Vigna mungo
| Vigna mungo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dry urad beans | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Tribe: | Phaseoleae |
| Genus: | Vigna |
| Species: | V. mungo |
| Binomial name | |
| Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper | |
Vigna mungo, known as black gram, black lentil (not to be confused with the much smaller true black lentil (Lens culinaris)), white lentil, black matpe bean, is a bean grown in Indian subcontinent. It, along with the mung bean, was placed in Phaseolus, but has since been transferred to Vigna. At one time it was considered to belong to the same species as the mung bean. The product sold as "black lentil" is usually the whole urad bean or urad dal. The product sold as "white lentil" is the same lentil with the black skin removed.
Black gram originated in India, where it has been in cultivation from ancient times and is one of the most highly prized pulses of India and Pakistan. The coastal Andhra region in Andhra Pradesh is famous for black gram after paddy. The Guntur District ranks first in Andhra Pradesh for the production of black gram. Black gram has also been introduced to other tropical areas mainly by Indian immigrants.
Description
It is an erect, suberect or trailing, densely hairy, annual herb. The tap root produces a branched root system with smooth, rounded nodules. The pods are narrow, cylindrical and up to six cm long.
Cooking
In India
It is 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 .Urad Dal is one of the key ingredient in making the Idli-Dosa batter where one part of Urad Dal is it is mixed with Three or Four parts of Idli Rice to make the batter. Also the dough for Medu Vada or Udid Vada is made from soaked batter and deep frid in cooking oil. The Dough is also used in making Paapad, notably the South IOndian ersion known as Appalam and Papadum.. When used this way, the white lentils are usually used.
It is nutritious and is recommended for diabetics, as are other pulses. It is very popular in the Punjabi cuisine, as an ingredient of dal makhani. In Bengal it is made as a preparation called Biulir Dal. In Rajasthan, It is used to prepare DAL which is especially consumed with "Bati".
Medicinal use
Vigna mungo is used in traditional Indian(Ayurveda) medicine. Pharmacologically, extracts have demonstrated immunostimulatory activity in rats.[1]
Constructional use
It has been historically used as cementing agent along with other ingredients in the construction of several historic buildings.
Names
In India and Pakistan it is variously called urad, urad dal, udad dal, urd bean, urd, urid, maash (in Nepali), or උඳු (Sinhala), đậu muồng ăn (Vietnamese). It is known as uzhunu (ഉഴുന്ന്) in Malayalam, minumulu (మినుములు) in Telugu, uddina bele (ಉದ್ದಿನ ಬೇಳೆ) in Kannada, urdu bele in Tulu, ulunthu(உளுந்து) in Tamil, adad (અળદ) in Gujarati and biri dali in Oriya.
See also
- Uttapam
- Chakuli Pitha
References
- ↑ Solanki YB, Jain SM.,"Immunostimolatory activities of Vigna mungo L. extract in male Sprague-Dawley rats." J Immunotoxicol. 2010 Jul-Sep;7(3):213-8 Authors:
- H.K. Bakhru (1997). Foods that Heal. The Natural Way to Good Health. Orient Paperbacks. ISBN 81-222-0033-8.
M. Nitin, S. Ifthekar, M. Mumtaz. 2012. Hepatoprotective activity of Methanolic extract of blackgram. RGUHS J Pharm Sci 2(2):62-67.