Chickpea (scientific name: Cicerarinuml)
Ingredients:
400 gm chickpeas
2 liters water
2 gm cinnamon
2 gm star anise
100 gm fresh ginger (cut into slices)
12 gm curry leaves
22 gm salt
Method:
Firstly, soak chickpeas in water (with 1 tbsp salt) overnight; discard the water the next day.
Pour the right amount of water into a pot; insert cinnamon, star anise and fresh ginger slices into a tea bag; put the tea bag in the pot; add chickpeas, curry leaves and salt.
Bring to a boil over high heat; switch to mild heat and cook until the chickpeas are soft; discard the water and enjoy.
Chickpea:Xinjiang,Chinaproduces large quantities of chickpeas. In Chinese, it is named as ‘hawk’s beak pea’ as the pea looks like a hawk’s beak.
Xinjiang’s Uyghur people often use it to treat bronchitis, catarrh, constipation, dysentery, flatulence, pruritus, diabetes, high blood lipids and other diseases. Taking appropriate amount of pressed chickpea oil orally can moisturize one’s skin and throat; while using it externally helps in treating joint pain. It is an excellent food therapy for patients with diabetes, high blood pressure and high blood lipids as it is rich in isoflavones, biochanin plus other active ingredients and dietary fiber which can assist in reducing blood sugar, blood pressure and blood lipid levels. Thus, it is an ideal health food for individuals with weak kidneys and constitution. In addition, chickpeas are also rich in anti-inflammatory functional factors, thus particularly suitable for patients with different acute and chronic inflammation to consume.
HotanPrefectureinXinjiang,Chinais internationally recognized as one of the four longevity areas in the world. Uyghur people’s daily diet consists mainly of beef, mutton, dairy products, high-sugar melons/fruits. Though having such high-fat, high-protein and high-calorie intakes, seldom locals suffer from diabetes and cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. After a scientific expedition, World Health Organization discovered that their staple food – hand pilaf was mixed with other food and chickpeas. Chickpea is the key to a balanced diet, hence helping them stay far away from diabetes and ‘three high diseases’.