Go to most common types of bean Part I, Part II and Part III

Peas (Pisum sativum)

Fresh peas

Edible-podded peas – mangetout, sugar peas, snap peas, sugar snap peas, snow peas are immature green peas; mostly used fresh, frozen or canned; eaten as side dish vegetable or prepared in salads, casseroles and fried dishes.

Dried peas

Mostly used in soups; however in Japan and some East Asian countries peas are roasted and salted, and eaten as snacks.

Marrowfat peas – (known as mushy peas in Britain) are used to make a traditional pease pudding and as garnish to fish and meat pies; a traditional pea dish in US is split pea soup.

Pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan)

Also called red gram, toovar, toor, togari, gandul, Congo pea, Gungo pea, and no-eye pea.

Pigeon peas are one of the most popular pulses in India – along with chickpeas, urad bean (also called Urad dal in India) and mung bean (also called Mung dal in India).

Pigeon peas are high in proteins (about 22%) and important amino acids. Pigeon peas combined with cereals make well balanced food.

Urad bean (Vigna mungo)

Also referred to as black gram in English, urd, urd bean, urad, urid, black lentil or white lentil.

It is grown in southern Asia and is the most nutritious of all pulses – recommended for diabetics.

Mung bean (Vigna radiata)

Also called green gram in English, mung in Hindi, golden gram and green soy.

It’s native to India and commonly used in Chinese and Indian cuisines.

In Chinese cuisine mung beans are stir fried as a vegetable accompaniment to a meal and also used to make a sweet soup.

In Indian cuisine mung beans are stripped of their outer coats to make mung dal.

Mung beans are used to prepare a popular Indonesian dessert.

In the next post I promise to share some interesting cooking techniques for preparing beans, as well as some delicious bean recipes.