Can someone tell me what Dahl is?!
Answers:
Dhal, dal, dahl, is a gram- a legume.
The legume bean or pea= known as garbanzo/chickpea, black eye pea, fava bean, yellow pea, dried green pea, moong bean ( dried green beans), mung dal ( moong bean), tor dal ( a kind of black small lentil).
All legumes are basically clumped together in a collective group called "dal", or Dhal.
They're very popular in Indian cooking.
Channa dal is the chickpea dal- they make chickpeas into a dish with cyru spices and gravy, but sometimes channa dal is just plainly roasted- the actual "dal" refers to the legume itself.
Usually, in Indian cooking, dal is served on its own and not incorporated into other dishes- so you'l get channa dal beside a plate of aloo masala, and idli- the dal will be nestled next to some of that other stuff.
SOmetimes, you get tor dal ( the small back lentils) cooked with potatoes, or other things.
But usually dal is the legume itself made into a kind of dish on its own and served WITH the meal.
SOmetimes , dal is made into flour- like idlli flour, it's rice flour ,ixed with ground tor dal, or other types of dal. The dal flour gives the idli a sour fermented taste, also Dosa are made iwth dal flour, as are many other indian flour dishes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal
It is available in Indian grocery stores.
here is a simple recepie : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_e1CYXZL4A
Indian-style curried lentil stew.