Editing Lentil (section)

=== Culinary use ===
[[File:Split_Red_Lentil.jpg|thumb|Split red lentils (size 6 mm)]]

Lentils can be eaten soaked, germinated, fried, baked or boiled &ndash; the most common preparation method.<ref name="CABI-2009" /> The seeds require a cooking time of 10 to 40 minutes, depending on the variety; small varieties with the husk removed, such as the common red lentil, require shorter cooking times (and unlike most legumes don't require soaking). Most varieties have a distinctive, earthy flavor. Lentils with husks remain whole with moderate cooking, while those without husks tend to disintegrate into a thick purée, which may enable various dishes. The composition of lentils leads to a high [[Emulsion|emulsifying]] capacity which can be even increased by dough [[fermentation]] in bread making.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bora|first=Pushkar Singh|title=Functional properties of native and succinylated lentil (Lens culinaris) globulins|journal=Food Chemistry|volume=77|issue=2|pages=171–176|doi=10.1016/s0308-8146(01)00332-6|year=2002}}</ref>

==== Lentil dishes ====
Lentils are used worldwide in many different dishes. Lentil dishes are most widespread throughout [[South Asia]], the [[Mediterranean]] regions, [[West Asia]], and [[Latin America]]. [[File:Daal_after_Tadka_Pulse_Soup_India.jpg|thumb|[[Dal tadka]] (lentil soup)]]
In the [[Indian subcontinent]], [[Fiji]], [[Mauritius]], [[Singapore]] and the [[Caribbean]], lentil curry is part of the everyday diet, eaten with both rice and [[roti]]. Boiled lentils and lentil stock are used to thicken most vegetarian curries. They are also used as stuffing in [[dal]] [[paratha]]s and [[Puri (food)|puri]] for breakfast or snacks. Lentils are also used in many regional varieties of sweets. Lentil flour is used to prepare several different bread varieties, such as [[papadam]].

They are frequently combined with [[rice]], which has a similar cooking time. A lentil and rice dish is referred to in Levantine countries as ''[[mujaddara]]'' or ''mejadra''. In Iran, rice and lentil is served with fried [[raisin]]; this dish is called [[Lentil rice]] (''adas polo)''. Rice and lentils are also cooked together in ''[[khichdi]]'', a popular dish in the Indian subcontinent (India and Pakistan); another dish, ''[[kushari]]'', made in Egypt, is considered one of two [[national dish]]es.

Lentils are used to prepare an inexpensive and nutritious [[Lentil soup|soup]] throughout Europe and [[Americas|North and South America]], sometimes combined with [[Chicken (food)|chicken]] or [[pork]]. In Western countries, cooked lentils are often used in salads.<ref name="CABI-2009" /> In Italy, the traditional dish for New Year's Eve is [[Cotechino]] served with lentils.

Lentils are commonly eaten in [[Ethiopia]] in a stew-like dish called ''misir'', or ''misir wot'', one of the dishes people eat with Ethiopia's national food, ''[[injera]]'' flatbread. 

Lentils were a chief part of the diet of ancient Iranians, who consumed lentils daily in the form of a stew poured over rice.