Yellow Dal with Spinach

First I want to say the "Yellow Dal with Spinach" (page 263) tasted fantastic, but what I ended up with was really more like yellow split pea soup, rather than Dal.  I've made Dal before, so I was a little confused when what I ended up with, wasn’t what I was expecting.  I'm wondering if the yellow split peas I used were more "split" than what the recipe intended, i.e., quicker cooking. I've never soaked split peas before cooking them in the past, yet this recipe called for a 45 minute hot water soak, then cooking them for 40 minutes after that.  In my experience 40 minutes of cooking without any presoaking has been sufficient for split peas.  What I found was even after 40 minutes of cooking, I was left with a very brothy, soupy mixture, not thick like Dal at all.  I upped the temperature, took the lid off the pot, and cooked for a while longer, stirring frequently to encourage evaporation.  In the end, I just continued on with the rest of the recipe instructions, and served it like soup.  Like I said, it tasted wonderful, and the next day it had thickened up and was more like the Dal I was expecting.  The spinach and tomatoes were a nice addition, adding some texture to the mix, and the spices were warm and fragrant.  I skipped using the oil for sautéing the ginger, garlic, and chili, and next time I will skip the soaking step as well.