Pigeon Peas: Where to Buy Gandules, Gungo Peas, and Toor Dal
Pigeon peas sell under six different names in the United States, and the name on the label tells you which store and which aisle to search. Ask a Latin market for gandules. Ask an Indian grocer for toor dal. Jamaican shops say gungo peas. Before you buy, settle which form the recipe needs, because the canned green version, the whole dried type, and the split, skinned kind behave nothing alike in a pot. This guide maps the names to the forms, and the forms to the stores that stock them.
This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Pigeon Peas Explained: What They Are and Who They Help
A pigeon pea is the seed of Cajanus cajan, a perennial legume in the family Fabaceae, eaten green as a fresh vegetable or dried as a pulse. The plant originated in India, moved west into Eastern Africa on ancient trade routes, and reached the Caribbean and Latin America through the African diaspora. That history is why one crop carries so many names: gandules in Spanish, gungo in Jamaica, tur or tuvar in western India, arhar and red gram in the north, and Congo pea on older imported bags.
Buyers are almost always cooking one dish. Puerto Rican kitchens want arroz con gandules, Dominican cooks want moro, Trinidad and Tobago puts it in pelau, and Jamaican rice and peas uses the dried type. In South Asian cuisine, the split form is the base of everyday dal and sambar. Flavor sits closer to a lentil than a garden pea: mild, earthy, faintly nutty, and quick to take on turmeric, coriander, ginger, onion, and coconut milk. It is a strong plant source of protein and dietary fiber, and naturally gluten free.
How to Choose Pigeon Peas: Features That Matter
Choosing well is a decision about form, not brand. Pick the form the recipe needs, then judge quality inside it. Nearly every page ranking for this crop covers botany or growing, not which of the four products belongs in your cart.
| Form | Also labeled | Best for | Prep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canned, green | gandules verdes, green pigeon peas | Latin rice dishes, moro | Drain, rinse, add late |
| Whole dried | gandules secos, tur whole | Rice and peas, pelau, stews | Soak, then simmer |
| Split and skinned | arhar dal, tuvar dal, red gram dal | Indian dal, sambar, purees | Rinse and simmer, no soak |
| Fresh or frozen | fresh pigeon peas, green pods | Side dishes, Caribbean stews | Shell young pods, or cook frozen |
Form before brand. A can of the green type and a bag of the split kind are different products from one plant. Buying the wrong one is how this purchase goes wrong.
Uniform size, hard, and free of debris. Consistent dried peas cook at one rate, while mixed sizes leave a pot where some are mush and others chalky. Good stock rattles in the bag and holds no stones. Soft or clumping product has taken on moisture, which invites mold, and that risk runs highest at bulk bins.
A short ingredient list on cans. The cleanest canned versions list the legume, water, and salt. Some add a firming agent like calcium chloride, which holds the shape but changes the bite.
A visible packaging date. Older dried stock takes longer to soften no matter how long you soak it. Origin labeling is a bonus, not a guarantee, since India, Malawi, Mozambique, and the Dominican Republic all export good and mediocre lots alike.
Buying Mistakes to Skip
The costly mistake is not overpaying. It is walking out of a store that had the product because you searched the wrong aisle.
Searching the regular bean shelf. Supermarkets shelve this in the international, Hispanic, or Indian foods aisle, not beside the kidney beans and chickpeas. Goya cans live in the Hispanic section.
Buying the split kind for a Caribbean recipe. Split, skinned dal breaks down into a thick sauce. A rice dish needs whole seeds that hold their shape, so the split product vanishes into starch.
Assuming a black-eyed pea or chickpea fills in. A black-eyed pea belongs to the genus Vigna and a chickpea to Cicer. Neither shares the flavor, so a recipe naming this legume means this legume.
Buying more dried stock than your pantry can protect. Once the bag is open, dried pulses pull in humidity and draw pantry pests. Move them to an airtight jar the day you get home.
Ordering online without checking the unit. Listings mix single cans, six can cases, and one to four pound bags at similar looking prices. Do the per pound math first, because that is where the savings hide.
Which Stores Carry Gandules, Gungo Peas, and Dal
Latin and Caribbean Markets
An independent Latin or Caribbean market is the strongest single stop, since it often carries canned, dried, frozen, and sometimes fresh pods in season. Use the Spanish or Jamaican name at the counter and you get pointed to the right shelf in seconds. Prices here usually undercut chain grocers on dried stock.
Indian Grocery Stores
Indian grocers are where the split, skinned form lives, in two and four pound bags from brands including Deep, Swad, Laxmi, and 24 Mantra Organic. Larger stores also keep the whole dried version, labeled arhar whole. If dal is what you cook, this is the cheapest channel per pound.
Walmart and Kroger
Both chains handle this through the international aisle, and the Goya green can is what is most likely to be sitting there. Walmart’s app and Kroger’s site each let you set a store and see whether the item reads as in stock, worth thirty seconds before you drive over. Shop the selection at Walmart
Target, Whole Foods, and Warehouse Clubs
Target carries canned stock in some stores, again in the international or Hispanic section, and its app confirms it fastest. Whole Foods is hit and miss, and priced above conventional grocers either way. Costco and BJ’s do not treat this as a regular stocked item, so skip the warehouse club. Browse the Target listing or check your local Whole Foods Market.
