Chickpeas are the most important legume in
India, where they’re hulled and split to make
chana dal, ground into flour for papadums,
pakoras, and other fried goods, and are boiled,
roasted, and sprouted.
Common Bean, Lima Bean, Tepary Bean
The common bean, lima bean, and tepary bean
are the important domesticated species of the
30 or so species in the Central American
genus Phaseolus.
Common Bean The most important species of
Phaseolus is P. vulgaris, or the common bean.
The ancestral plant was a native of
southwestern Mexico, and the highest
consumption of the common bean is still in
Latin America. It first came under cultivation
about 7,000 years ago, and gradually diffused
both north and south, reaching the major
continents about 2,000 years ago, and Europe
during the age of exploration. The common
bean has been developed into many hundreds