Black gram facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Black gram
Dry urad beans
Scientific classification
Genus:	Vigna
Species:	mungo
Synonyms
Azukia mungo (L.) Masam. Phaseolus hernandezii Savi Phaseolus mungo L. Phaseolus roxburghii Wight & Arn.

Vigna mungo, the black gram, urad bean, ulundu paruppu, minapa pappu, mungo bean or black matpe bean (māṣa) is a bean grown in South Asia. Like its relative, the mung bean, it has been reclassified from the Phaseolus to the Vigna genus. The product sold as black lentil is usually the whole urad bean, whereas the split bean (the interior being white) is called white lentil. It should not be confused with the much smaller true black lentil (Lens culinaris).

Black gram originated in South Asia, where it has been in cultivation from ancient times and is one of the most highly prized pulses of India. It is very widely used in Indian cuisine. In India the Black gram is one of the important pulses grown in both Kharif and Rabi seasons. This crop is extensively grown in Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Cuddalore, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, and Villupuram districts of Tamilnadu. The Coastal Andhra region in Andhra Pradesh is known for black gram. The Guntur District ranks first in Andhra Pradesh for the production of black gram. In Nepal it is known as kalo maas daal or kalo daal (black legume) and it is a very popular daal (legume) side dish that goes with curry and rice as a platter. Black gram has also been introduced to other tropical areas such as the Caribbean, Fiji, Mauritius, Myanmar and Africa, mainly by Indian immigrants during the Indian indenture system.

Description

It is an erect, suberect or trailing, densely hairy, annual bush. The tap root produces a branched root system with smooth, rounded nodules. The pods are narrow, cylindrical and up to six cm long. The plant grows 30–100 cm with large hairy leaves and 4–6 cm seed pods. While the urad bean was, along with the mung bean, originally placed in Phaseolus, it has since been transferred to Vigna.

Cooking

Idli and medu vada, a very common breakfast in South India

Crispy masala dosa made from batter

Dal makhani, a popular Indian dish with Vigna mungo as its main ingredient

Vigna mungo is popular in Northern India, largely used to make dal from the whole or split, dehusked seeds. The bean is boiled and eaten whole or, after splitting, made into dal; prepared like this it has an unusual mucilaginous texture.

It is also extensively used in South Indian culinary preparations. Black gram is one of the key ingredients in making idli and dosa batter, in which one part of black gram is mixed with three or four parts of idli rice to make the batter. Vada or udid vada also contain black gram and are made from soaked batter and deep-fried in cooking oil. The dough is also used in making papadum, in which white lentils are usually used.

It is very popular in Punjabi cuisine as an ingredient of dal makhani. In Bengal, it is used in biulir dal. In Rajasthan, It is used to prepare dal which is usually consumed with bati.

Nutrition

Black gram is very nutritious as it contains high levels of protein (25g/100g), potassium (983 mg/100g), calcium (138 mg/100g), iron (7.57 mg/100g), niacin (1.447 mg/100g), Thiamine (0.273 mg/100g), and riboflavin (0.254 mg/100g). Black gram complements the essential amino acids provided in most cereals and plays an important role in the diets of the people of Nepal and India. Black gram is also very high in folate (628µg/100g raw, 216µg/100g cooked).

Use in medieval crucible construction

In medieval times, this bean is said to have been used in making crucibles impermeable.

Names

Vigna mungo is known by various names across South and Southeast Asia. Its name in most languages of India derives from Proto-Dravidian *uẓ-untu-, borrowed into Sanskrit as uḍida:

• Caribbean Hindustani/Fiji Hindi: उरदी दाल urdi dal
• Gujarati: અળદ aḷad, અડદ aḍad
• Punjabi: ਮਾਂਹ ਦੀ ਦਾਲ, "mānha di dāl"
• Hindi: उड़द दाल uṛad dāl, उरद दाल urad dāl
• Kannada: ಉದ್ದು uddu, ಉದ್ದಿನ ಬೇಳೆ uddina bēḷe
• Marathi/Konkani: उडीद uḍid
• Malayalam: ഉഴുന്ന് uẓunu
• Tamil: உளுந்து uḷuntu, ulundu, ulutham paruppu
• Telugu: మినుములు minumulu and Uddhi Pappu in Rayalaseema
• Tulu: urdu bele
• Urdu: اورد دال urad dāl

Its name in selected Indic languages, however, derives from Sanskrit masa

• Assamese: মাটিমাহ matimah, মাটিকলাই matikolai
• Bengali: মাসকালাই ডাল mashkalai ḍal
• Nepali: Kalo Daal( black lentil) , मास mās
• Punjabi : دال ماش dāl māsh

Other names include:

• Odia: ବିରି ଡାଲି biri ḍāli
• Sinhala : උඳු undu
• Myanmar: မတ်ပဲ matpe
• Vietnamese: đậu muồng ăn

Varieties

Pant Urd 31 (PU-31) Lam Black Gram 884 (LBG 884) Trombay Urd (TU 40)

• Pant U-13
• JU-2
• Type-9
• Barkha
• Gwalior-2

Mutant varieties:CO-1 and Sarla. Spring season varieties:Prabha and AKU-4. First urad bean variety developed in – T9(1948).

See also

In Spanish: Fréjol negro para niños