Mysteries of dal

In my first two recipes, I’ve mentioned a few ‘dals’. ‘Dal’ is the Hindi word for lentils. The Kannada word for lentils is ‘Bele’ pronounced ‘Bay-leh’ where you roll your tongue on the ‘l’. The Tamil word for lentils is ‘Parippu’  pronounced ‘par-ruh-puh’. The Telegu word for lentils is ‘Pappu’ pronounced ‘pa-puh’. Lentils feature in a lot of Indian dishes irrespective of their state of origin. Their usage varies depending on the dish and region but they are a prominent feature. For vegetarians and vegans, lentils are a great source of protein.

I understand that some of the lentils I mention might not be familiar to some of you. I thought I should post some pictures and names as a guide but people have already beaten me to it and have done a much better job that I could have. So please check these websites out if you’d like to know what they look like and how to cook them.

http://www.indiamarks.com/guide/Lentils-Dals-Pulses-and-Beans-used-in-Indian-Cooking/374/

http://www.beanslentils.com/preparelentils.htm

http://simplyspicy.blogspot.com/2006/11/lentils.html

What I will leave you with are the English, Hindi, Kannada and Tamil words for some common lentils that I use.

Go dal!

English	Colour	Shape	Hindi	Kannada	Tamil
Yellow split peas	Yellow	Round+flat	Toor dal	Togari bele	Thorum parippu
Black beluga lentils	White	Oblong+flat	Urid dal	Uddina bele	Ulundu
Split chick peas/ Bengal gram	Dark yellow	Round+thick	Chana dal	Kadale bele	Kadale parippu
Split mung bean	Light yellow	Oblong+flat	Moong dal	Hesaru bele	Payatham parrippu