The Glossary of legumes and lentils or pulses used mainly in Indian Cuisine is presented here. The first column consists of their names in English, whilst the second column consists of their names translated in Hindi.The names of the legumes, lentils are listed in an alphabetical order.
Just for your information :-
- In Hindi, the word ‘ Sabut’ is used for lentils which are whole.
- The word ‘ Dal ‘ is used for split lentils.
- The word ‘ Dhuli ‘ is used for split and husked/skinned lentils.
| english | hindi | tamil | marathi |
| bengal gram flour | besan | kadalai mavu | |
| bengal gram spilt and skinned | chana dal, chane ki dal, booter dal | kadalai paruppu | harbaryachi, chanyachi dal |
| bengal gram whole | kala chana, chana | harbhara | |
| black eyed beans, cow peas | lobhiya, lobiya, chawli, chavli | karamani | |
| black gram skinned | urad dhuli | ulluttam paruppu | |
| black gram split | urad chilka | ||
| black gram whole | urad sabut, urad saboot | muzhu ulundhu | |
| white chick peas, garbanzo beans | kabuli channa, safed chole, chole | kondai kadalai | |
| field bean, hyacinth bean, lablab | val | ||
| green gram dal | moong dal | payatham paruppu | |
| green gram split | moong chilka | mugachi dal | |
| green gram whole | moong sabut, mung sabut | payaru | mug |
| horse gram | kulthi, kulith | kollu | |
| lentil dal, pink lentil | masoor dal, masar dal, masur dal | ||
| moth bean | moth, matki, mataki | taittai pairu | |
| peas | mutter, matar, mattar | pattanni | |
| dried green peas | hara matar | ||
| dried white peas | safed matar | ||
| black peas | kala vatana | ||
| peas spilt, green peas spilt | matar dal, green matar dal | ||
| pigeon peas spilt and skinned | arhar, tuvar, toor, tur dal | tovarum paruppu | |
| red kidney beans | rajma | rajma | |
| soybean | bhatma |
note – if you know the name of any legumes/lentils/pulses in any regional indian language and want to update it in this post… then do leave it in the comment section and we will update the post.
if we have missed any legumes, then also you can let us know. thanks in advance.
Related Culinary Posts:
- Glossary of Indian Fruits
- Glossary of Indian Spices in English and Hindi
- Glossary of Cereals Grains in English and Hindi
- Glossary of Indian Dry Fruits in English and Hindi
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John says
What is beluga lentil called in Hindi?
dassana amit says
beluga lentils are not native to india. so i don’t think they have a hindi name.
Kiran says
What about mash ki daal? 🙁
dassana amit says
urad dal is mash ki dal. urad dal is mentioned in the list.
vaishali says
Thank u for giving us this valuable knowledge if u r missing some more lentils so plz update bcoz i thing some r missing
dassana amit says
thanks vaishali. i will be updating this post with pics. hopefully i will update if i have missed any lentils that time.
druv says
please add in Marathi
1. Besan Pit
2. Harbaryachi Dal
3. Harbhara
4. chavli
5. Uddad
6. Uddachi dal
7.
8. Kabuli Harbara
9. Val
10. Mug Dal
dassana amit says
druv, we will working on this post and adding pics. so will keep your suggestion in mind.
Sidra Rafique says
nice effort 🙂
dassana amit says
thanks.
KC says
What is yellow lentil known as in hind ? Arhar or dhuli moong ? Both are yellow
dassana amit says
yes kc both are yellow but sabut moong is also green in color. arhar or toor dal is yellow in color hope this help’s you.
Nilkanth Koranne says
Besan is called CHUN चुन in marathi
dassana amit says
thanks for the info nilkanth. will update in a couple of days.
Jawnsin Chris says
Very Very good blog..Link it to Face book page plz..
dassana amit says
thankyou jawnsin will link on fb soon 🙂
Parikshit says
Dear requesting you to add proper marathi words.
dassana amit says
will update.
brinda says
Hi i want to know gujarTi name of soyabean.
dassana amit says
i do not know what soybean is called in gujarati. but according to me soybean called as soyabean is hindi as well as in gujarati.
