This is threatening to turn into a food blog, isn’t it? You all will have to put up with it while we’re under a pandemic. The world is a trash fire, but see, I can cook. And really, if I can find joy in lentils, which are a cheap, innocent and widely-available source of protein, then I’m good. Also today is Diwali and I was supposed to be in India celebrating, not blogging about lentils, sigh.

Dal is a staple part of the Indian diet, and most Indian cooks will have half a dozen varieties in stoc...