It usually consists of foods symbolic of life such as boiled eggs and lentil soup. Normally people start with fried or steamed vegetable and dal, a kind of lentil soup. Daal bhaat (rice and lentil soup) is a staple dish of Nepal. It consists of steamed rice and a cooked lentil soup called "dal". The daily meal consists of boiled rice, lentil soup, vegetable curry and relish. "A secret lentil soup recipe seemed a nice parody of that", he said. "Adas" is a healthy lentil soup, common in the Middle East. Lentil soup is prepared in many ways, with additions such as cilantro or meat.