Toor Dal

Toor (arhar) dal is the everyday pulse of most of the subcontinent’s dal pots — the base of sambar in the South, of the Rosaghara’s dalma in Puri, of Gujarat’s dal and countless home pots in between. It cooks to a soft, slightly sweet grain that thickens without disappearing.

It pairs naturally with tamarind in the South and with raw-papaya-and-plantain vegetables in Odisha’s temple stew; the same dal, unhulled, is the conch of the field — the split form is what the canonical grocery means.