Dal

Let me tell you about dal, and don't confuse it with whole lentils, because it is not the same thing in the pot.

Dal is split lentils, often hulled as well. With the halves separated and the skin usually gone, it softens fast in the water. Watch the pot, not the clock — the grains lose their sharp edges, then they lose their shape altogether, and collapse into that thick, spoonable mass. Whole lentils keep their shape in a salad. Dal wants to become porridge, and you should let it.

Choose it by eye and by smell. Good dal is uniform in color, the grains are clean, not dusty, and the smell is clean and neutral. If it smells musty or stale, leave it on the shelf.

Some people say dal is just "lentil soup material," interchangeable with any lentil you have. No! The whole lentil and the split one behave completely differently in the pot. That mistake makes cooks throw whole lentils into a quick dal recipe and end up with hard, undercooked grains swimming in broth, when the dish needed that soft, spoonable thickness from the start. Match the lentil to the dish, not the other way around.