"Pulses" is a broad category, and for a first-time buyer the range chickpeas, gram, peas, beans, each with multiple sub-varieties can be genuinely confusing. India is the world's largest producer and consumer of pulses, and also one of its largest exporters, which means most major varieties are available at export scale. Choosing the right one comes down to matching the variety to how it's actually going to be used downstream, not just picking whichever is cheapest per tonne.
Chickpeas: two distinct types, not one product
Chickpeas split into two commercially distinct types that buyers sometimes conflate. Kabuli-type white chickpeas are larger, cream-coloured and thinner-skinned, typically used whole in salads, stews and canning. Desi-type chickpeas are smaller, darker and thicker-skinned, and are the variety split and milled into chickpea flour and dal used widely in South Asian cooking. If your end use is whole-bean packaging or canning, white chickpeas are almost always the correct order; if it's for milling or flour production, the desi variety is usually more cost-effective and better suited to processing.
Kidney beans: size and colour both matter
Kidney beans are sourced in more than one size and colour grade, and the difference matters for presentation-sensitive end uses like ready meals or retail packaging, where uniform bean size affects both cooking time and visual consistency. When ordering, specify size grade alongside colour rather than assuming a single "kidney bean" spec covers every batch.
Pigeon pea, black gram and green gram: split versus whole
These three are frequently ordered in split form for direct use in dal preparation, but are also available whole for buyers who process or split the product themselves downstream. Whole pulses generally have a longer shelf life and are less prone to rancidity in storage than pre-split product, which is worth factoring in if your shipment will sit in a warehouse for an extended period before final processing.
Quick reference: matching pulse to use case
- Whole-bean retail packaging or canning white chickpeas or kidney beans
- Flour milling or dal production desi chickpeas, split pigeon pea, or split black/green gram
- Long storage before processing whole pulses over pre-split varieties
- Snack and roasted-product manufacturing dry peas or specific chickpea grades suited to roasting
Cowpea and dry peas: less prominent, still export-relevant
Cowpea (often called black-eyed pea in Western markets) and dry peas serve smaller but steady export niches feed manufacturing, snack production, and regional cuisines where these varieties are staple ingredients. Both are worth requesting a spec sheet for even if they're not your primary order, since sourcing them alongside a larger chickpea or kidney bean shipment can sometimes be more efficient on freight and documentation than ordering them separately later.
Grading terms that apply across most pulse varieties
Regardless of variety, most spec sheets will reference purity percentage, moisture content, and size uniformity as the core grading parameters. Foreign matter tolerance and insect damage limits are also standard, particularly important for pulses given their vulnerability to weevil activity in storage if moisture isn't controlled at packing.
Ordering across multiple pulse varieties
Buyers sourcing several pulse varieties for a single product line whether a packaged dal mix or a multi-legume retail range often find it more efficient to consolidate orders with one exporter who carries the full range, rather than managing separate suppliers, shipping schedules and documentation sets for each variety.