''Macrotyloma uniflorum'' (horsegram, also known as horse gram, kulthi bean, gahat, hurali, or Madras gram) is a

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

native to tropical southern Asia, known for its distinct taste and texture, widely used legume in many cuisines. It is also known for human consumption for its rich nutrients and reputed medicinal properties. It is commonly grown for horse feed, hence the name “horse gram”. Horse gram grown in parts of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, as well as

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, and is introduced to the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. It is consumed whole, sprouted, or ground. It is consumed in many parts of India and is also known as a superfood. Horse gram is also allowed to be eaten on some Hindu fasting days. Medical uses of these legumes have been discussed and is described in the

Ayurveda Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

Description

''Macrotyloma uniflorum'' is a perennial climbing plant with a

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

, growing to a height of about . The stem sprouts from the rhizome each year. It is clad in varying amounts of whitish hairs and bears alternate, trifoliate leaves with petioles up to long. The leaflets are obovate or elliptical, and up to long. The flowers are borne in twos or threes in the leaf axils, and are typical of the bean family with banner, wings and keel. They are cream, yellowish or green, often with a purple blotch inside. These are followed by linear-oblong, upcurving pods up to long, containing up to ten reddish-brown, speckled or black seeds. The seeds have a length of .Kumar D (2007) Production technology for horse gram in India, Central Arid Zone Research Institute. Evergreen Printers, Jodhpur, India, pp 1–27, http://www.cazri.res.in/publications/KrishiKosh/113-(PRODUCTION%20TECHNOGY%20).pdf File:Macrotyloma Uniflorum young plant 01.jpg, Young plant File:Macrotyloma Uniflorum flower 01.jpg, Flowers File:Macrotyloma Uniflorum fruit 01.jpg, Young fruit File:Macrotyloma Uniflorum dissected flower 01.jpg, Dissection of floral parts

Distribution

Horse gram is native to tropical southern Asia and has been found in archaeological sites in India, starting from 2500 BC. The plant was probably first domesticated in India, and is now grown as a legume from India to Myanmar. Additionally, the crop is also grown for

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food ...

and

green manure In agriculture, a green manure is a crop specifically cultivated to be incorporated into the soil while still green. Typically, the green manure's Biomass (ecology), biomass is incorporated with a plow or disk, as is often done with (brown) man ...

in tropical countries in southeastern Asia, and in northern Australia. Generally, the major growing areas of ''Macrotyloma uniflorum'' are located in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Cultivation

Horse gram is drought tolerant and also withstands harsh environmental conditions such as

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...

or metal stresses.Prasad, Saroj Kumar; Singh, Manoj Kumar (1 May 2015). "Horse gram- an underutilized nutraceutical pulse crop: a review". Journal of Food Science and Technology. 52 (5): 2489–2499. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-014-1312-z. Generally, Horse Gram is planted with low agronomic inputs and without weeding. Furthermore, the crop grows on a broad range of soil types with different pH ranges. Cultivation is also possible on soils with poor

organic matter Organic matter, organic material or natural organic matter is the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have come fro ...

and

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

availability. Horse gram thrives where the temperature is in the range of . Frost temperatures are lethal. Due to the drought-resistance ''Macrotyloma uniflorum'' is grown in areas with low precipitation (). In wetter areas, Horse gram is usually sown at the end of the rainy season to still facilitate cultivation. Nonetheless, ''Macrotyloma uniflorum'' does not tolerate waterlogging. The plant is not only cultivated as a monoculture, but also as an inter- or mixed crop together with groundnut,

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

, sesame,

niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

, finger millet,

pearl millet Pearl millet (''Cenchrus americanus'', commonly known as the synonym ''Pennisetum glaucum'') is the most widely grown type of millet. It has been grown in Africa and the Indian subcontinent since prehistoric times. The center of diversity, and ...

amaranth ''Amaranthus'' is a cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan group of more than 50 species which make up the genus of annual plant, annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths. Some names include "prostrate pigweed" an ...

