The beans are edible, they are of good flavour but do not cook as quickly as 

 haricot beans. The leaves are edible but are tougher than those of the haricot. 



They are unlikely to become popular for native use unless they are found to 

 flourish in places where haricots do not do well. 



*350. P. aureus Roxb. Green and yellow Gram. 



Mphodza (N), mbweso (Y), namurovo (Ngu), mposo (Tu), kahhoma, (Tu, To), imposo 

 (Nk). 



A cultivated annual, native of India, with small leaves and a number of very 

 slender pods about 2-3 ins. long, radiating out from the stem at a single point. The 

 seeds are extremely small (700 to 1 oz.) and are either bright green or yellow in 

 colour. Grown to a small extent in the Southern Province and to a lesser extent 

 in the far north of the country, very seldom seen between these areas. 



The seeds are cooked for a side-dish. The product is of good flavour but the 

 large number of rather tough skins which become detached during the cooking, 

 makes the dish rather unpalatable. Gram is also cooked as a side-dish with the 

 skins removed as cipere. The skins are removed by grinding, the seeds are then 

 boiled until soft and well stirred. The product is soft and of good flavour and is 

 very well liked. Gram is said to make a good dish to serve with rice. (N.A. 

 Chikumbu's area, Mlanje District.) Neither the pods or leaves are eaten. 



Ref. 26. 



*351. P. lunatus L. Lima or butter bean. 



Kamupanda, mayemba (C), ntambohodo (N), makwera (N), cimbamba, mandondo^ 

 mamberemende (Tu), mankhamba (Su). 



A bieimial twining herb of South American origin, frequently planted to grow 

 on hut fences, leaflets 3, ovate, acute or acuminate; flowers in axillary racemes, 

 white or violet, seeds flat, half-moon shaped, colours white, red or speckled black. 



The beans are edible, they are bitter in varying degrees, some kinds, e.g., butter 

 beans, scarcely at all, while others, e.g., mayemba, another large white kind, is 

 definitely bitter. Much of the bitterness is in the skins and as they are also tough, 

 they are often removed before cooking and the beans served as cipere. The small- 

 seeded kinds are common in the Southern Province, grown in small amounts in 

 nearly all the villages to climb on hut fences. A large-seeded kind, mayemba (C), 

 is grown occasionally in the Kota Kota District and in the rest of the country the 

 beans are well known but only rarely grown. 



Cooking Times. 



Dry, unsoaked beans 2-2 J hrs., water is added 2-3 times. 



Dry, soaked beans 1^-2 hrs. 



The young pods are cooked as a side-dish, groundnuts and tomatoes are added 

 if available (Southern Province). The leaves are eaten when young, particularly 

 of a small kind, makwera (Kasungu). 



Results of cooking and palatability trials of some varieties of Lima beans, Mwera 

 Hill, 1941. 



{a) Native mayemba, beans large white or black speckled, slightly bitter, skins 

 moderately tough, white kinds less bitter than coloured. 



(b) Butter or Madagascar, large flat white, good flavoured, skins soft and 

 tasteless. 



(c) Bush Lima, small Avhite, flat, good flavour, skins moderately tough. 



{d) Moki, small, white, flat, good flavour, skins moderately tough. 



(e) Pebugale, variable shape, some rounded, some flat, small white, very slightly 

 bitter, skins tough. 



94 



