried chickpeas? I want flavor and a nice, firm texture ... I hate mushy chickpeas.

Thanks!

[SobaAddict70]

They shouldn't be all that different, but it might help if you posted a pic.

[Plantes Vertes]

There's an exposition of chickpea varieties here.

The small types are somewhat drier and harder and tend to split more, as far as I know.

[Carole Grogloth Hawaii]

Shel,

I buy my organic chickpeas pre-packaged from Arrowhead Mills. The following site discusses chickpea varieties: http://humus101.com/EN/2008/04/22/hummus-in-perspective-chickpea-varieties/. The Arrowhead Mills chickpeas I have look closest to the Middle-Eastern chickpeas in this site's picture, although Arrowhead Mills doesn't say so on it's package. The blogger calls these chickpeas small, and best to use for hummus. I hope this helps.

Carole Grogloth, Molokai, Hawaii