, marvel grass or kidney bean. Furthermore, ''Macrotyloma uniflorum'' can also be grown along with trees such as neem, white siris or babul. Both, grain and green

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used m ...

yield are highly dependent on the growing region as well as the selected cropping system. Substantial yield differences in the various growing regions exist: In

green forage yield varies from 5 - 14 t/ha and in

approximately 4.4 t/ha are reported. Grain yield in

is around 0.13 – 1.2 t/ha and 1.1 – 2.2 t/ha in

Pests

Yield-impacting dieseases are anthracnose (''

Colletotrichum lindemuthianum ''Colletotrichum lindemuthianum'' is a fungus which causes anthracnose, or black spot disease, of the common bean plant (''Phaseolus vulgaris''). It is considered a hemibiotrophic pathogen because it spends part of its infection cycle as a biotro ...

''), the yellow mosaic virus as well as

powdery mildew Powdery mildew is a fungus, fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of Ascomycota, ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales. Powdery mildew is one of the easier plant disea ...

. Other diseases affecting horse gram are dry root rot (''Macrophomina phaseolina''), rusts, aerial blight (''Rhizoctonia solani'') and leaf spot ('' Cercospora''). The pod borer (''Etiella zinckenella'') and the pod fly (''Melanagromyza obtusa'') are the most damaging insect pests. Others are

aphids Aphids are small sap-sucking insects in the Taxonomic rank, family Aphididae. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white Eriosomatinae, woolly ...

('' Aphis craccivora''), hairy caterpillar (''Azazia rubicans''), pod caterpillar (''Helicoverpa armigera''), American serpentine leaf miner (''Liriomyza trifolii''),

thrips Thrips (Order (biology) , order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Entomologists have species description , described approximately 7,700 species. They fly on ...

, leaf hoppers and '' Callosobruchus'' as a storage pest.

Nutrition

Horse gram and moth bean are legumes of the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropics The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately ...

, grown mostly under dry-land agriculture. The chemical composition is comparable with more commonly cultivated

s. Like other legumes, these are deficient in

methionine Methionine (symbol Met or M) () is an essential amino acid in humans. As the precursor of other non-essential amino acids such as cysteine and taurine, versatile compounds such as SAM-e, and the important antioxidant glutathione, methionine play ...

and

tryptophan Tryptophan (symbol Trp or W) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Tryptophan contains an α-amino group, an α-carboxylic acid group, and a side chain indole, making it a polar molecule with a non-polar aromat ...

, though horse gram is an excellent source of

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

and

molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mo (from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'') and atomic number 42. The name derived from Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lead ores. Molybdenum minerals hav ...

. Comparatively, horse gram seeds have higher

trypsin Trypsin is an enzyme in the first section of the small intestine that starts the digestion of protein molecules by cutting long chains of amino acids into smaller pieces. It is a serine protease from the PA clan superfamily, found in the dig ...

inhibitor and hemagglutinin activities and natural phenols than most bean seeds. Natural phenols are mostly phenolic acids, namely, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic, 4-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic, caffeic, ''p''-coumaric, ferulic, syringic and sinapic acids. Though both require prolonged cooking, a soak solution (1.5% NaHCO₃ + 0.5% + 0.75%

citric acid Citric acid is an organic compound with the formula . It is a Transparency and translucency, colorless Weak acid, weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in Citrus, citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, ...

) has been shown to reduce cooking time and improve protein quality. Horse gram seed contains

carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...

(57.2% w/w),

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

(22% w/w),

dietary fiber Dietary fiber (fibre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical co ...

(5.3% w/w),

fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specif ...

(0.50% w/w),

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

(287 mg),

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

(311 mg),

(6.77 mg) and

calorie The calorie is a unit of energy that originated from the caloric theory of heat. The large calorie, food calorie, dietary calorie, kilocalorie, or kilogram calorie is defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one liter o ...

s (321 kcal) as well as vitamins like

thiamine Thiamine, also known as thiamin and vitamin B1, is a vitamin – an Nutrient#Micronutrients, essential micronutrient for humans and animals. It is found in food and commercially synthesized to be a dietary supplement or medication. Phosp ...

