**Description:**
– Vigna mungo is an erect, suberect, or trailing annual bush with a taproot, branched system, and smooth nodules.
– The plant grows 30–100cm tall with large hairy leaves, and its pods are narrow, cylindrical, and up to 6cm long.
– Seed pods are 4–6cm in size.
**Cooking:**
– In Northern India, Vigna mungo is used in dal dishes like Dal Maddhra and Teliya Maah.
– It is a key ingredient in North Indian cuisine dishes like Dal makhani and essential in South Indian dishes like idli and dosa batter.
– The dough made from Vigna mungo is used for making vada, papadum, and laddoos.
**Nutrition:**
– Raw black gram is high in protein, potassium, calcium, iron, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin.
– It is rich in folate, complementing essential amino acids in cereals and is important in the diets of people in Nepal and India.
**Use in Medieval Crucible Construction:**
– In medieval India, Vigna mungo was used for making impermeable crucibles.
**Names:**
– Varieties include Pant Urd 31, Lam Black Gram 884, CO-1, Sarla, Prabha, AKU-4, and T9.
– Other names for Vigna mungo are Trombay Urd, Pant U-13, and JU-2.