Name: Type of dal : Indian dal names in English and Hindi
Ingredients: Moong Dal; Masoor Dal; Toor Dal; Chana Dal; Urad Dal; Matar Dal; Rajma; Chawali; Moth Beans

We all are familiar with Indian Cuisine. In our everyday recipes, we often cook various type of dal or lentil soup for our family. In this blog post, you will learn various Indian dal names in English and Hindi. Apart from that comprehensive guide on what is dal?, What is legume? , what is pulse?, what is bean?

Table of Contents

What is dal

Dal or Daal is a very common dish in Indian cuisine. It is basically a type of thick stew to a soup like a dish made from lentils, split pulse or sometimes beans which are often seasoned with various Indian spices, and herbs.

In Indian cuisine, you can find different types of dal from moong dal, chana dal, toor dal, and masoor dal which are unique flavours and textures.

What are legumes

Legumes basically belong to the Leguminosae family which includes beans, lentils, peas, chickpeas, soybeans, peanuts and fresh beans.

Apart from that legumes are a good source of plant-based proteins which are low fat, high fibre, and high antioxidants.

You can use them as an alternative to meat for vegetarians people.

What are lentils

Lentils are a type of legume which are very popular in India. They are small size and lens-shaped seeds that come in a variety of colours from brown, green, yellow, and red.

Lentils have a mild earthy flavour and a tender texture, for that reason they can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes from soups, stews, salads, and curries.

As lentils do not require soaking before cooking for that reason they are very easy to cook.

The most common lentils in Indian cuisine are toor dal or pigeon pea and masoor dal or red lentils

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What is pulse

Pulse is a type of edible seed from the legume family that belongs to beans, lentils, or peas.

Plants in the legume family are special because they are nitrogen-fixing, meaning these plants can draw nitrogen out of the air and use it as food.

Pulses are a versatile, nutritious, and affordable food you can include them in your diet.

What is bean

In Indian cuisine bean refers to an edible legume that is usually kidney shaped which are not a lentil. Some popular beans in India are fava beans (broad bean), soybeans, and chickpeas or chana.

Sometime the term bean is used apart from legumes for coffee beans, castor beans, vanilla beans etc.

Difference between lentils and legumes

You can say lentils are a type of legume that belongs to the legumes family includes lentils and other food crops.

Basically, Lentils are small, lens-shaped seeds that belong to a variety of colours, including brown, green, yellow, and red.

On the other hand, Legumes are a larger category of plants that includes lentils and other food crops like beans, peas, and chickpeas, as well as other crops like soybeans, peanuts and fresh beans.

Difference between lentils and pulses

Basically, you can say Lentils are the subcategory of Pulses.

As lentils are small in size and have lens-shaped seeds that look brown, green, yellow, and red colour.

On the other hand, pulses are a larger family of plants that consists of lentils and other crops like beans, peas, and chickpeas.

Different types of dal

There are many different types of dal in Indian cuisine from split pulses such as lentils, chickpeas, or mung beans.

Here i include some of the most popular types of dal from Indian Cuisine :

Moong Dal

Masoor Dal
Toor Dal
Chana Dal

Urad Dal
Matar Dal
Rajma

Chawali
Moth Beans

These are just a few examples of the different types of dal in Indian Cuisine.

Indian dal names in English and Hindi

Here is the detail of the most famous Indian dal names in English and Hindi from Indian Cuisine. Apart from that here you will get to know the exact soaking time of individual Indian lentil for cooking.

Yellow Split Gram

Yellow Split Gram in hindi moong dal

Yellow split gram in Hindi

You can say yellow split gram in Hindi is moong dal.

Soaking time for moong dal

For split moong dal you can soak for at least 30 minutes but for whole moong dal, you can soak for at least 4 hours for better cooking.

Red Lentil

Red lentil in Hindi

You can say red lentil in Hindi is Masoor Dal.

Soaking time for Masoor dal

Though it is not necessary to soak masoor dal if you want cooking process faster then you can soak masoor dal for at least 30 minutes before cooking.

Pigeon pea

Pigeon pea in Hindi

You can say pigeon pea in Hindi is Toor Dal.

Soaking time for Pigeon pea

For split toor dal you can soak for at least 30 minutes but for whole pea, you can soak for at least 8 hours for better cooking.

Chickpeas

Chickpeas in Hindi

You can say chickpeas in Hindi are Chole or Chana Dal.

Soaking time for Chana dal

For split chana dal or Bengal gram, you can soak for at least 30 minutes but for whole chana dal, you can soak for at least 8 hours for better cooking.

Black lentil

Black lentil in Hindi

You can say black lentil or black gram in Hindi is urad dal.

Soaking time for Urad dal

For split urad dal you can soak for at least 30 minutes but for whole urad dal, you can soak for at least 8 hours for better cooking.

Peas

Peas in Hindi

You can say peas in Hindi are matar.

Soaking time for Matar

For split matar you can soak for at least 30 minutes but for whole matar, you can soak for at least 8 hours for better cooking.

Kidney beans

Kidney beans in Hindi

You can say Kidney beans in Hindi are Rajma.

Soaking time for Rajma

For better cooking, you have to soak rajma for at least 8 hours or overnight.

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Black Eyed Peas

Black Eyed Peas in Hindi

You can say Black-eyed peas in Hindi are chawali or cowpeas.

Soaking time for Chawali

For split chawali you can soak for at least 30 minutes but for whole chawali, you can soak for at least 8 hours for better cooking.

Turkish Gram

Turkish gram in Hindi

You can say Turkish gram in Hindi as Math dal.

Soaking time for Math Dal

For split math dal you can soak for at least 30 minutes but for whole math dal, you can soak for at least 8 hours for better cooking.

Type of dal : Indian dal names in English and Hindi

Are you familiar with Indian Cuisine? Here you will get to know more about Indian Dal, Indian Lentils, Legume and Beans. Read this blog thoroughly to know more about Indian dal names in English and Hindi.