Fabulous (and fabulously easy) Indian Dal

I grew up in a vegetarian home in Bombay, which meant that lentils were our biggest source of protein and we ate at least one bowlful of dal everyday. Picky eater that I was, I hated its taste and texture, and avoided it as much as possible. Now that I live away from home, I’ve begun to love cooking and most of what I make is Indian. Last week I had an aha moment when I combined a few recipes for dal (there are probably more than 100 ways to make it anyway), eliminated the things I disliked, and the result was eminently eatable. Here is what I came up with -

Recipe:
Wash half a cup of split red lentils to remove the dirt. Set aside. Finely dice 3/4ths of a red or yellow onion. In a pot, heat up some oil and then saute your finely diced onions until translucent. Add minced ginger and garlic in generous quantities. Once this has cooked (about 1 minute) add your lentils and one whole cup of water to the pot. Add salt to taste, and if you have some turmeric on hand, then add a pinch of that too. If not, its not a big deal. Let this cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. As the water evaporates, keep adding more so that the dal remains watery (its consistency should be that of a soup). Once the lentils have cooked (it takes me about 12-15 minutes for this), add in a teaspoon or two of garam masala (if you can’t find some make your own by mixing dried cumin powder, coriander powder, ground cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, pepper, cinnamon) and another spoonful of amchur powder (dried mango powder – you can buy this at any Indian grocery store, but if you can’t find it, substitute it with a tiny spoon of tamarind paste or the juice of 1 large lime). Let this cook for another 5 minutes, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Turn off the stove and transfer to a serving bowl.
Cut the remaining 1/4th of the onion into long slivers. Cut a few skinny green chilies into long strips (serrano or Thai but not jalapenos) and set aside. In a small pot, heat up a generous quantity of ghee (clarified Indian butter – can be substituted with butter or oil but won’t taste as good) and add cumin seeds to it (there are no substitutes to this). Once they crackle, thrown in the onions and chilies and let this cook for a minute or two on high heat. Let the onions brown a little, and let the whole pot sizzle. Once done, pour this mixture directly onto your dal, making sure that the ghee does not get left behind. This is called a tadka and adds a lot more flavor to the dal than you would expect. Finally garnish with fresh cilantro (traditional) or fresh basil (my preferred way).
Et voila, thats it, eat this with hot basmati rice and a little yogurt on the side, or with any Indian bread or toasted pita.

Categories: Recipes