Lentils and Pulses Names in Hindi, English, Tamil, Marathi

By Dassana Amit
Last Updated: June 27, 2021

102 Comments

The glossary or list of legumes and lentils or pulses names used mainly in Indian Cuisine is presented here. Pulses and legumes are an excellent sources of plant based proteins. In India most of the vegetarian population consumes a variety of legumes, pulses and their flours. So we have hundreds of recipes made with them. We even have sweets and desserts made with lentils. e.g. moong dal halwa, besan ladoo, chana dal payasam etc.

lentils and pulses in a white creamish bowl.

Just for your information:-

  • In Hindi, the word ‘Sabut’ is used for lentils which are whole.
  • The word ‘Dal’ or ‘Dahl’ is used for split lentils.
  • The word ‘Dhuli’ is used for split and husked/skinned lentils.

How to Cook, Buy and Store Lentils and Legumes

Soaking: Some people have difficulty digesting these due to the phytic acid present in them. To make them easily digestible soak the lentils like chana dal, tuvar dal, masoor dal in water for an hour and legumes like white chickpeas, kidney beans, black chickpeas for 8 to 9 hours or overnight.

Later drain all the water and rinse the lentils thoroughly in fresh water for a couple of times. This process helps to remove some of the phytic acid.

Cooking: Soaking the lentils and beans reduces their cooking time by 25%. Once they are soaked well, you have the options to cook them in a pressure cooker or pan or in an instant pot. While cooking lentils add double to triple the amount of water. When cooking beans, add 3 to 4 times water to one cup of dried beans.

In Indian cuisine, most of our lentil dishes contain many spices and herbs that help in the digestion. e.g. cumin, ginger, asafoetida, fennel seeds, carom seeds etc. They also add a ton of flavor and aroma in the dish. I suggest that in any Indian lentil or legume recipe don’t change or omit the spices or herbs but you can change some other ingredients if they are not available to you. 

Buying: While purchasing lentils and legumes make sure they are in their shelf period and not aged or old. Lentils that are old take a longer time to cook and also you don’t get the best texture and flavor in them.

If possible buy organic or locally sourced pulses and legumes. Also, try to buy unpolished pulses or lentils as they have higher nutrition than the polished ones. Moreover, they also taste better.

Preserve: To preserve lentils or their flours for a longer time so that they don’t get infested with insects, keep 1 to 2 tej patta (Indian bay leaf) or few cinnamon sticks or few pieces of cloves in the lentil jar. Keep in a cool dry place.

Note that this pulses names list is best viewed in a desktop or laptop browser. When viewing in a mobile phone or tablet, you will have to swipe the table from left to right.

The first column consists of the pulses names in English, whilst the second column consists of their names translated in Hindi, Tamil and Marathi languages. These names of the legumes, lentils are listed in alphabetical order.

Pulses Name List

EnglishHindiTamilMarathi
Bengal gram flourBesanKadalai mavu 
Bengal gram spilt and skinnedChana dal, chane ki dal,
Booter dal		Kadalai paruppuHarbaryachi dal,
Chanyachi dal
Bengal gram wholeKala chana, chana Harbhara
Black eyed beans, cow peasLobhiya, lobiya, chawli, chavliKaramani 
Black gram skinnedUrad dhuliUllutham paruppu 
Black gram splitUrad chilka  
Black gram wholeUrad sabut, urad sabootMuzhu ulundhu 
White chick peas,
Garbanzo beans		Kabuli channa,
Safed chole, chole		Kondai kadalai 
Field bean,
Hyacinth bean, lablab		Val  
Green gram dalMoong dalPayatham paruppu 
Green gram splitMoong chilka Mugachi dal
Green gram wholeMoong sabut, mung sabutPayaruMug
Horse gramKulthi, kulithKollu 
Lentil dal, pink lentilMasoor dal, masar dal,
Masur dal		  
Moth beanMoth, matki, mataki 
PeasMutter, matar, mattarPattani 
Dried green peasHara matar  
Dried white peasSafed matar  
Black peasKala vatana  
Peas spilt, green peas spiltMatar dal, green matar dal  
Pigeon peas spilt and skinnedArhar, tuvar, toor, tur dalThuvarum paruppu 
Red kidney beansRajmaRajma 
SoybeanBhatma  

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. Thanks in advance for your information

If we have missed any legumes, then also you can let us know.

