The pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan, syn. Cajanus indicus) is a member of the family Fabaceae. Other common names are red gram, toovar, toor, togari, gandul, Congo pea, Gungo pea, and no-eye pea. The cultivation of the pigeon pea goes back at least 3000 years. The centre of origin is most likely Asia, from where it travelled to East Africa and by means of the slave trade to the New World. Today pigeon peas are widely cultivated in all tropical and semi-tropical regions of both the Old and the New World.