Biulir dal can be polarising. You either like its slimy texture, or you don't. Slime is a food texture that Bengali cuisine prizes. Young children are gently cajoled into eating slimy delicacies such as lady's fingers (dhyarosh), jute leaves (paat), malabar spinach (pui), certain types of taro (kochu), taro stolons (kochur loti) and so on. The indoctrination usually starts with the fried forms of these foods. In no time they graduate to other methods of cooking, that produce more slimy results. It is a slippery slope.

This recipe is how biulir dal is cooked in our Bangal (East Bengali immigrant) family. The dal is first dry roasted before being boiled. In other households, the dal may be boiled directly producing a more slimy consistency. The most important flavours here are of fennel seeds (mouri) and fresh ginger. This dal is commonly served with alu posto (potatoes cooked in a poppy seed paste) in West Bengali (ghoti) households.