Welcome to another Indian Cooking 101 Class (read about my Indian Cooking 101 series here). I am your “professor” Ashley Singh Thomas (I use the title “professor” very loosely here, heh). Today’s post is all about the different types of legumes used in Indian cooking (scroll down to see large photos of each type of dal).
Before we get started, please know these are just some of the legumes used in Indian cooking. I’ll update this post as I continue to add recipes to my blog calling for different legumes.
What is the difference between legumes, pulses, lentils, beans?
Everything I just mentioned falls under the legume family. Pulses are dried seeds (which includes dried lentils and dried beans). So everything you see in this post is considered a pulse and all pulses are considered legumes (but not all legumes are pulses… that’s not really important right now but just fyi).
This is just extra information that I’m sharing with you because I know there have to be a few of you who are wondering. No one uses the word pulse in real life though (right?) so feel free to forget this information as I doubt you’ll need it in the “real world.”
What is Dal?
Dal has two meanings.
- Dal translates to lentil
- Dal is also a lentil-based dish
Let’s use dal in a sentence! So, I might say to my husband, “Roby dear, can you pick up some dal from the Indian grocery store after work so that I can make you dal for dinner tonight?”
Typically I’d be more specific and would ask him to pick up a particular type of dal (like masoor or chana dal). Basically you need dal (lentil) to make dal (lentil soup).
While you can make a dal out of any pulse, typically the word “dal” only shows up in the name of a pulse if it is a split lentil. So for example chana dal = split chickpeas whereas if I am referring to whole chickpeas I would just say chana or chole. I would not say I am making chole dal.
One more interesting thing to know about legumes used in Indian cooking is that the same legume can be used in several different ways: whole, split, with the “skin” on and with the “skin” off. A good example of this are the last three photos of legumes in this blog post which all actually come from the same black legume: whole black lentils (whole urad dal), whole skinless black lentils (whole skinless urad dal), split and skinless black lentils (split and skinless urad dal).
All you really need to know:
I don’t want to be one of those professors who bombards you with material that isn’t ever going to show up on an exam. Let’s prepare you for your real life legume exam – you know, the one you’ll be taking as you cruise through the aisles at your local Indian grocery store.
The ONLY thing you need to take away from this “lesson” is what these legumes look like so that when you go to the store, you can figure out what to buy. And the good thing is that these days a lot of packaging has the English name of the legume listed.
Okay before we get to it I have to plug my book – I have several different types of dal recipes in my cookbook which is available here: Indian Food Under Pressure (apparently I am also one of those professors who uses her own book in class and refers to it often…) 😂
Black-Eyed Peas
Other Names: Lobia, Cow Pea, Chawli, Raungi
Recipes that call for Black-Eyed Peas:
Chickpeas
Other Names: Garbanzo Beans, Kabuli Chana, Safed Chana, Chana, Chitte Chole, Chole
Recipes that call for Chickpeas:
- How to Cook Chickpeas in an Instant Pot
- Tamilian Chickpea Sundal
- Butter Chickpeas
- Punjabi Chole/Chana Masala
- Kung Pao Chickpeas
Brown Chickpeas (Kala Chana)
Other Names: Bengal Gram, Desi Chickpeas
These brown chickpeas are more nutty in flavor than garbanzo beans.
Recipes that call for Brown Chickpeas:
- Brown Chickpeas in Coconut Curry (Kadala Curry)
- Spiced Brown Chickpeas (Sookha Kala Chana)
- Punjabi Brown Chickpea Curry (Kala Chana)
Split Chickpeas (Chana Dal)
Other Names: Split Bengal Gram, Split Desi Chickpeas
When you split and skin brown chickpeas (the photo above this one), you get chana dal. This yellow lentil is what’s inside brown chickpeas (kala chana). Besan, known as chickpea flour, is made using chana dal whereas chickpea flour in American grocery stores is made using garbanzo beans.
Recipes that call for Split Chickpeas/Chana Dal:
Recipes that call for Besan (Chana Dal Flour):
Whole Mung Beans
Other Names: Green Gram, Sabut Moong, Green Moong
Recipes that call for Whole Mung Beans:
Small Yellow Lentils (Moong Dal)
Other names = yellow split mung beans
When you split a whole mung bean (the green lentil photo above this one), you get moong dal. This tiny yellow lentil is what’s inside whole moong (green lentil).
