COMMON USED INDIAN PULSES

Indian Pulses

What are Gram beans?

During British Raj, they coined the term 'Gram' to identify popular dried pulse commodities. These are whole seeds with seed-cover intact
- Bengal Gram: Desi Chana, whole un-peeled seed
Decorticated split Bengal Gram is also called Yellow Gram
- Red Gram: Arhar, whole un-peeled seed
The Red in the name referred to the color of the flower before pod is formed. The seed-coat color is greenish brown
- Black Gram: Urad, whole un-peeled seed
Decorticated split Black Gram was called 'White Lentils'
- Green Gram: Moong, whole un-peeled seed
Decorticated split Green Gram was called Yellow lentil
- Horse Gram: Kulthi, whole un-peeled seeds. Kulthi was as a feed for horses. Therefore, Kulthi was named Horse Gram
British were familiar with another popular pulse in India called as Mattar. British knew it as 'Garden pea'. so they named Mattar as 'Green Pea'. British were familiar with Lentils. They left Masoor to be called as Brown Lentil.
There are three yellow colored decorticated seeds: Chana Dal (Bengal Gram), Arhar Dal (Red Gram), and Moong Dal (Green Gram). Chana Dal was called Yellow Gram, Arhar Dal and Moong Dal were called Yellow Lentils. Mistakenly, all these three are called as Yellow Gram, or Yellow Lentil.

What are Pulses?

Pulses are edibles dried-seeds of legumes. The name pulse originated from Latin word 'Pusl' meaning thick soup. FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations) places four restrictions based on the primary purpose to raise that crop
1. The legumes are not pulse, is they are primarily harvested to be used as 'culinary vegetable'. Therefore, green string beans, or snow peas are not pulse. A small portion of crop may be harvested with immature seeds to be eaten raw or make curries. The fresh pigeon pea pods with immature seeds are routinely harvested to make curries. However, the majority of crop is left to grow to till seeds are mature and dried. Therefore, the pigeon-peas are considered as Pulse
2. The legumes are not pulse, if they are primarily harvested to extract oil. The peanuts and soybean are not pulse. Small portion of crops may be used for culinary purposes. The peanuts are consumed raw, roasted, or as peanut butter. But most of the crop is used to extract peanut oil so it is not pulse. Similarly, the soybeans are are consumed as Tofu, curd, and milk. But most of the crop is used to extract soybean oil.
3. The legumes are not pulse if they are primarily harvested to use as spice or herb to flavor foods. The Fenugreek seeds are used as spice, they are not pulse

4. The legumes are not pulse, if they are primarily used to sow ground covers. The Clovers and Alfalfa are not pulse. Portion of alfalfa is sprouted and used for culinary purpose, but it is not the primary purpose of the crop.
The popular pulses are listed below in FAO recognized categories

1. Dried beans

Chori Black - English name: Azuki bean black, Classification: Vigna angularis

Chori Red - English name: Azuki bean Red, Classification: Vigna angularis

Rajma Chitriwaale - English name: Pinto beans, Classification: Phaseolus vulgaris

Rajma - English name: Red kidney beans, Classification: Phaseolus vulgaris

Moong - English name: Mung Bean, Green Gram, Classification: Vigna radiata

Moth (Mataki) - English name: Haricot bean, Classification: Vigna acontifolia
Urad - English name: Black Matpe Bean, Black Gram, Classification: Vigna mungo
Sutari (Naurangi) -  English name: Ricebean, Classification: Vigna umbellata
 

2. Dried Broad beans

Kulthi (Gahat) - English name: Horse Gram, Classification: Vicia faba equina

3. Dried Peas

Mattar Sukhae Hara - English name: Dried green garden peas, Classification: Pisum sativum

Mattar Sukhae Peela - English name: Dried yellow garden peas, Classification: Pisum sativum

Mattar Sukhae Safed - English name: Dried white garden peas, Classification: Pisum sativum

Vatna Kala - English name: Dried black garden peas, Classification: Pisum sativum

 

4. Chickpeas

Desi Chana  (Kala Chana) - English name: Chickpeas (Bengal Gram), Classification: Cicer arietinum
Kabuli Chana  - English name: Chickpeas (White Gram), Classification: Cicer arietinum

5. Dried Black-eyed peas

Lobiya, Chauwli - English name: Black eyed peas, Classification: Vigna unguiculata

6. Dried Pigeon-peas

Arhar (Toor) - English name:  Pigeon-pea, Red Gram, Classification: Cajanus cajan

7. Lentils

Masoor - English name: Brown Lentil, Classification: Lens culinaris

8. Minor Pulses

Khesari - English name: Grass-pea, Classification: Lathyrus sativus

Sem, Vaal - English name: Hyacinth beans, Lablan beans, Classification: Lablab purpureus