Legumes & Beans

🇰🇪Kenya

Muthokoi

Shelled pigeon peas cooked with maize into a hearty Kenyan one-pot meal.

🇨🇺Cuba

Muñeta

A Cuban dish of mashed or stewed plantain and beans, often served as a hearty side.

🇲🇼Malawi

Nandolo

Pigeon peas, an important legume in Malawi, especially in the southern region; the seeds are stewed with nsima and the leaves are also cooked as a relish.

🇰🇪Kenya

Njahi

Black beans simmered with aromatics, a dark, earthy Kenyan staple served with rice or ugali.

🇿🇼Zimbabwe

Nyimo Beans

Nyimo

Bambara groundnuts, a hard round legume grown mostly by women on marginal soil, boiled for hours or roasted and salted.

🇳🇬Nigeria

Okpa

Bambara nut flour mixed with palm oil and pepper and steamed in leaves into a firm orange cake, eaten hot for breakfast.

🇳🇦Namibia

Oshigali

Traditional bean puree from the Oshiwambo culture of northern Namibia — white beans peeled and cooked into a smooth puree, served as a side or main with pap.

🇦🇲Armenia

Pasuts Tolma

Պասուց տոլմա

The Lenten tolma: cabbage leaves rolled around a mix of beans, lentils, cracked wheat and chickpeas, eaten cold with no meat at all.

🇱🇹Lithuania

Peas with Cracklings

Žirniai su spirgučiais

Dried yellow peas boiled soft and topped with crispy bacon cracklings and fried onions.

🇮🇩Indonesia

Petai

Stink beans with strong aroma, eaten raw or cooked in sambal, bright green color with firm texture and strong aroma, a Malaysian ingredient, bold and acquired

🇮🇳India

Pindi Chole

पिंडी छोले

A dry chickpea preparation from Rawalpindi, made without onions or tomatoes, using tea for color and amchur for tang. Served with kulcha or bhatura.

🇨🇷Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Pisque

Corn and bean dish from Guanacaste, traditional and rustic, good balance of corn and beans, a distinctive Costa Rican indigenous specialty.

🇮🇳Jaffna, India

Pongal

पोंगल

A South Indian rice and lentil dish tempered with black pepper, cumin, ginger, and ghee. It is eaten for breakfast, especially during the harvest festival.

🇨🇳China

Popiah

潤餅

Fresh spring rolls with jicama, bean sprouts, lettuce, and sauce in thin wrapper, thin wrapper with crunchy jicama and fresh vegetables, a Nyonya street food classic

🇵🇪Peru

Purtumute

An Amazonas bean-and-corn preparation served as a hearty regional meal.

🇮🇳Punjab, India

Rajma

राजमा

A North Indian curry of red kidney beans simmered in a tomato-onion gravy with ginger and spices. It is a Punjabi staple served with rice.

🇱🇧Lebanon

Red Lentil and Bulgur Mash

مجدرة حمرا

Red lentils and coarse bulgur cooked to a soft mash with deeply caramelised onion, set in a dish and eaten cold in slices.

🇨🇻Cape Verde

Roasted Peas

Ervilhas Assadas

Peas roasted with onion, garlic, and tomato, a dish popular on the island of Fogo.

🇰🇷South Korea

Seasoned Black Soybeans

콩자반

Black soybeans braised in soy sauce and sugar until soft and glossy, a sweet-savory banchan that keeps well.

🇰🇷South Korea

Seasoned Mung Bean Sprouts

숙주나물

Mung bean sprouts blanched and seasoned with sesame oil and garlic, lighter and milder than soybean sprouts.

🇰🇷South Korea

Seasoned Soybean Sprouts

콩나물무침

Soybean sprouts blanched and seasoned with sesame oil, garlic, and salt, a crunchy, nutty banchan.

🇯🇵Japan

Sekihan

赤飯

Glutinous rice steamed with azuki beans, turning it red; served at celebrations and milestones.

🇦🇫Kabul, Afghanistan

Shor Nakhod

شور نخود

Chickpeas boiled soft and served cold with potato, vinegar, chutney and coriander from a street cart.

🇧🇬Rhodopes, Bulgaria

Smilyan Beans

Смилянски фасул

Large speckled beans grown only around the Rhodope village of Smilyan, protected by origin, prized for cooking creamy without collapsing.

🇭🇹Haiti

Sos Pwa

Black or red beans cooked soft, puréed and passed through a sieve into a thin savoury sauce, ladled over plain white rice.

🇧🇫Burkina Faso

Souma

Bambara groundnuts (voandzou/pois de terre) boiled for hours with millet flour (piguiri), potash, and baking soda; a protein-rich legume dish sold at Ouagadougou markets.

🇱🇰Sri Lanka

Spiced Chickpeas

කඩල

Boiled chickpeas tempered with onion, chilli, curry leaf and scraped coconut, sold in paper cones at bus stops and temples.

🇲🇲Myanmar

Stink Bean

ဒညင်းသီး

Flat green seeds from the danyin tree, boiled or grilled in the pod, split open and eaten with sesame oil, salt and chilli.

🇦🇹Styria, Austria

Styrian Runner Bean

Steirische Käferbohne

Runner bean from Styria, often served in salad with pumpkin seed oil, a regional specialty, fresh beans with proper preparation, traditional and regional.

🇵🇪Peru

Tarwi

Andean lupin bean, exceptionally high in protein. Requires soaking to remove bitterness. Used in soups, stews, and snacks.

🇲🇰North Macedonia

Tavče Gravče

Тавче гравче

Dried tetovac beans baked in an earthenware pan with onion, paprika and dried red pepper until the top crusts and the beans go creamy.

🇲🇰Tetovo, North Macedonia

Tetovo Beans

Тетовски грав

Large flat white beans grown on the Polog plain around Tetovo, thin-skinned and creamy when cooked.

🇹🇬Togo

Togolese Bean Dish

Veyi

A traditional Togolese bean dish of black-eyed peas or cowpeas simmered in palm oil, onion, and tomato until soft and creamy; a simple, protein-rich meal often served with akoumé or fried plantain.

🇹🇷Istanbul, Turkey

Topik

Armenian chickpea dumplings filled with a spiced mixture of onions, currants, pine nuts and herbs, served cold as a meze or lenten dish.

🇲🇬Madagascar

Tsaramaso

Red beans cooked with tomato, onion and ginger as a Malagasy rice accompaniment.

🇬🇭Ghana

Tubaani

Bambara or black-eyed beans ground, wrapped in leaves and steamed into a firm savoury cake, eaten with oil and pepper.