(0.4 mg),

riboflavin Riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2, is a vitamin found in food and sold as a dietary supplement. It is essential to the formation of two major coenzymes, flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide. These coenzymes are involved in ...

(0.2 mg) and niacin (1.5 mg) per 100 grams of dry matter. The nutritional content is partly dependent on soil conditions and the weather. The less appealing taste has led it to be not commonly eaten. The carbohydrate-fraction of horse gram flour consists of oligo-saccharides and

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diet ...

es. The starches can be divided in terms of digestability in those that can be digested and uptaken in the

small intestine The small intestine or small bowel is an organ (anatomy), organ in the human gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal tract where most of the #Absorption, absorption of nutrients from food takes place. It lies between the stomach and large intes ...

, and those that partly will fermented in the colon by the microflora. The latter ones, called

resistant starch Resistant starch (RS) is starch, including its degradation products, that escapes from digestion in the small intestine of healthy individuals. Resistant starch occurs naturally in foods, but it can also be added as part of dried raw foods, or u ...

es, account for 43.4% of the carbohydrate content of horse gram flour. Oligo-saccharides such as raffinose and stachyose contribute to digestion difficulties. The fermentation in the colon often may lead to

flatulence Flatulence is the expulsion of gas from the Gastrointestinal tract, intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swal ...

and

diarrhoea Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...

, given the high concentration of both, resistant starches and oligo-saccharides, for horse gram longer cooking times, and other treatments are needed. Enzymatic treatments with xylanase has the goal to improve the functional and expansive properties of horse gram seeds in order to facilitate the use as an ingredient in the food industry. By following a high temperature short time (HTST) treatment, the content of phytic acid,

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' is widel ...

s and protease-inhibitors could be reduced by 46%, 61% and 92% respectively. The flour resulting from this treatment had higher water- and oil-absorption capabilities. Those improvements in digestibility and processibility could make horsegram an interesting protein- and flour source for the food industry.

Breeding

Globally, southwest

and the

n continent are regarded as horse gram

gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

-rich regions. From the 1970s,

germplasm Germplasm refers to genetic resources such as seeds, tissues, and DNA sequences that are maintained for the purpose of animal and plant breeding, conservation efforts, agriculture, and other research uses. These resources may take the form of s ...

of horse gram has been conserved.Chahota, Rakesh & Thakur, Nisha & Sharma, Reecha. (2020). Efficient Improvement in an Orphan Legume: Horsegram, Macrotyloma uniflorum (Lam.) Verdi, Using Conventional and Molecular Approaches. 10.1007/978-3-030-47306-8_12. } The ''US Department of Agriculture's (

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

) Germplasm Resources Information Network ( GRIN)'' has preserved 35 accessions of horse gram, the ''Australian Tropical Crops and Forages Genetic Resources Centre'', has 38 accessions and the '' Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI)'' has conserved 21 accessions. A large amount of drought resistance genes exist in horse gram and grain yield enhancement represents the main breeding goal. Little attention has been given to the

genome A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...

structure and organization of horse gram. The use of new genes for horse gram breeding could benefit from genetic data on numerous phenological and morphological features. These may impact agronomic methods and crop productivity. Many unfavorable traits such as late flowering, indeterminate twining growth habit, long and thin stem, thermo- and photosensitivity and a poor harvest index exist in horse gram. The digestability and processability improvements described in Nutrition section implicitly suggest to consider the reduction of phytic acid content,

s and protease-inhibitors as additional breeding goals.

Medicinal uses

Scientists from the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology have found that unprocessed raw horse gram seeds not only possess antihyperglycemic properties, but also have qualities which reduce insulin resistance. The scientists made a comparative analysis between horse gram seeds and their sprouts and found that the seeds have greater beneficial effects on the health of hyperglycemic individuals. The majority of

antioxidant Antioxidants are Chemical compound, compounds that inhibit Redox, oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce Radical (chemistry), free radicals. Autoxidation leads to degradation of organic compounds, including living matter. Antioxidants ...

properties are confined to the seed coat and its removal would not do any good. Raw horse gram seed is rich in polyphenols, flavonoids, and proteins, major antioxidants present in fruits and other food materials. The seed has the ability to reduce postprandial

hyperglycemia Hyperglycemia is a condition where unusually high amount of glucose is present in blood. It is defined as blood glucose level exceeding 6.9 mmol/L (125 mg/dL) after fasting for 8 hours or 10 mmol/L (180 mg/dL) 2 hours after eating. Blood gluc ...

by slowing down carbohydrate digestion and reducing insulin resistance by inhibiting protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1 beta enzyme.

