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A summer staple in the American South, blackeyed peas or Vigna unguiculata are considered members in good standing of the group known as field peas, Southern peas, or cowpeas, legumes that also include crowder peas, tiny lady peas, and the burgundy-colored purple hull peas. These can all be eaten fresh, as you would garden peas or shelling beans, or they can be dried, stored, and then reconstituted. Blackeyed peas originated in Africa, and remain widely grown there, as well as in Asia, India, and the Caribbean. In India, blackeyed peas are known as chowli dal; they are split and added to vegetable curries, soups, and salads. In Brazil, blackeyed-pea fritters made with dried shrimp and melegueta peppers are a popular street food known as acaraje. Bushy and sprawling, blackeyed-pea plants bear long pods that in some cultivars stand upright on the plant and in others hang downward.