Some of the beans / legumes / dals I cook regularly in my kitchen.

Let us move on to lunch / dinner after the breakfast session. This time, I want to focus on the regional and traditional dal* recipes from India. I am not talking about the dried legumes / pulses but the (stew like) preparations involving them.
Being an Indian and a vegetarian, I need my share of dal preparations everyday and I would count it as my comfort food. Usually, I go with sambhar / pappu / pulusu, which are familiar ones and represent my state's cuisine.
India happens to be a land of vast diversity and each state there, is like a mini country with it's own language, food, traditions and customs. In spite of going through various cook books and websites regularly, it is hard for me to figure out what is being cooked in various (Indian) states on a daily basis. I therefore want to concentrate on that diversity of food and in this event, partcularly on 'dals'. Not only the preparations but even the variety of legumes and spices used to cook keep changing from state to state.
I thought of putting together regional dal preparations at one place and hence this announcement. I am asking fellow food enthusiasts to join me in the celebration of dal delicacies from India and hoping there are going to be entries representing India's diversity. Please remember that a preparation that appear mundane to you may be unheard of in another state. Send in those traditional gems to the event.

Some guidelines for participation:
1. Prepare a dal recipe which you think is traditional / have a local flair - flavor / not well known / only prepared at your home. The cooked dal needs to be vegetarian & suitable to serve with rice or rotis. You can include vegetables and/or fruits in the dal preparations. Please no gojju / rasam recipes. They deserve an event of their own and that gives me an idea for my next event. :)
Publish that recipe on your blog between April 1st - May 31st, 2010.
2. Please link to this event announcement page in your post.
3. Please send me an email notifying about your entry at nagababu.gade@yahoo.co.in with the subject 'Dals'
and the following details.
Your Name:
Recipe Name:
Recipe URL:
Picture of the dish, if you have one.
4. Non bloggers can email me the recipe and a picture, if they have one.
5. The deadline for the event is May 31st, 2010.
6. Multiple entries and recipes submitted to other entries are welcome.
7. Recipes from archives can be sent only if they are reposted with a link to this announcement page.

Now don on those caps, cook that special dal and send it to me.
I would post the round up during the first week of June.

Update: Jihva - Breakfast round up would be posted next week. I need a few hours to sort that out. Thanks.

* Dal is a term in Hindi used to refer both pulses and preparations involving pulses.