Recipes that call for Small Yellow Lentils/Moong Dal:
- Khichdi – Rice Lentil Porridge
- Kerala Parippu Curry
- Palak Moong Dal
- Moong Dal Payasam (dessert)
- Moong Dal Halwa (dessert)
Split Pigeon Peas (Toor Dal)
Other names = tuvar, arhar
Recipes that call for Split Pigeon Peas/Toor Dal:
- Spiced Yellow Lentils (Toor Dal)
- Dal Dhokli (Dal with Noodles)
- Masala Dal
- Lentils with Goat (Dal Gosht)
- Kerala Parippu Curry
- Dill Lentil Soup
Kidney Beans
Other Names: Rajma
Recipes that call for Kidney Beans:
- Rajma
- American Chili (not Indian)
Red Lentils (Masoor Dal)
Recipes that call for Masoor Dal:
- Red Lentil Dal
- Pumpkin Dal with Red Lentils
- Lentils with Goat (Dal Gosht)
- Dal Makhani
- Dill Lentil Soup
- Ham & Red Lentil Soup (not Indian)
Whole Black Lentils (Whole Urad Dal)
Other Names: Black Gram, Maa ki Dal
Recipes that call for Whole Black Lentils (Whole Urad Dal):
Whole Skinless Black Lentils (Whole Skinless Urad Dal)
Recipes that call for Whole Skinless Black Lentils (Whole Skinless Urad Dal):
Split and Skinless Black Lentils (Split and Skinless Urad Dal)
Thank you for this, most interesting.
Glad to hear that! 🙂
Ashley – can brown chickpeas be subbed in for regular chickpeas? Just curious, really. Any nutritional differences between the 2, or is the nuttier flavour really the only difference?
Thanks,
Donna
Hi Donna, they both cook in about the same amount of time so you should be able to sub brown chickpeas for regular chickpeas. Brown chickpeas are dense and hearty compared to regular chickpeas which are soft so the texture will be different. You can’t squish a brown chickpea the way you’d be able to squish a regular chickpea, if that makes sense. As for nutritional differences, I’m not sure – I can only really speak to the flavor. Hope that helps!
Thank you for providing such a helpful resource. Do you have a good, reliable source for gluten-free urad dal and other lentils? My son has food allergies to gluten and sesame and I’m constantly on the hunt for new, safe sources for ingredients.
Lentils and other legumes are often contaminated with gluten because farmers rotate them with wheat, barley, and rye, and use the same farm equipment, storage areas, and transportation in their production. The same usually occurs throughout the supply chain as the legumes pass between various distributors and middlemen. For that reason we haven’t been able to rely upon lentils or other legumes supplied in stores.
We’ve found Edison Grainery for some lentils and legumes, but they don’t have urad dal and some of the other dal varieties you list above. Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.
Hi Dan, I typically buy 24 mantra organic because that’s what they sell at my local Indian grocery store – since all lentils are naturally gluten-free I didn’t even realize anyone sold certified gluten free lentils. Do you soak and rinse the lentils? If so, do you find you find your son still has issues with legumes? I wonder if Bob’s Red Mill would be a good option? Sorry I’m not of more help with this – please send over any information you find!
Thank you so much for this! I didn’t realize there were so many types of dal. I was just going by looks (small, yellow, split in 1/2) but now I know why my dal doesn’t taste like my mother-in-law’s – I’ve been using the wrong type of dal.
We have loved every recipe we’ve tried on your website. After 15 years of marriage, my husband no longer has to fly home to see Mummy or go to a restaurant to eat good Indian food. Thank you, thank you, thank you! (Plus now maybe I’ll impress my MIL when she comes to visit!)
Kathy, I’m so glad it helped you! And happy to hear that you and your hubby like the recipes 🙂 I hope they impress your MIL too – please let me know!
Hi. Thanks for this. What are green and brown lentils called in India? Would the brown lentils be the brown mansoor dal?
Hi Sharmeen, yes the whole brownish-green lentils are called whole masoor – I need to get a photo of those in this post!
Is there any reason I shouldn’t substitute split dal with skin instead of whole lentils, to keep the skin flavor but reduce the cooking time for my dals?
Hi! I enjoy your information.* Have you heard of, (I’m sure you have) KITCHARI? I saw it on Facebook, by a person I follow, & it sounds so good for me…..made with split mung beans & with rice……So glad to see other recipes under each bean,lentil, legume. Thanks!*
Hi Susan! Yup and I have a recipe for it on my blog 🙂 You can find that here: https://myheartbeets.com/instant-pot-khichdi-rice-lentil-porridge/
Thank you Ashley. Good information.. Though I grew up eating/cooking these dals, I never noticed few things…
Like ‘dal’ being used only when its split and not when its whole.
Thanks Reva! Glad you found this helpful 🙂
Hi Ashley, my MIL makes dal using “moth beans”. Do you have a recommendation for something similar to that?
Great post, a well-researched blog on Indian dal.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Ritesh, glad you liked it!
> Dal translates to lentil
This is incorrect. It may be so translated by Indians who are unfamiliar with what lentil (lens-shaped seeds) actually refers to.
Lentil translates only to masoor.
Dal translates better to pulses – however, as you say, pulse can be an unfamiliar word, in the English-speakimg world
Pedantic, aren’t we?
You forgot the Queen (Mallika) of Dals – Malka – Whole Red Lentils! And the most common ones when you think of the word ‘Lentil’.
Wow just what I was looking for! I’m interested in South Asian cuisine and I often stumble upon the non-english name of the legumes so this page will be very helpful. Thank you so much 🙂
Hi Andre, I’m happy to hear that you found this useful 🙂