Related Culinary Posts

  1. Fruits Names
  2. Spices Names
  3. Cereals Names
  4. Vegetables Names

This lentils and pulses name list post from the blog archives (first published in September 2009) has been updated and republished on 26 June 2021.

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102 Comments

    2. Dried White peas is called vellai pattani in Tamil and dried green peas is called kanja pacha pattani

  3. Excellent! Thanks for this info. It was very helpful for an on-going project.
    Cheers.

  5. Please add Telugu Names (Andhra Pradesh & Telangana)

    Bengal Gram Flour Senaga Pindi
    Bengal Gram Split and Skinned Senaga Pappu
    Bengal Gram Whole Senagalu
    Black Gram Dal (Skinned) Minapappu
    Black Gram Split (with husk) Pottu Minapappu
    Black Gram Whole Minugulu
    Green Gram Dal (Skinned) Pesara Pappu
    Green Gram Split (with husk) Pottu Pesara Pappu
    Green Gram Whole Pesalu
    Horse Gram Ulavalu
    Peas Batanilu
    Red Kidney Beans Rajma

    1. thanks a lot mani for this information. will add. the entire post needs a change and due to shortage of time, i am not able to work on it. once i change the whole post, i will add all the details. thanks again.

  6. What are brown lentils?
    In hindi. They say it is masoor but masoor is called red lentils. Are both brown and red lentils same?

    1. Sanjana Lal, masoor is called as brown lentils because the whole masoor has brown colored husk.

    2. Basically, both are the same lentils. When the “Masoor” lentil is whole, with the husk on, it is brown. When the lentil is split and has the husk removed it is referred to as a “red lentil”; orange in color. The difference is clear in English, ie: brown lentil/red lentil but confusing in other languages. Hope this helps! Whatever the language, Dal/Lentil Curry is delicious!

    1. beluga lentils are not native to india. so i don’t think they have a hindi name.

  10. Thank u for giving us this valuable knowledge if u r missing some more lentils so plz update bcoz i thing some r missing

    1. thanks vaishali. i will be updating this post with pics. hopefully i will update if i have missed any lentils that time.

  11. 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

    1. druv, we will working on this post and adding pics. so will keep your suggestion in mind.

    1. 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.

    1. 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.

  18. Hello Amit

    It was a basket of informative knowledge.
    Thanks. By the way what is the local commercial name for American beans.

    1. thanks. i am not sure what are american beans. have never seen them here in india.

  19. 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.

  20. 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?

    1. i think red gram and split red lentils is masoor dal. and red pumpkin would be orange pumpkin.

  21. 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

  25. 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!

  26. Please see if you can keep the picture of each in respective rows.. it will help quickly to relate

    1. 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.

  27. Waal is a Konkan coastal bean with a hard shell and can only be cooked only when sprouted.its legume .Give synonyms.

  29. 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

  31. 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

    1. dhanyawad sheetal for sharing this info. i will add the names in a few days.

  32. Is there a difference in taste when it comes to split masoor (pinkish) and sabut masoor (brown)?
    Or are they the same?

    1. 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.

    1. legumes are whole beans. lentils are not beans. they comprise of the various dal that we have in our food.

      1. 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.

        1. 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.

  37. 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!

  38. 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.

    1. 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.

  40. 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 ? 🙂

      1. I think it is a different type of lentil (masoor). There are the brown lentils (unhusked) as well as green ones (unhusked).

  41. Very good information indeed.
    However I could not get english name for JAWAS seed. can you please send me.
    Thanks & regards
    B. D. Bade

    1. from what i have seen on the web, javas are flax seeds. they are called as alashi in marathi.

  42. 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

  44. In one of d recipes I read, it was written ‘beans’ so which bean should I consider

  46. 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