Dal, something at first reading most of us would instantly think of purely Indian food - indeed the word Dal comes from Sanskrit - and is eaten by millions daily on the subcontinent. But meeting Nick Saltmarsh the chair of the British Dal Festival got me thinking completely differently.
Dal means legume, though commonly now is associated with soup-like-dish of lentil, beans or peas… By that token Mushy Peas is a Dal, so would be my Grandmother’s cure all of split-pea soup boiled up with a ham bone.
Legumes are a great addition to our menus: high in protein, inexpensive, and leaving the ham bone to one side, are our friends when creating plant-based menu options. They are also a great British farming success story – they grow well in our climate, and with their magical nitrogen-fixing ways, can be grown with minimal to no inputs: ecological farming.
The British Dal Festival is a nationwide celebration of pulses that sees businesses and organisations – including eateries, community groups, cinemas, bookclubs and more – shine a spotlight on the magic of dal and other dishes of split peas, lentils, fava beans and more, and where participating restaurants can take part in this nationwide celebration of dal and benefit from PR and social media support to publicise their involvement.
So whether celebrating mushy peas in all their glory to something with a more subcontinent twist, consider supporting The Great British Dal Festival by signing up at britishdalfestival.com/events/
