Arhar Dal

Cajanus cajan · Toor dal · tuvar dal · pigeon pea

The everyday lentil, and the reason the plain eats.

What it is

Arhar is the pigeon pea, sold split and skinned as flat yellow-gold halves. It cooks to a soft purée rather than holding shape, with a mild earthy taste that carries a tempering well. Some is sold oiled to extend shelf life, which needs rinsing off.

Where it comes from

Grown across central and southern India and through the Gangetic plain, on a hardy shrub that tolerates poor soil and drought. India grows and eats more of it than anywhere else on earth by a wide margin.

What it's called

Arhar in the north and east · toor or tuvar in the west · thuvaram paruppu in Tamil. Pigeon pea in English, which almost nobody says.

In the kitchen

Boiled soft, then finished with a tempering of ghee or mustard oil, cumin, garlic, dried chilli and asafoetida poured over at the end. In Bihar it is the dal of the everyday plate, eaten with rice, and the base of khichdi. Salt late; added early it slows the softening.

What we know about the claims

A solid plant protein at roughly twenty grams per hundred dry, with good fibre and folate. Nothing exotic is claimed for it and nothing needs to be.

Choosing and buying

Universally available. Oiled and unoiled both work; rinse the oiled kind in warm water twice. Old dal takes far longer to cook and never quite softens, so buy from somewhere with turnover.