Sukumar says
Hello Amit
It was a basket of informative knowledge.
Thanks. By the way what is the local commercial name for American beans.
dassana amit says
thanks. i am not sure what are american beans. have never seen them here in india.
Dhiraj Singh says
Thanks a lot. very informative and great site. It was very useful for me in last hour as i was really struggling to get the names in English for importing some.
dassana amit says
welcome dhiraj. good to know that the post helped you.
Tara says
Thanks for creating this list of cross reference. What is red gram and split red lentils? Is that masoor dal or pink lentils? I have a recipe book that calls out for red pumpkin. Is that the same as the orange pumpkin we have here in the U.S. that we carve during Halloween?
dassana amit says
i think red gram and split red lentils is masoor dal. and red pumpkin would be orange pumpkin.
SREEDHAR . T says
TELUGU NAMES
BENGAL GRAM WHOLE: PACCHI SANAGALU
BEAGAL GRAM SPLIT: PACCHI SANAGA PAPPU
BEAGAL GRAM FRIED: VEYINCHINA SANAGA PAPPU
BENGAL GRAM FOOR: SENAGA PINDI
BLACK GRAM WHOLE: MINUMULU
BLACK GRAM SPLIT: MINAPA PAPPU
GREEN GRAM WHOLE: PACCHI PESALU
GREEN GRAM SPLIT: PESARA PAPPU
REDGRAM WHOLE: KANDULU
RED GRAM SPLIT: KADI PAPPU
GREAN PEAS : PACCHI BHATALILU
DRY GREAN PEAS: ENDU BHATANILU
dassana amit says
thanks sreedhar for the lentil names in telugu. will try to update soon.
ishi says
Can i know, if there is any common name for white beans ?!
dassana amit says
ishi, which white beans?
witerose says
hii gud work, i know the names in telugu & kannada.
dassana amit says
thanks witerose
subha says
verkadalai{in tamil} means ground nut (in english)
dassana amit says
subha, thanks for the info.
Maya says
Hi, Sorry to bother you but would it be possible to link pictures to each of these? I’m having a hard time trying to figure out what to buy and my mum’s no where nearby to ask! Or if you know of a website that has pictures, that would be great too! Thanks so much!
dassana amit says
welcome maya. no issue. we will add the photos soon.
vinaya says
Please see if you can keep the picture of each in respective rows.. it will help quickly to relate
dassana amit says
thanks vinaya. its a good suggestion but will make the page very heavy to load. thats why we have not implemented till now. but will surely give a second thought.
Krishnakumar says
Waal is a Konkan coastal bean with a hard shell and can only be cooked only when sprouted.its legume .Give synonyms.
dassana amit says
we know. will add synonyms.
thomas says
moth beans tamilnadu called as that taittai pairu
dassana amit says
thanks thomas for sharing the info.
Prem says
Please add the following Tamil translations:
black eyed beans, cow peas – Karamani
black gram skinned – ulluttam paruppu
black gram whole – muzhu ulundhu
white chick peas – kondai kadalai
green gram dal – payatham paruppu
green gram whole – payaru
horse gram – kollu
peas – pattanni
pigeon peas spilt and skinned – tovarum paruppu
Regards,
Prem
dassana amit says
thanks prem for sharing this. i will update them soon.
Latha says
Thank you for this English Hindi Glossary.
dassana amit says
welcome latha
Mr Sheetal Panchal says
Namashkar chief
kindly add few names in Gujarati
like
Chola =brown seeds ,also in dal form when husk is removed
fried Fafda is made from Chola ki dal in Gujarat
Tuver whole seeds
Val whole >off white colour
and Val ki dal
Math whole and dal
Mathia papad is made in Gujarat during Diwali
dassana amit says
dhanyawad sheetal for sharing this info. i will add the names in a few days.
Arvind says
Is there a difference in taste when it comes to split masoor (pinkish) and sabut masoor (brown)?