Indian regional specifics

, it is also known as ''ulavalu, gahat, muthira, kulath'', ''khollu'' or ''kulthi''. It is used to make popular dishes like ''Kulitan Saaru, Kulitan Upkari, Kulitan Ghassi'' (coconut curry preparation), and an '' idli''-like preparation (but not fermented) called ''Kulitan Sannan''. *In

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

, horse gram, called ఉలవలు (''ulavalu'') in Telugu, is prescribed for jaundice or as a diuretic, and as part of a weight-loss diet. It is considered helpful for iron deficiencies. ''Ulavacharu'' (horse gram soup) is popular dish in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, it is served with cooked rice in some of the Telugu-speaking people's weddings and ceremonies. *In

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

and

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

, horse gram called गहत (''gahat'') in Nepali is considered a medicinal food. It is given to children suffering from

mumps MUMPS ("Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System"), or M, is an imperative, high-level programming language with an integrated transaction processing key–value database. It was originally developed at Massachusetts Gen ...

. Water in which gahat is soaked is taken by people suffering from kidney stones in the belief that this dissolves the crystals. Gahat's use is specially reserved for the cold winters, when its heat-producing properties are most useful. *In

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, horse gram, called മുതിര (''muthira'') in Malayalam is used in special kinds of dishes. *In

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, horse gram, called கொள்ளு (''kollu'') in northern districts and காணம் (''kaanam'') in southern districts is commonly used in Tamil dishes, including ''kollu'' chutney, '', ''kollu avial'', ''kollu sambar'' and ''kollu rasam''. *In

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

and Goa, horse gram is called हुलगा/हुलगे/कुलीथ (''hulage/hulaga/kulith'') in Marathi and कुुली (''kulith'') in Konkani is often used to make ' and ''shengule/shevanti''Shah, R. (2018). What About My Calcium?. CircleOHealth
/ref> *In

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

cuisine, ಹುರಳಿಸಾರು (''huraḷi saaru'') is more popular, because of ಹುರಳಿ (''huraḷi'') is a main ingredient. ''Huraḷi'' is also used in preparations such as ''usali'', chutney, ''bassaru'', and ''upsaaru'' or ''upinsaru'' (particularly in the Old Mysore Regions Mandya and Chamrajnagara Districts). *In South Canara region of Karnataka, in Tulu, it is also called ''kudu'' (ಕುಡು). *In

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

it is known by the name କୋଳଥ (Koḷatha). *''Gahat'' or ''kulath'' is a major ingredient in the food of Pahari region of

northern India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

. * In

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

, ''kulath'' is used to make '' khichdi''. In

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

, it is cooked in a round iron saute pan ('' kadhai'') to prepare ''ras'', a favorite of most Kumaonis. In Garhwal region, another more elaborate dish is ''phanu'' which is made in a ''kadhai'' with roughly ground ''gahat'' (previously soaked overnight) boiled over several hours. Towards the end, some finely chopped greens (''palak'' or spinach, ''rai'', tender radish leaves, or ''dhania'' (coriander leaves) if nothing else is available) are added to complete the dish. Served with boiled rice, ' (a millet-like grain, used as a staple by poorer Garhwalis only a decade ago and now a prized health-food). In

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

(Burma), horse gram is known as ''pe bazat'' () in Burmese. It is commonly used in making '' pon ye gyi'', a fermented bean paste used in traditional

Burmese cuisine Burmese cuisine encompasses the diverse regional culinary traditions of Myanmar, which have developed through longstanding agricultural practices, centuries of sociopolitical and economic change, and cross-cultural contact and trade with neighb ...

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1899077 Phaseoleae Edible legumes Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck