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I am becoming a huge bean/legume nerd and seriously, my new favorite type of bean is urad beans or matpe beans, also called black gram or white lentils. (The bean is black, the shelled bean white.) They were initially weird. The first time I tried making urad dal it came out terrible. But I figured it out and now I've become a big fan of them.

I also got urad flour, and again, the first time I tried working with it it was a huge nuisance. It has strange physical properties, like it doesn't want to mix with water, but then it becomes all slimy and weird.

But...these same physical properties make it AMAZING once you figure out how to use it. I found out you can soak it overnight in water, kinda doing the beginning of a natural fermentation, and then it blends very nicely into water.

I found it makes exquisite pancakes. Like, light, fluffy pancakes with a perfect texture and they taste just...amazing. Like it's the best taste ever. And they're crazy nutritious. 1/4 cup of the flour has 7g protein and 4g fiber, contrasting with only 4g protein and 3g in whole wheat flour. And like all beans they're crazy high in B-vitamins and minerals. I love how I feel after eating it.

I also found using about 1/4 urad flour works great in making muffins or quickbreads. It just has a really nice texture, makes things light and fluffy and spongy and they stay moist and they hold together well and aren't too crumbly.

And it's cheap-ish. Where I live I can get urad flour for $5.50 for 2 pounds at local Indian stores. That's about half the price of the cheapest almond flour I've found, but it's even higher in protein per pound.

Why is urad not more popular? It's like so esoteric, it's esoteric even among Indian people. Like the only people I meet who eat it regularly are Pakistani or north Indian people. And I literally have not ever met another non-Indian/Pakistani person who has even heard of these beans.

I get that it's a bit weird and it is perhaps a little more difficult to prepare than most beans.

But it just tastes so freaking good. Like every time I open the bag I'm in love, I just love that smell. It's so weird like...I never ate these until the past year but the first time I smelled them I was like...this is the best smell ever, it just smells so sweet and pure and amazing and I want to eat it. So I just kept baking with it and making them until I figured out how to get the texture right.

Does anyone else out there eat urad beans or make things out of urad flour?