Crossword Genius

Pulse noted as children's author has heart transplant (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dhal

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'pulse' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'noted as children's author has heart transplant' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'heart' could be 'h' (card game abbreviation) and 'h' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'dal' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dhal that I've seen before include "Pakistani veg" , "Indian puree of pulses" , "Pigeon pea" , "Indian dish of dried pulses" , "Seeds being split" .)

I've seen this clue in The Everyman puzzle in The Observer.
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