Chia Seeds vs Sabja (Basil Seeds): Names in Hindi, Urdu and Kashmiri

Search for the Kashmiri or Urdu name for chia seeds and you will find a tangle of answers, most of them describing a different seed. That is because chia and sabja (basil seeds) look alike in a jar and are often sold under each other's names. This guide gives the real names in Hindi, Urdu and Kashmiri, and shows you how to tell the two seeds apart at home.

What Are Chia Seeds Called in Hindi, Urdu and Kashmiri?

Chia seeds have no traditional name in Hindi, Urdu or Kashmiri. The plant, Salvia hispanica, comes from Mexico and Central America and only arrived in Indian kitchens in the last couple of decades. So it is simply called "chia seeds" everywhere:

• Hindi: चिया सीड्स (chia seeds)
• Urdu: چیا سیڈز (chia seeds)
• Kashmiri: no traditional name; sold as chia seeds

If someone gives you an older, traditional name for chia, such as sabja, tukmaria or tukh malanga, they are describing basil seeds, not chia.

What Are Sabja Seeds?

Sabja seeds are the seeds of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum), a close relative of tulsi. They have been used in South Asian drinks for generations, which is why they have so many local names:

• Hindi: sabja, tukmaria
• Urdu: tukh malanga (تخم ملنگا)
• English: basil seeds, sweet basil seeds

We have not been able to confirm a separate Kashmiri name for sabja, so we have left one out rather than guess. In Kashmir, as in most of north India, it is sold as sabja or tukh malanga.

How to Tell Chia From Sabja

Look at the seeds

• Chia: small and oval, slightly flat, in a speckled mix of grey, white, brown and black. A few seeds in every pack are plain white.
• Sabja: slightly smaller, teardrop-shaped and uniformly jet black, with no speckles.

Do the soak test

This is the surest way to tell them apart. Put half a teaspoon of seeds in a glass of water and watch.

• Sabja swells within a minute or two. Each seed grows a thick, white, cloudy coat of gel around a black centre, like tiny frogspawn.
• Chia takes ten minutes or more. It forms a thinner, clear gel, and the seeds stay speckled. Stir it once or the seeds clump together.

Taste and texture

Both taste of almost nothing. Soaked sabja is slippery with a slight crunch in the middle. Soaked chia is softer and turns a drink or pudding thick, almost like tapioca.

How to Use Each

Sabja

Sabja belongs in cold summer drinks: falooda, rooh afza sharbat, nimbu pani and kulfi. Soak a teaspoon in water for ten minutes, then stir it in. Always soak sabja before eating it. Dry basil seeds swell fast and can be a choking risk, especially for children.

Chia

Chia is used in puddings, overnight oats, smoothies and as a topping for curd or fruit. For a simple chia pudding, stir three tablespoons of chia into a cup of milk, wait ten minutes, stir again, and leave it in the fridge for a few hours. Chia is best soaked or mixed into something liquid rather than eaten by the dry spoonful.

Can you swap them?

In drinks, mostly yes, though sabja gives the classic falooda look that chia does not. In puddings and overnight oats, chia works much better, because sabja does not set into a thick pudding.

What About Flax Seeds?

Flax seeds (alsi in Hindi) are the third seed people mix up. They are larger, flat and glossy, in brown or golden. Unlike chia and sabja, flax is usually ground before eating, because whole flax seeds often pass through undigested. Grind a little at a time, as ground flax goes stale quickly. See our flax seeds.

How to Store Seeds

Keep chia, sabja and flax in airtight jars in a cool, dark cupboard, away from kitchen steam. Whole chia and sabja keep for many months. Ground flax is best kept in the fridge and used within a few weeks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is sabja the same as chia?

No. Sabja is sweet basil seed; chia comes from a different plant from Central America. They look similar dry but behave very differently in water.

What is chia seed called in Urdu?

Chia seeds (چیا سیڈز). Urdu has no older name for chia. Tukh malanga is basil seed, not chia.

What is chia seed called in Kashmiri?

There is no traditional Kashmiri name for chia. It is sold in Kashmir as chia seeds. Our Kashmiri dry fruit names guide covers the foods that do have Kashmiri names.

Is tukmaria the same as sabja?

Yes. Tukmaria, sabja and tukh malanga are all names for sweet basil seeds.

Buy Chia, Sabja and Flax

We sell all three, clearly labelled for what they are: chia seeds, basil seeds (sabja) and flax seeds, packed in Srinagar and shipped across India. Browse our natural seeds collection for more.