Description

COW PEAS

 

Cow peas are a sprawling herb related to the bean and grown in the Southern U.S.  especially as food for livestock and for green manure. The cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is an annual herbaceous legume for the genus vigna.A plant  of the bean family  grown in warm regions for food and to improve the soil.

 

How is cowpeas cultivated?

 

Sowing a cowpea is done by broadcasting line sowing and dibbling of seeds based on their purpose and season. The seeds can be harvested after about 100 days or the whole plant used as forage after 120 days. Leaves can be pickled from 4 weeks after planting. Because the soil is moist. In India context, it is a minor pulse cultivated mainly in arid and semi arid tracts grown in pockets of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and West up along with considerable area in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala , Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

 

Benefits of Cowpeas

 

*Supports muscle growth

*Good source of potassium

*Good for weight loss

*Controls blood cholesterol

*Rich in fiber which helps in improving digestion and helps relieve constipation.

 

Nutrition Value       Dv

 

Calories-116 kcal  6%

Total Carbohydrate-20.8 g 7%

Dietary fiber-6.5 g 26%

Sugars-3.3 g

Total fat-0.5 g 1%

Saturated fat-0.1 g 1%

Protein-7.7g 15%

Thiamin-0.2 mg 13%

Vitamin B6-0.1 mg 5%

Folate- 208 ug 52%

Pantothenic acid-0.4 mg 4%

Choline-32.2 mg

Iron-2.56 mg 14%

Magnesium-53 mg 13%

Phosphorus-156 mg 16%

Potassium-278 mg 8%

Zinc- 1.3 gm 9%

Copper-0.3 mg 13%

Manganese- 0.5 mg 24%

 

How to check the quality

 

*This ideal was tested using cowpea as a model crop, grown in a tropical environment. 

*Seed quality is water content, dry weight, germination, vigor and longevity.

*Cowpea is a warm season, annual legume that exhibits a wide range of growth habits.

 

How to store the cowpeas

 

*The airtight PIC storage method uses a triple layer plastic bag to store the cowpea seeds.

*When tightly closed, the bag prevents the air  from coming in.

 

How to cook the cow peas

 

Ingredients

 

*1 ½ cups of dried black eyed peas.

*1 Onion chopped

*1 tomato sauce

*½ cup olive oil

*¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

*3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

*1 ½ teaspoon salt

*1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin

*1 ½ teaspoon sweet paprika

*1 ground ginger

*¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

*3 ½ cups water, or more if needed

 

Step 1

         Place black-eyed peas into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let stand for 8 hours to  overnight. Drain and raise peas.

 

Step2

Combine peas, onion,tomato sauce, olive oil, cilantro, garlic, salt , cumin, paprika, ginger and cayenne pepper in a large stock pot; pour water over pea mixture.Bring to a boil reduce heat  to low, cover the pot and simmer and stirring and adding more water is sauce gets too thick, until peas are tender, about 1 hour 30 mins cooked . 

 

Recipes of Cowpeas

 

Moroccan black eyed peas

Nyemba stew

Healthy black eyed beans curry

 

Regional Names

 

English- Cowpeas

Tamil-தட்டபயிர்

Malayalam-Pashupayar

Telugu-Aavu Peda

Kannada- Govina Jola

Hindi-Lobia