What it means
لوبیا (lubiâ) means beans, referring to the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) in its many forms: kidney beans, white beans, black-eyed peas, and others. The word was borrowed into Persian from Ancient Greek λόβια (lóbia), plural of λόβιον (lóbion, meaning pod or lobe), and the Greek term itself traces back to Akkadian roots. In everyday speech, Iranians often specify the type: لوبیا قرمز (lubiâ ghermez) for kidney beans, لوبیا چیتی (lubiâ chiti) for pinto-style speckled beans, and لوبیا سفید (lubiâ sefid) for white beans. On its own, lubiâ most commonly calls to mind kidney beans in the context of Iranian cooking.
How to use it
- لوبیا پلو درست کردم. (lubiâ polo dorost kardam.) “I made bean rice.”
- لوبیا قرمز توی خورشت خیلی خوبه. (lubiâ ghermez tu-ye khoresh kheili khube.) “Kidney beans are really good in stew.”
- یه کیلو لوبیا چیتی میخوام. (ye kilo lubiâ chiti mikhâm.) “I want one kilo of speckled beans.”
- لوبیا رو شب بخیسون تا زودتر بپزه. (lubiâ ro shab bekhisun tâ zudtar bepaze.) “Soak the beans overnight so they cook faster.”
Cultural note
Lubiâ polo, bean rice with ground meat and tomato sauce, is a staple of Iranian home cooking that appears on dinner tables across all social classes. Khoresh-e lubiâ sabz, a stew made with green beans, is equally common and beloved. Beans in Iran are typically dried and soaked overnight before cooking, and canned beans, while increasingly available in cities, are still viewed by many older cooks as a lesser substitute.