Chickpeas are usually rapidly boiled for 10 minutes, and then simmered for a longer period. Dried chickpeas need a long cooking time (12 hours) but will easily fall apart when cooked longer. If soaked for 1224 hours before use, cooking time can be shortened by around 30 minutes. Chickpeas can also be pressure cooked, or sous vide cooked at 90 °C (194 °F).
Hummus is the Arabic word for chickpeas, which are often cooked and ground into a paste and mixed with tahini (sesame seed paste), the blend called hummus bi tahini, or chickpeas are roasted, spiced, and eaten as a snack, such as leblebi. By the end of the 20th century, hummus had become commonplace in American cuisine; by 2010, five percent of Americans consumed hummus on a regular basis, and it was present in 17 percent of American households.