Saturday, November 21, 2009

A really incredible dahl recipe

It's been ages since I last posted and my roommate asked me for a dahl recipe I learned from a good friend, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and post! School has been keeping me insanely busy, but I've still been enjoying good food. Some favorites of late: Becky Kuk's Rosemary Kale Soup (which I doctored to include some brown rice - just double the amount of water/veggie stock!), a delicious apple crisp from "Gluten Free Mommy", chana masala, and gluten-free pizza delivery from two different pizza places (Stone Hearth and Zing! Pizza)! Cambridge rocks. :)

Anyway, here's the dahl recipe. If you decide to make it, let me know how it turns out! I wrote out this recipe from memory and didn't have precise measurements; it's a pretty forgiving dish, but I'd still like to know if you have suggestions for improvement. Enjoy!

Dahl recipe:
1 tbsp oil (I used vegetable oil)
1 tsp mustard seed
1.5 tsp cumin seed
1c. onion, diced
5-6 cloves of garlic
1 inch piece of ginger, minced (about 1-2 Tbsp)

2c. dahl (red lentils or split yellow peas), rinsed
3-4c. water

1c. tomato, diced
1-2 tsp tumeric
1 Tbsp cumin
Salt to taste (at least 1 Tbsp)

Heat oil, mustard seed, and cumin seed over med-high heat in a medium saucepan. When the mustard seeds start to pop, add onion, garlic and ginger and sauté until soft, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add rinsed lentils/split peas and water to saucepan; bring to a boil and then simmer for 20-30 minutes, or as long as it takes for the lentils to soften. As they heat, the lentils will start to foam. For the best flavor, skim and discard the foam.

Once most of the water has been soaked up, add the onion/garlic/ginger mix, tomatoes, and remaining spices. Let simmer for a few more minutes (until it reaches the desired consistency, which depends on how soft you like your dahl! The softer the better, in my humble opinion).

Serve with steamed basmati rice and enjoy!

Serves 6-8.

2 comments:

Rebekah Kuk said...

Yay, I made the list! And this dahl looks delicious, I can't wait to try it. As the weather gets colder, I love to have spicy beans, legumes, and grains more often. Thanks, Lynnae!

LynnaeEtta said...

Of course you made the list, Becky! :) It was good soup. I've been looking forward to the cold weather for all the yummy soups it inspires. Pretty soon here I need to do a coconut milk curry - it's been too long since the last one! :)