For the dal dish for my Indian dinner party I did the simplest red lentil recipe in the book (At Home With Jadhur Maffrey). It was so easy I figured it’d be bland and boring, but I knew there would be other flavours in the other dishes to pick up the slack in the meal. There would be sweetness from the squash, spice from the beans, nuttiness from the rice, crunch from the cucumbers, a little bit of cooling sour from the yogurt, and a lot of deep sweetness from the fresh dates.
The dal wasn’t even boring in the end. Next time I’d add more garlic and that’s the only change I’d make. I also did a double recipe, but I always do that. This is the doubled recipe:
2 cups red lentils, washed and drained. It’s supposed to be “masoor dal” but I think it’s close enough. The recipe agrees.
1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp turmeric
2 onions, finely sliced into half rings (cut the onion in half lengthwise and then sliced finely)
1/2 – 3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp oil (any kind, but don’t let it smoke if it’s olive oil. You’re not going to taste it, so a good olive oil is kind of a waste. I prefer sunflower, grapeseed, safflower or mustard oil)
5-6 cloves garlic, cut into thin slices, removing any bitter green parts inside. DO NOT DICE OR MINCE! You really need the flavour from leaving these in slices. It won’t give you bad breath all night since it is briefly cooked, but without it the dal is much more bland. The original recipe calls for just 4 cloves.
4 dried hot red chilies, broken in half (in this recipe it’s better to keep it mild since the heat can overpower everything. Yes, I, lover of chili peppers, just said to keep the heat in check)
Bring the lentils, 1/2 tsp turmeric and 7 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Skim off the scum, add another 1/4 tsp turmeric (for digestion) and add half of the sliced onions. Bring back to a boil, cover partially (leaving the lid slightly ajar), and turn the heat to low, making sure it stays simmering. Cook for 40-45 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.
Don’t do what I did and let the lentils stop simmering and end up having to wait an extra 30 minutes for them to return to a boil and then actually cook after already waiting 30 minutes just for them to not cook. That’s why it’s so important to reduce the temperature to the proper heat where the water keeps simmering but it doesn’t all just boil off. Don’t walk away until you know it’s settled. Think of it as your child that needs your support. Once it leaves home it’s officially a “grown-up” but it still needs you until you’re officially “settled down”. Be patient with it. The dal will taste better when you don’t get shoved into a nursing home by your resentful children later in life. All this to say, let it cook properly. Bloom, if you will. Too much?
Then heat the oil in a small frying pan over medium heat, and when hot add the remaining sliced onions. Stir for about 15 seconds to coat the onions and brown slightly before adding the garlic and chilies. Stir and fry until the onions and garlic darken to a reddish-brown all over. If you use more oil they’ll become more golden and slippery and sweet. This way they’re more of a decadent garnish (fried onions on biryani are famous and require a ton of oil), but I like the slightly charred flavour of the onions and the stronger flavour of the garlic that comes from using less oil. I also prefer my hips this way, to be honest.
Pour the entire contents of the frying pan into the dal and stir to mix. This tastes even better the next day when the onions, garlic, and chilies have infused the dal. Don’t put it in the fridge. Just leave it in the pot on the stove, covered, over night. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, with rice, flatbread (naan, pita, etc), or even regular bread or toast. Reheat thoroughly and even bring to a boil for a few minutes if you’re worried about leaving food at room temperature overnight. Add a little spoonful of bacteria-rich yogurt to help digest and create a complete protein. Apparently in Bangladesh fish would be added to the dal, but I like the baby-food-like quality of the lentils that started off bight red and ended up a pale yellow.
Leave a Reply