Dal is to India what pasta is to Italy – cheap to produce, highly nutritional, suitable for long storage and capable of being cooked in myriad ways. This humble ingredient has been a staple in the diet of Indians and their neighbours for millennia. Across the subcontinent, it is consumed by rich and poor alike. High in protein and with practically no sugar, it is an essential for diabetics.
Dal can be cooked in courses of infinite variety – there are at least 50 recipes for this humble food. Discover the multiple delicious ways of cooking it, with wide-ranging seasonings and all the assorted supplements to serve with it. Relish the many flavourful variants dished out over the centuries by cooks experimenting with locally available ingredients to satisfy a regional palate. Including recipes of khichri, dosas, vadas, dhokla, papadam and pakoras, The Dal Cookbook lays out an extraordinary array of foods to be created and savoured.