Urad dal

Vigna mungo · Legume

40 pairings

Urad dal is the dried seed of black gram (Vigna mungo), a small bushy pulse of the Indian subcontinent. Sold whole with a black-grey coat or hulled and split to reveal an ivory-white kernel, it is the protein-rich base of dosa and idli batter, the silky body of dal makhani, and the crunch in many South Indian temperings.

Picking a good onedrag

This season's dalOld, hard, slow to soften

Cupboard stockThe workhorse. Hulled split dhuli needs no soak and melts into a dal in half an hour; whole black sabut wants an overnight soak and a long simmer for dal makhani.Everyday best

Colour in the bagStill even across the bag, the colour a shade duller

The kernelsA few chipped edges and a light floury dust

Pour and feelHard and dry, the rattle a shade duller

Smell in the bagPapery and neutral, nothing off

What to look for, from this season's dal to old, hard, slow to soften.

What one gives you

100%

Usable yield

Nothing to discard - refuse 0, and on the split forms the hull came off at the mill - so the useful number is the swell: 100 g dry cooks up to roughly 240-320 g. That is a range because USDA's two routes disagree across it: composition gives 3.24x, the cooked record's own "1 oz dry, yield after cooking" portion gives 2.43x, and both ends are rounded down.

Preparing