Dal

Dal refers both to dried, split pulses such as lentils, chickpeas, pigeon peas and mung beans and to the soups and stews made from cooking them, and it is a staple food eaten daily across the Indian subcontinent. A basic dal is made by boiling the split pulses with turmeric and salt until soft, then finishing it with a fried garnish called tadka or chaunk, typically cumin seeds, mustard seeds and other spices bloomed briefly in hot oil or ghee. India is the world's largest producer of pulses, and dal eaten together with rice, a combination called dal bhat in Nepali and several Indian languages, is one of the most common meals across South Asia, alongside dal served with flatbreads or as a side dish. References to lentils among valued foods appear in ancient texts including the Yajurveda, and archaeological evidence for cooking split pulses in the region dates back to between 800 and 300 BC, giving the dish a documented history of well over two thousand years.