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.
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
| 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 dal, Chanyachi dal |
| Bengal gram whole | Kala chana, chana | Harbhara | |
| Black eyed beans, cow peas | Lobhiya, lobiya, chawli, chavli | Karamani | |
| Black gram skinned | Urad dhuli | Ullutham 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 | ||
| Peas | Mutter, matar, mattar | Pattani | |
| 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 | Thuvarum 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. Thanks in advance for your information
If we have missed any legumes, then also you can let us know.
Related Culinary Posts
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.
Excellent! Thanks for this info. It was very helpful for an on-going project.
Cheers.
Welcome Sunny
What about soya dal?
will add.
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
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.
What are brown lentils?
In hindi. They say it is masoor but masoor is called red lentils. Are both brown and red lentils same?
Sanjana Lal, masoor is called as brown lentils because the whole masoor has brown colored husk.
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!
Thanks for this dal names in english
welcome rishabh.
What is beluga lentil called in Hindi?
beluga lentils are not native to india. so i don’t think they have a hindi name.
What about mash ki daal? 🙁
urad dal is mash ki dal. urad dal is mentioned in the list.
Thank u for giving us this valuable knowledge if u r missing some more lentils so plz update bcoz i thing some r missing
thanks vaishali. i will be updating this post with pics. hopefully i will update if i have missed any lentils that time.
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
druv, we will working on this post and adding pics. so will keep your suggestion in mind.
nice effort 🙂
thanks.
What is yellow lentil known as in hind ? Arhar or dhuli moong ? Both are yellow
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.
Besan is called CHUN चुन in marathi
thanks for the info nilkanth. will update in a couple of days.
Very Very good blog..Link it to Face book page plz..
thankyou jawnsin will link on fb soon 🙂
Dear requesting you to add proper marathi words.
will update.
Hi i want to know gujarTi name of soyabean.
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.