This is the basic recipe for cooking lentils or beans. Many southern and southwestern regional recipes call for cooked lentils or beans to be stirred gently into a dish near the end of cooking. Therefore, it may be a good idea ot make them a day ahead and have them ready when you begin the actual cooking.

1. Pick lentils, peas, or beans clean and wash thoroughly in several changes of water.

2. Put the lentils, peas, or beans in a deep pot along with the tumeric and 4-1/2 cups water; bring to a boil. (Be careful, they foam a lot.) Stir often to make sure they do not lump together. Cook over medium heat, partially covered, for 40 minutes (25 minutes for red lentils and mung beans). Cover, reduce heat, and continue cooking for an additional 20 to 25 minutes (10 minutes for red lentils and mung beans) or until soft.

3. Turn off heat and measure the puree. There should be 4-1/2 cups puree; if not, add enough water to bring to that quanity. For a more ground puree, beat lentils, peas, or beans with a whisk for 3 to 5 minutes. Cooked dal can be kept for 3 days, refrigerated. Cooked lentils and beans thicken considerably and become gelatinous with keeping. They also reduce in volume considerably. Therefore remember to make allowance for such evaporation.

My Note: I always end up beating them with a whisk as it velvetizes the soup. There is no need to use something like a food processor .... I think it would end up making the ingredients too fine and would ruin the texture of the soup. Also, I refrigerated them for both 1 day and then later 2 days and found that indeed, it did thicken .... I simply put them in a pot and added a cup or two of water and simmered until I got the consistency I wanted .... thick but with some liquid as this is not meant to be a soup in which a spoon will stand up