While legumes, pulses and lentils are used in many parts of the world – North Africa, southern Europe, West Asia, China and the countries of Latin America – it is in the Indian sub-continent that they are cooked not just on a wide scale but also with unmatched culinary skills and imagination. The daal is a staple food of this region, consumed by all economic brackets at all times of the year. This book is a tribute to the rich and awesome diversity of Indian gastronomic traditions.