dried and often split legumes, especially lentils or peas.
a sauce or dish made from cooked lentils and spices, common in South Asian cuisine.
split grain, a common foodstuff in India; pulse
a variant spelling of dhal
First recorded in 1690–1700; from Hindi dāl “split pulse, cooked pulse,” from Sanskrit dala, from dāl- “to split”
From Arabic
Dal is an Indian dish made using lentils and many delicious spices. Next time you go to an Indian restaurant, try ordering dal. The Hindi word dal can be used for any bean or legume that's split in half and can be cooked without soaking it first. Its Sanskrit root, also dal, means "to split." Dal is also the soup or stew made from split lentils, one of the most popular dishes in South Asia. A typical dal is made with onions, tomatoes, and whole spices fried in oil, and it is eaten with rice or a flat bread.
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Theo dal Pozzo, 23, has a first class master's degree in computer science.
From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026
Bone Sine in Portland, Ore., flecks its mix of nuts and chana dal with ground lime leaves.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025
One crowd pleaser happened to be totally vegan: a red lentil dal served with coconut rice.
From Salon • Oct. 16, 2024
I opted for stews and soups infused with spices such as ginger, turmeric and cinnamon, particularly Harrington’s red lentil dal recipe.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 14, 2024
A tali was brought out piled with boiled ducks’ eggs, crisply fried pooris, dal, rice, curries, chapatis, mango chutney, and many kinds of sweets.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
