“Dal” is basically the hindi/urdu word for any legumes (beans, peas, lentils, etc) that are cooked straight from the dried form. Since there are many different types of beans, and many preparations, they are pretty varied. For a good easy recipe to try, I like Priya Krishna’s recipe. In her book, she has a flowchart of how you change the recipe to accommodate for different types of lentil (like cooking time and amount of water).