Dal

Dal
Lentils are a staple ingredient in cuisines from South Asia. Clockwise from upper right: split red lentils, common green whole lentils, and Le Puy lentils. Whole lentils have their outer coats visible.
Alternative namesDaal, dail, dahl, parripu, pappu, ooti, daje
Region or stateSouth Asia
Main ingredientsLentils, peas or beans
  • Wikibooks logo Cookbook: Dal
  •  Wikimedia Commons logo Media: Dal

Dal (also spelled daal, dahl or dhal; pronunciation: [d̪aːl]) are dried, split pulses (e.g., lentils, peas, and beans) that can require soaking before cooking. India is the largest producer of pulses in the world. These pulses are among the leading staple foods in South Asian countries, and form an important part of the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent.

Etymology

The dāl (dal) derives from the Sanskrit verbal root dal- "to split", which is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *delh₁- "to split, divide".

History

Lentils are among the most ancient cultivated foods; they have been found in human settlements dating back to the Bronze Age. Researchers have dated the preparation and cooking of split dal as far back as 800–300 BC.

Dal as a staple food has been mentioned in many ancient religious texts, including the Yajurveda and the Mahayana Buddhist Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra.

May for me strength, righteousness, milk, sap, ghee, honey, eating and drinking in company, ploughing, rain, conquest, victory, wealth, riches, prosperity, prospering, plenteousness, lordship, much, more, fun, fuller, imperishableness, bad crops, food, freedom from hunger, rice, barley, beans, sesame, kidney beans, vetches, wheat, lentils, millet, Panicum miliaceum, Panicum frumentaceum, and wild rice (prosper through the sacrifice).

— Yajurveda, Kanda IV, Prapathaka VII, trans. Arthur Berriedale Keith

Now, Mahāmati, the food I have permitted [my disciples to take] is gratifying to all wise people but is avoided by the unwise; it is productive of many merits, it keeps away many evils; and it has been prescribed by the ancient Rishis. It comprises rice, barley, wheat, kidney beans, beans, lentils, etc., [...] food prepared with these is proper food.

— Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra 249–250, trans. D. T. Suzuki

Use

Dal or paruppu is the main ingredient of the Indian snack vada.
Dal tadka and naan

Dal are often prepared in three different forms:

The hulling of a pulse is intended to improve digestibility and palatability. It also affects the nutrition provided by the dish, significantly increasing protein and reducing dietary fibre content. Pulses with their outer hulls intact are also quite popular in the Indian subcontinent as the main cuisine. Over 50 different varieties of pulses are known in the Indian subcontinent.[citation needed]

Dal is frequently eaten with flatbreads, such as rotis or chapatis, or with rice. The latter combination is called dal bhat in Nepali, Gujarati, and various other Indian languages. In addition, certain types of dal are fried, salted, and eaten as a dry snack, and a variety of savory snacks are made by frying a paste made from soaked and ground dals in different combinations, to which other ingredients, such as spices and nuts (commonly cashews) may be added.

Dal preparations are eaten with rice, chapati, and naan on the Indian subcontinent. The manner in which it is cooked and presented varies by region. In South India, dal is often called "paruppu". It is primarily used to make a dish called sambar. It is also used to make parippu that is mixed with charu and rice. Ground chana dal is used to make a paste called besan, which is used in the preparation of many dishes including bhaji and Mediterranean dishes like farinata. Afghan dal is usually more thicker and less soupy than Indian dal.

Preparation

Dal tadka garnished with fried onion

Most dal recipes are quite simple to prepare. The standard preparation begins with boiling a variety of dal (or a mix) in water with some turmeric, salt to taste, and then adding a fried garnish at the end of the cooking process. In some recipes, tomatoes, kokum, unripe mango, jaggery, or other ingredients are added while cooking the dal, often to impart a sweet-sour flavour.

The fried garnish for dal goes by many names, including chaunk, tadka/tarka, bagar, fodni, and phoran. The ingredients in the chaunk for each variety of dal vary by region and individual tastes. The raw spices (more commonly cumin seeds, mustard seeds, asafoetida, and sometimes fenugreek seeds and dried red chili pepper) are first fried for a few seconds in the hot oil on medium/low heat. This is generally followed by ginger, garlic, and onion, which are generally fried for 10 minutes. After the onion turns golden brown, ground spices (turmeric, coriander, red chili powder, garam masala, etc.) are added. The chaunk is then poured over the cooked dal.

Common ingredients

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Dahl – Parwana Afgan Kitchen". parwana.com.au. Retrieved 8 October 2026.
  2. ↑ "20 Dhal recipes". BBC Good Food. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  3. ↑ "FAO in India". Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  4. ↑ Davidson, Alan; Jaine, Tom (2014). "Dal". The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford University Press. p. 246. ISBN 9780199677337.
  5. ↑ John Ayto (2012). The Diner's Dictionary: Word Origins of Food and Drink. Oxford University Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-19-964024-9.
  6. ↑ Williams, Monier (1899). A Sanskrit–English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 471. OCLC 458052227.
  7. ↑ Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q. (2006) The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World (Oxford Linguistics), New York: Oxford University Press, page 372
  8. ↑ Rix, Helmut, editor (2001) Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, page 114
  9. ↑ Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 0194
  10. ↑ "Lentil". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  11. ↑ Agrawal, Chitra (22 November 2021). "What is dal?". Bon Appetit.
  12. ↑ Berriedale Keith, Arthur. The Yajur Veda (Taittiriya Sanhita).
  13. ↑ Suzuki, D.T. (1999). The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra: A Mahāyāna Text.
  14. ↑ Ottolenghi, Yotam. "Pulse points: Yotam Ottolenghi's dried bean and pea recipes". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Sample recipe for Chilka Urad dhal, split unhulled urad".
  16. ↑ Mehta, Nita (2006). Dal & Roti. SNAB. p12. ISBN 978-81-86004-06-7.
  17. ↑ Wang, N.; Hatcher, D.W.; Toews, R.; Gawalko, E.J. (2009). "Influence of cooking and dehulling on nutritional composition of several varieties of lentils (Lens culinaris)". LWT - Food Science and Technology. 42 (4): 842–848. Bibcode:2009LWTFS..42..842W. doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2008.10.007.
  18. ↑ Cloake, Felicity. "How to make the perfect onion bhajis". The Guardian.
  19. ↑ "VEGETARIAN AFGHAN LENTILS WITH GINGER AND CUMIN - DAAL — Blog". Afghan Culture Unveiled. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2026.
  20. ↑ Cloake, Felicity (2 June 2011). "How to cook perfect dal". The Guardian.

Further reading