Lentil

The lentil is a bushy annual legume, usually 30 to 50 centimetres tall, with delicate feathery leaves and tiny pale blue to white flowers. Each short flat pod holds one or two seeds, which are round, flattened discs about 3 to 9 millimetres across. Seed coats range from olive green and brown to speckled and glossy black, while the cotyledons inside are orange-red, yellow or green. Flavour is mild, earthy and slightly peppery, becoming creamy when cooked. Lentils are sold whole with the coat on, split and skinned (dal), and ground into flour. Popular market types include brown or Spanish pardina, French green Puy-style, black beluga, and red or yellow split lentils that dissolve into a soft puree within about twenty minutes.

Sprouted lentils are also eaten raw or lightly cooked in salads and stir-fries.

Lentils were domesticated in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East roughly 9,000 to 10,000 years ago, among the very first crops of early agriculture alongside wheat, barley, peas and chickpeas. The wild ancestor is Lens orientalis, which still grows across Turkey, Syria and neighbouring regions. Cultivation spread west to Europe and Egypt and east along trade routes to Persia and India, where lentils became deeply woven into daily cooking. The Latin word lens simply means lentil, and the optical lens takes its name from the seed because of the shape, not the other way around. The English word arrived through French lentille from the same Latin root.

Charred lentils have been found at archaeological sites in Syria, Turkey and Jordan dating back to the early Neolithic, and the seed appears in the diets of Bronze Age Egypt, where they were found in tombs and used as everyday food for laborers. The Bible tells of Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of red lentil stew, a story that cemented the pulse as both humble food and a symbol of hunger and bargain. Greek and Roman writers regarded lentils as cheap peasant fare, though they also appreciated the dish as a food for fasting and mourning.

In the Middle Ages lentils fed monastic communities across Europe because they were cheap, storable and permitted on fast days. In South Asia, dals made from lentils became the foundation of vegetarian protein, and the dish dal is now so central that the word describes both the split pulse and the stew made from it.

By the twentieth century, production moved to the dry prairies of North America. Saskatchewan began commercial lentil growing in the 1970s, and Canada is now among the world's leading producers and exporters, alongside India, which grows and consumes enormous quantities. Lentils also feature in New Year traditions in Italy and Brazil, where eating them is thought to bring prosperity because the seeds resemble small coins.

Lentils are boiled into soups, stews, curries and dals, tossed into salads, folded into rice dishes such as mujaddara, and shaped into veggie burgers and meatballs. Firm green and black types hold their shape for salads, while red and yellow split lentils break down for thick soups and purees. Flour from lentils is used for flatbreads and crackers, and in some countries for gluten-free pasta. Sprouted lentils add crunch to salads and sandwiches. In traditional medicine they appear in nourishing invalid foods. Beyond human food, lentil straw and cull seed serve as livestock feed, and the crop is valued in rotations because it fixes nitrogen in the soil and improves following cereal crops.

Lentils are rich in plant protein, fibre, folate, iron, potassium and manganese, and they have a low glycaemic index because their starch digests slowly. Observational studies and trials link regular pulse intake with better blood sugar control, lower LDL cholesterol and improved satiety, though effects are modest and depend on the overall diet. The iron in lentils is non-haem and absorbs better when paired with vitamin C-rich foods. Lentils also contain polyphenols and resistant starch that feed gut bacteria. They are a useful swap for processed meats but are not a treatment for any disease.