The black-eyed pea or black-eyed bean is a legume grown around the world for its medium-sized, edible bean. It is a subspecies of the cowpea, an Old World plant domesticated in Africa, and is sometimes simply called a cowpea.

The bean is commonly used across India. In North India, black-eyed peas are called lobia or rongi and cooked like daal, served with boiled rice. In Maharashtra, they are called chawli and made into a curry called chawli amti or chawli usal. In Karnataka they are called alsande kalu and used in the preparation of huli, a popular type of curry. In South Kanara district they are called as lathanay dha beeja and are cooked in spiced coconut paste to make a saucy curry or a dry coconut curry. In Tamil Nadu, they are called karamani or thattapayaru and used in various recipes, including being boiled and made into a salad-like sundal (often during the Ganesh Chaturthi and Navratri festivals). In Andhra Pradesh they are known by the name ‘alasandalu‘ and are used for variety of recipes most popularly for ‘vadas‘. In Kerala, they are a part of the Sadhya dish, Olan.

Black-eyed peas contain a large measure of beta carotene, which the body converts to Vitamin A. In a single serving, it meets a fourth of a typical adults daily Vitamin A requirement. Vitamins A is important for healthy eyes and skin.