Best Places to Order Pigeon Peas Online
Online is the reliable route with no ethnic market nearby, and the only practical way to buy a full case of cans or a ten pound sack.
Amazon
Amazon has the widest range of any single retailer: canned cases, whole dried bags, the split form in several sizes, and organic options. Subscribe and Save trims the price if you cook this weekly. Check who ships and sells each item, because third party sellers set their own return terms. Shop on Amazon #ad
Walmart.com
Ordering online opens up bag sizes and brands that never reach local shelves, with delivery or store pickup. Pickup is cheaper on anything heavy. Shop the Walmart online store
Goya.com
Goya is the dominant canned brand in US stores, so ordering direct removes the guesswork about which label arrives. Their catalog covers the green can and the dry bag, which helps because the dry form is what chains stock least. Shop at Goya
Specialty and Online Ethnic Grocers
For dried product by the pound, Nuts.com sells small quantities alongside its lentil and chickpea range, which suits a first attempt better than a bulk sack. iGourmet is worth a look for imported specialty pulses. Dedicated online Indian and Caribbean grocers give the best value on large bags and ship nationwide.
Alternatives When You Cannot Find Them
Three substitutes get close, and each is honest about what it gives up.
- Black-eyed pea. The best whole substitute in a rice dish, since it holds its shape the same way. Flavor is grassier and the skin thinner, so the pot tastes lighter than it should.
- Red lentil. The nearest stand in for the split form. It cooks faster and collapses further, so check it early and cut the simmer short.
- Mung bean, split as moong dal. Milder and sweeter, and a workable base for a sambar style dish when nothing else is on the shelf.
Skip substituting entirely if you are cooking arroz con gandules for someone who grew up on it. The seed is the flavor of that dish, not a texture you can swap, and a can costs a couple of dollars shipped. The reverse holds too: if the store has the canned green type, buy cans, because that is what most Latin recipes are written around.
Our Top Picks by Form
These four cover the three forms recipes call for, chosen for how consistently they turn up in US stores and for how well each form suits the job.
Best for Caribbean and Latin cooking: Goya Green Pigeon Peas, canned, 15.5 oz. The default for Latin rice dishes. Ready from the can, no soaking, and the most widely stocked option in US grocery. Around $2 to $3 per can. Check price on Amazon #ad
Best for Indian cooking: Deep Toor Dal, split, 4 lb bag. Split and skinned, so it needs no soak and cooks down into a dal or sambar base. Takes on turmeric and coriander well. Around $6 to $9. Check price on Amazon #ad
Best budget: Swad Toor Dal, 2 lb bag. A smaller bag at a lower entry price, easy to find at Indian grocery stores and online. Right size for testing whether this earns a pantry slot. Around $4 to $6. Check price on Amazon #ad
Best whole dried: Goya Dry Pigeon Peas. The form Jamaican rice and peas and long stews want, and the one chains carry least often. Plan on soaking first. Around $3 to $5 per bag. Check price on Amazon #ad
Start with the name your recipe uses instead of the English one, then match it to a form. If a Latin or Indian market is within driving distance, go there first and buy two forms at once. Otherwise order a case of cans and add a dried bag to the same order. For staples that pair with these dishes, see our guides to plantains, coconut oil, fresh coconuts, chickpea pasta, and canned soup. Bought in the right form, pigeon peas turn a plain pot of rice into the dish people ask for again.
Common Questions About Pigeon Peas
What are pigeon peas called in America?
The name changes with the store. Latin and Puerto Rican markets label them gandules, Jamaican shops say gungo, and Indian grocers use arhar dal or tuvar dal for the split version. Imported bags may read Congo pea, red gram, or Cajanus cajan. Typing the Spanish or Hindi name into a store app often returns results when the English one returns nothing.
Is toor dal the same thing as canned pigeon peas?
Same plant, different product. The dal is the mature seed split in half with the skin removed and sold dry, so it cooks down into a puree. The canned version is the whole immature green seed, already cooked, so it stays intact in a rice dish. Swapping one for the other changes the dish completely.
Are pigeon peas and black-eyed peas the same thing?
No, separate species from separate genera. A black-eyed pea is Vigna unguiculata and this one is Cajanus cajan, which is why the two sit in different sections of the same store. It works as an emergency substitute in a rice dish, but the flavor is thinner.
Can you grow them at home instead of buying them?
Yes, in warm climates. The shrub thrives in tropical and subtropical conditions with full sun and well drained soil, and it fixes nitrogen through Rhizobia bacteria in its root nodules, which is why growers also use it as a cover crop. In cooler zones, start seed indoors and set plants out after the last frost, though the harvest window is short.
The wheretobuyguides.com editorial team checked retailer stock and pricing for this guide in July 2026.