" Which dal is used for dal curry?"

        The title is self explanatory. Well, it is one of the questions which I ask my roommates whenever I attempt to cook dal curry. One of the many questions I asked when I entered into the new realm of cooking which I would say is the most basic of all survival techniques. That is one thing that all the Indian students like me in US could relate to.

          I came here with zero experience in cooking except for "exquisite" dishes like omlette, sandwiches and tea. It is not that my mom did not try to teach me cooking, I was busy with the stuff to do before coming here and well, I was too lazy to learn cooking. But I don't think it mattered because when I actually started to cook, it is not that difficult as I imagined it would be and it was more fun than I expected it to be.

          You start with sautéing onions, put some spices, and then put whatever you want into it- rice, vegetable, meat- whatever. That is cooking in my layman's terms. As long as I am not starting any restaurant or something, this is all that I need. I mean I can make "something" and which I think is all that a student cares for. Intuition is our recipe, hands are our measuring cups..... well, as long as we get what we want, anything is fine..

          One bad thing about student life in US is that there is no budget places to eat out other than if you go for the fatty junk food. My student life in undergraduate days depended heavily on the good and budget restaurants near my college hostel, where we could just go, hang around and have a nice meal. I am missing that here. You want to go, have a chai and dosa (or whatever the equivalent they have here other than hamburgers), in a good eat out, without burning a hole in your pocket, tough luck.

          But then, that's how I felt about eating out here, people will have differing opinions. So, as for now, I am comfortable cooking. Well, I do have the starting trouble, I mean, getting up and starting to cook, but once I decide on what to cook and start cooking, I am fine and I am enjoying it. Which brings us to the question, " Which dal is used for dal curry ?". Well, err.....