Dal
Dāl, scriptura devanagari दाल, est leguminosum granum fractum et sorbitio e talibus granis cocta. Species principalis, cuius granis hoc nomen datur, est Cajanus cajan. a kind of pulse much used in India, both by natives as a kind of porridge, and by Europeans as an ingredient in kedgeree (q.v.), or to mix with rice as a breakfast dish. It is best represented in England by what are called 'split pease.' The proper dāl, which Wilson derives from the Skt. root dal, 'to divide' (and which thus corresponds in meaning also to 'split pease'), is, according to the same authority, Phaseolus aureus: but, be that as it may, the dāls most commonly in use are varieties of the shrubby plant Cajanus Indicus, Spreng., called in Hind. arhar, rahar, &c. It is not known where this is indigenous; [De Candolle thinks it probably a native of tropical Africa, introduced perhaps 3,000 years ago into India;] it is cultivated throughout India. The term is also applied occasionally to other pulses, such as mūng, urd, &c. (See MOONG, OORD.) It should also be noted that in its original sense dāl is not the name of a particular pea, but the generic name of pulses prepared for use by being broken in a hand-mill; though the peas named are those commonly used in Upper India in this way. 1673. -- "At their coming up out of the Water they bestow the largess of Rice or Doll (an Indian Bean)." -- Fryer, 101. 1696. -- Kitcheree is another dish very common among them, made of dol, that is, a small round pea and rice boiled together, and is very strengthening, tho' not very savoury. Of this the European sailers feed in those parts once or twice a week, and are forc'd at those times to a pagan abstinence from flesh: J. Ovington, A Voyage to Suratt in the Year 1689 (Londinii: Tonson, 1696) pp. 310-311 1727. -- "They have several species of Legumen, but those of Doll are most in use, for some Doll and Rice being mingled together and boiled, make Kitcheree." -- A. Hamilton, i. 162; [ed. 1744]. 1778. -- ". . . the essential articles of a Sepoy's diet, rice, doll (a species of pea), ghee (an indifferent kind of butter), &c., were not to be purchased." -- Acc. of the Gallant Defence made at Mangalore. 1809. -- ". . . dol, split country peas." -- Maria Graham, 25. [1813. -- "Tuar (cytisus cajan, Lin.) . . . is called Dohll. . . ." -- Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. ii. 35.] 1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 189 Cajanus indicus..In India the pulse is called Dhal or Dhol or Urhur, and [is] ranked as third in value among the pulses.