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Dal (dried split lentils of
various kinds) dishes are common in India.
I find they can be made a day or two in advance and then conveniently
reheated on the stove top or in the microwave. They are a filling
accompaniment to most Indian foods.
This dish is a bit more creamy in taste (due to the coconut milk). Its
similar to a Dal I once had in a Kashmiri restraunt in Mumbai, but
still not a delicious. The original recipe is from Madhur
Jaffrey's: A
Taste of India, ISBN: 1-86205-098-8, I have adapted this somewhat
as I've generally found her dal dishes to be too runny and I wanted to
get closer to that Kashmiri dal.
Ingredient
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Imperial
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Metric
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Moong dal, masoor dal or
toovar
dal, or a mixture of them
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0.75 cup
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150g
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water
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1.5 cup
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360ml
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ground turmeric
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1/8 tsp
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1ml
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onions (or shallots, or
possibly
chives), fine chopped
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2 tbsp
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30g
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ground cumin seeds
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0.5 tsp
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2.5ml
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whole fresh green hot
chillies,
remove stems, slit into strips length wise,
to reduce the heat remove some of the seeds
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2
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2
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canola oil (vegetable oil
or
ghee)
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2 tbsp
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30ml
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whole black mustard seeds
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0.5 tsp
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2.5ml
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fresh or dried curry leaves
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10
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10
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dried, whole, red hot
chilli,
break into 4 pieces
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1
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1
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garlic clove finely chopped
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1
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1
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medium sized tomato,
chopped
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4 oz
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120g
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salt
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0.5 tsp
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2.5ml
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can of coconut milk
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1 cup
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240ml
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Production:
- wash the dal, then put in a good sized pot with a heavy
bottom
for even heating, add the water and tumeric and bring to a boil
- turn heat to low and cover, simmer for about an hour
- put in the 1/3rd of the onions, cumin and green chillies
stir and
cook for another 30 minutes
- if the dal gets too thick, add some boiling water or start
adding
the coconut milk
- in a small frying pan, on medium, heat the oil
- when the oil is hot add the mustard seeds
- when the seeds begin to pop (in a few seconds) put in the
curry
leaves and red chillies
- when the chillies begin to darken (this happens quickly)
put in
the remaining onion and the garlic
- stir until the garlic darkens (less than a minute) and then
add
the tomato
- cook for another minute or so to soften the tomato
- pour the contents of the small frying pan into the dal
- add the salt
- add the coconut milk
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