Or are they the same?
dassana amit says
yes there is a difference in the taste as well as the consistency of the dal. basically both are same lentil. whole masoor is a complete lentil with the husk on it. while pinkish/orangish masoor is halved lentil and the husk has been removed.
sharanjit says
What is the difference in legumes and lentils?
dassana amit says
legumes are whole beans. lentils are not beans. they comprise of the various dal that we have in our food.
Dick L. says
Thank you for the table– it is difficult sometimes to find the thing recipe writers are talking about. I saw a recipe that used “kaalu/field beans” and my local Indian grocer did not know what they were. It looks like they may be val, but I’m still not sure.
American English apparently differs on some of the names. We consider lentils to be legumes. Please see Wikipedia on this, although there are many other sources that will confirm this usage.
Also, green gram whole are more frequently called just “mung beans” in American English. Except in Indian stores, they’re not generally available split or split and hulled. The whole ones are sometimes (or usually?) used for sprouting.
Split peas here are available in green (most usually used for soup) and yellow types.
Black beans here are common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), used in Latin-American, Southwestern and Californian dishes. They’re sometimes called “black turtle beans”. There are also “Beluga lentils” or black lentils, which are tiny black legumes, the same shape as mung beans, but a little smaller, and black instead of green.
I hope this helps, although it may suggest that a column be added for “American usage”. That could be a problem because we have no names for many of the legumes in your table, and we have many varieties of common beans which seem to have no Indian equivalents.
dassana amit says
thanks for the suggestions and for the mentioning the various beans found in america. i have made a note of this and will try to add the american usage in some days. field beans are vaal. here its vice versa for lentils and legumes. i will check wikipedia.
Isla says
Thank you! Most useful!
dassana amit says
welcome.
ritu says
What is black bean?
dassana amit says
black beans are black colored soy beans.
rahul says
i do feed cows wid jaggery and chana dal….is it good for their health
dassana amit says
rahul, i don’t know.
Lin ultraviolet says
Thanx a lot for this glossaries! now i got a better idea about the dals and i can search for it. u just made my day n_n!
dassana amit says
welcome lin
gaye hatfield says
Hi,
Just wondering if I could use toor dahl in place of moong dahl for Korean pancakes. They are called Bindaetteok (Korean Mung Bean Pancakes). I guess it must be the amount of carbohydrate in the beans that hold them together. Not sure.
dassana amit says
with toor dal, the taste would be different. i suggest using both toor dal and chana dal. you can even make only with chana dal.
manpreet says
i m thankful
dassana amit says
welcome manpreet
nazli says
Hi,
Is french Lentil the same thing as moong whole ?
The other day i ate a fish dish prepared with french lentils, I wanted to try the dish at home and closest lentil in color and size was moong whole, any thought on that ? 🙂
dassana says
nazli, i am not sure about it. so can’t say.
B. D. Bade says
Very good information indeed.
However I could not get english name for JAWAS seed. can you please send me.
Thanks & regards
B. D. Bade
dassana says
from what i have seen on the web, javas are flax seeds. they are called as alashi in marathi.
Kajal says
hw i wished if u hd posted images of the lentils along with their names.. :)neways no problem i wl google it..thanks for posting
dassana says
kajal, posting so many images is difficult and slows down the webpage too.
kajal says
ooh..kies
Lydia D'Souza says
What would you call alfalfa seeds in Hindi or Marathi?
dassana says
in hindi, these seeds are called as ‘rajko‘. you can also refer below link on alfalfa seeds
http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/how-to-make-alfalfa-sprouts/
Swap says
In one of d recipes I read, it was written ‘beans’ so which bean should I consider
dassana says
which bean are you referring and which recipe?
gaurav says
Thanks..Dassana?? Anyway… thanks so much for this info.
dassana says
welcome gaurav.
Deep says
Plz correct ,
pigeön pea is not tuvar dal or arhar dal.
As far as i knw it is called as kala chana
or chana dal
dassana says
dear deep, pigeon pea is tuvar dal. kala chana is called as bengal gram.
shek says
thanks
Kazi Priyanka Silmi says
What is Boot er dal in English?
dassana amit says
its chana dal or bengal gram.