Malatya Brown Chickpea "Garbanzo" (Cicer arietinum) Seeds – Turkish Desi-Type, Small Reddish-Brown, Very Productive, Fast-Cooking, Excellent Flavor

Minimum: 15+ Seeds

The Small, Fast-Cooking Turkish Garbanzo

Most chickpeas people know are large, pale, and round. This Turkish desi-type goes the other way, small, angular, and reddish-brown, with a deeper, earthier flavor and a reputation for cooking faster than its bigger cousins. From the eastern Anatolian city of Malatya, it's a very productive plant that turns a small garden bed into a pantry's worth of dried chickpeas for stews, pilafs, and soups. It's an easy, rewarding crop for anyone who wants to grow their own beans.

Who Grows Malatya Brown Chickpea?
The home cook wanting small, flavorful chickpeas that cook faster than large kabuli types.
The homesteader wanting a productive dry bean for the winter pantry.
The Turkish and Mediterranean food gardener growing an authentic regional ingredient.
The dry-climate gardener wanting a drought-tolerant legume for a lean, sunny bed.

What This Turkish Desi-Type Chickpea Actually Is
Cicer arietinum 'Malatya Brown' is a desi-type chickpea from Turkey, with small, angular, reddish-brown seeds, distinct from the large, cream-colored kabuli chickpeas more common in North American stores. Desi types have a thicker seed coat and a rich, nutty, earthy flavor, and this strain is valued for being very productive and fast cooking. Plants are bushy and branching, typically 1 to 2 feet tall, with delicate, fern-like leaves and small flowers followed by short pods holding one or two seeds each. As a legume, chickpeas fix their own nitrogen, and they are naturally drought tolerant. Chickpeas are self-pollinating, which makes saving seed simple. Grown as a cool-season annual, not frost-hardy past seedlings.

In the Garden & Kitchen

• Chickpea stews: Simmer in the traditional Turkish chickpea stew with onion, tomato, and olive oil.
• Pilaf and rice dishes: Add cooked chickpeas to rice pilaf for a hearty, classic combination.
• Soups: Use fast-cooking, flavorful chickpeas in soups and braises.
• Roasted snacks: Roast cooked or soaked chickpeas into a crunchy snack.
• Dried pantry staple: Dry and store the harvest for chickpeas all year.
• Seed saving: Save a few dried seeds each season to replant next year.

Growing Malatya Brown Chickpea Seeds

• Start method: Direct sow outdoors in early spring, 2 to 4 weeks before last frost; chickpeas dislike transplanting.
• Sowing: Plant seeds 1 to 1.5 inches deep.
• Germination: Sprouts in 7 to 14 days in cool soil.
• Soil temperature: Germinates best between 50 and 70°F.
• Spacing: Space seeds 2 to 4 inches apart in rows 18 to 24 inches apart.
• Sunlight: Full sun.
• Soil: Well-drained, lean to average soil; avoid heavy nitrogen fertilizer, since chickpeas fix their own.
• Watering: Water moderately; drought tolerant once established, and wet soil invites disease.
• Days to maturity: Typically ready for dry chickpeas in roughly 90 to 110 days from seeding.
• Harvest: Let plants yellow and pods dry, then shell the dry chickpeas by hand.
• Climate note: Prefers dry, sunny conditions; very hot or humid weather can reduce pod set and cause disease.
• Hardiness: Seedlings tolerate light frost; plants are killed by hard freezes.

Before You Close This Page
This is a chickpea that's small, brown, and fast to the pot, a Turkish desi type from Malatya that's very productive and full of earthy flavor. Malatya Brown Chickpea fixes its own nitrogen, handles dry weather, and turns a small, sunny bed into a winter's supply of dry chickpeas. Plant it early, keep the soil well drained, and let the pods dry on the plant. Grow the garbanzo that cooks faster and tastes deeper.