Identifying Dhals and other Pulses - Beans



"Dhal" is the generic name for pulses (peas, beans, lentils) and as there are local names for many of these, both in the UK and in India, determining which to use in a specific recipe can be difficult. Below is a table (with some gaps) of photos with descriptions of beans. Peas and Lentils can be found here.

BeansDescription
mow.jpg - 15Kb Mung beans (whole),
Green gram (whole),
Sabut moong,
The beans have a wide range of colour variations from yellow, greenish yellow, light green, shiny green, dark green, dull green, black, brown, and green mottled with black, but it is a green variety which is commonly grown.
mos.jpg - 15Kb Mung Beans (split),
Green gram (split),
Moong Dal
mosw.jpg - 14Kb Mung Beans (split and husked),
Yellow gram (split),
Yellow Moong Dal,
(Although these are referred to as "yellow" they are, in fact the green mung beans, which are pale yellow inside.)
ursw.jpg - 13Kb White split gram beans,
Urad dhuli dal
Urad dal chilka
urs.jpg - 15Kb Split gram beans,
Urad dal
urwh.jpg - 14Kb Urad dal
moth.jpg - 14Kb Moth dal
bep.jpg - 14Kb Black eyed beans,
Cow Peas,
Cow gram,
Lobhyia
chrw.jpg - 12Kb Red Cow Peas,
Red Cow gram,
Red Chowri
(These beans are similar to Aduki beans) but are larger and not so glossy.
chbrw.jpg - 12Kb Brown Cow Peas,
Brown Cow gram,
Brown Chowri,
these are a similar colour to the Moth Dal above - but are bigger.
(no photo)Horsebean,
Horse gram,
Kuthli,
These are sometimes referred to as "Black Gram" - but are a darkish rusty tan colour. A small, flat, oval bean.
rkb.jpg - 13Kb Red kidney beans,
Rajma
vdwh.jpg - 11Kb Val dal (whole),
Val beans
vds.jpg - 12Kb Val dal,
Val beans (split)
wkb.jpg - 13Kb White kidney beans,
Chawli
faq.jpg - 1862 bytes topi.jpg - 1862 bytes
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