Chickpeas Garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas) have a delicious nutlike taste and buttery texture. They provide a good source of protein that can be enjoyed year-round and are available either dried or canned. The two commercial types of chick peas produced are kabuli and desi. Kabuli chick peas, also known as garbanzo beans, have a larger, cream-coloured seed with a thin seed coat, while the desi type has a smaller, darker coloured seed with a thick seed coat.