Pigeon pea
Cajanus cajan
A tropical/subtropical perennial shrub pulse (toor dal). Not a garden pea. Short-lived woody plant in frost-free areas.
GROW → HARVEST → EAT → DRY → POWDER → CAPSULE → GUMMY — forms are not equivalent. Food first.
Identity
Also called: toor, arhar
What it is
A tropical/subtropical perennial shrub pulse (toor dal). Not a garden pea. Short-lived woody plant in frost-free areas.
Edible portions
- green and dry seeds
Absence of a portion from this list means it is not treated as food here — not that every other part is toxic.
Growing
- Climate. 9–11 shrub; annual in frost
- Light. Full sun, heat
- Soil. Well-drained, drought-tolerant once down
- Planting. Seed. A small hedge in the tropics.
- Harvest. Green for vegetable; dry for dal.
Preparation and culinary uses
- Toor dal
- rice and peas in Caribbean cooking (often this, despite the name)
Nutrition and compounds
- Minerals (qualitative). protein, iron, folate — look up current USDA FoodData Central entries for numbers.
AAA interpretation Food first. These associations explain why a plant shows up in a nutrient conversation — they are not a supplement shopping list.
Next steps
Sources
- USDA PLANTS Database — taxonomy and range (verify current entries)
- USDA FoodData Central — nutrient profiles for foods (verify current entries; this page does not invent milligrams)
- State cooperative extension growing guides — verify for your region
Honest incompleteness is preferred to fabricated completeness. If a section is missing, no record for it is attached here — not a claim that the plant lacks that characteristic, and not that it was omitted as a secret.
Internal quality class A. Strong page: distinctive plant facts plus practical growing or kitchen use.