Lentil (Lens culinaris)

Lens culinaris, commonly called the lentil and sometimes classified instead as Vicia lens, is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae grown for its lens-shaped edible seeds, standing about forty centimeters tall with pods that typically hold two seeds each. Its seeds are used worldwide, most often in soups and stews, and in South Asian cuisines split lentils, known as dal, form a dietary staple typically cooked into a thick curry eaten with rice or roti. Cultivation began in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East before spreading to Europe, North Africa and the Indo-Gangetic plain, and the oldest known carbonized lentil remains, found at Franchthi Cave in Greece, date to around 11,000 BC. Global production reached seven million tonnes in 2023, with Australia, Canada and India together accounting for about seventy two percent of the world total.