Because they are always yellow, yellow pigeon peas can be mistaken for chickpeas (Chana Dal) or yellow pea (Matar dal, Field Pea).

The dried mature seeds of the pigeon pea, which can be sold whole or split, are the main reason for its cultivation. The whole pigeon pea seeds can be white, cream, brown, purplish to almost black in color, and they can be plain or mottled. They are round to ellipsoid to squarish in shape, 4-9 x 3-8 x 3-6mm in size.