Black Gram

beans · South Asia · protein

Tiny dark beans. Black gram beans are small and dark, almost like little pebbles you might find on the ground. People in South Asia have been eating them for hundreds of years.

Grows like relatives. Black gram is cousins with the mung bean, and both beans were reclassified into the Vigna family instead of where scientists used to think they belonged.

Whole or split. You can buy black gram as whole beans, or split them down the middle to reveal white insides, which get called white lentils in cooking.

Loaded with protein. Black gram is packed with protein, making it an important food for keeping people healthy and strong in South Asian cooking.

Different from lentils. Black gram should not be confused with true black lentils, which are much much smaller and look quite different when you put them side by side.