PULSE OF RESILIENCE

As a climate-ready crop, cowpea shows potential for widespread use in India

- VIBHA VARSHNEY

IN AUGUST 2025, during a field visit across Karnataka, I stopped at the office of Sahaja Samrudha, an organic farmers' association, in Timmapur village, Dharwad district.

I was served a simple stir-fried dish of alasundi with alluri soppu—white cowpea seeds with Indian senna leaves. The creamy texture and slight sweetness of the white cowpeas complemented the slight bitterness of the greens. As I travelled through other rural parts of the district, cowpeas appeared repeatedly in different dishes, from stir-fries to dals.

One may find this legume in households across the country. In Kerala, it is used in a traditional dish, olan, served during sadya or feasts. In Tamil Nadu, people call the bean karamani and use it with spices and fresh coconut to prepare sundal, a dry stir-fried snack. In West Bengal, the beans are used with pumpkin to make a curry. Further north, in Hindi-speaking regions, cowpea is called lobia or barbati, and its seeds are boiled and eaten as a snack (see recipes).

The colour of the bean may be red, white or green, depending on the variety. The annual vine, also known as