My Dal, darl….

I am a latecomer to Indian food.

The takeaway scene growing up in Brisbane in the 70s and 80s was limited to the local Chinese takeaway (if you were lucky enough to have one) and the Pizza Hut chain. The Sizzler steakhouse chain invigorated the whole Brisbane food experience in the late 80s (!!), but before then my family’s standard orders were a Shandy from Chow Mein House (Prawn Cutlets, Chicken with Almonds, Sweet and Sour Pork and Fried Rice) or two family size pizzas from Pizza Hut (Ham and Pineapple and Supreme, always thin and crispy).

I actually can’t recall when I first ate Indian food, but I know I loathed it and didn’t touch it again until Rick Stein’s glorious television series and cookbook celebrating it, “Rick Stein’s India”.

I have been searching for the perfect dal recipe ever since, and, at least for my taste, this is it.

My inspiration has been taken from Rick Stein’s Yellow Dal and Black Dal (both from “Rick Stein’s India”) and Matt Moran’s Red Lentil Dhal (from “Matt Moran’s Australian Food”). Sorry Matt, but coconut milk and coconut cream has no place in dal.  Mind you, some would say the same about carrots….

Many dal are finished with a Tadka or Tarka; say 1 tspn black or brown mustard seeds, 1 eschallot finely sliced, and 1 tspn chilli flakes or 1 dried Kashmiri chilli (broken into 3 pieces), all fried off in 1-2 tbspns of ghee or vegetable oil.

But I can’t be bothered.

Recipe

Ingredients

200g Chana dal (or Tur dal, or red lentils, or split peas; just reduce cooking time to ensure against mushiness)

1 small red onion or eschallot

1 thumb nail piece fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves

2 small tomatoes or ½ punnet cherry tomatoes

1 carrot

1 long green chilli

5-6 fresh curry leaves (plus extra for garnish)

1 cinnamon stick

1 tspn Kashmiri curry powder

1 tspn salt (cooking/table salt, not sea salt flakes)

½ tspn turmeric

½ tspn coriander seeds (whole or ground)

½ tspn cumin seeds (whole or ground)

½ tspn garam masala (use prepackaged or refer Rick Stein’s recipe)

2 tbspn vegetable oil

Handful of baby spinach leaves (optional)

Method

Do ahead:

Soak chana dal in cold water for one hour

Preparation:

1. Finely chop onion or eschallot
2. Crush, remove skin, and finely chop garlic
3. Peel and finely grate ginger (see my sensational ceramic ginger grater in the photos)
4. Chop/dice tomatoes or halve cherry tomatoes
5. Peel and chop/dice carrot
6. Split green chilli and remove seeds; finely slice one half
7. Grind cumin seeds and coriander seeds, if using whole

Cooking:

1. Heat vegetable oil to medium heat in heavy based pan. Add the onion/eschallot, garlic and ginger, and fry for one minute but do not brown. Add all the ground spices and salt and fry for thirty seconds. Add the tomatoes and carrots and fry for a further thirty seconds.  Note: Do not let the spices catch and burn.  A great Rick Stein trick is to always have a jug of cold water by the stove when cooking Indian; to throw in a slurp if the spices start to catch.
2. Drain and rinse the chana dal and add to the pan. Cover with three to four centimetres of cold water and add cinnamon stick.
3. Bring to boil, then turn down and simmer for 45-60 minutes until chana dal is soft but not mushy.

 

4. Add sliced green chilli and curry leaves and simmer for further five minutes

5. Stir through baby spinach leaves, if using.

6. Serve garnished with split green chilli and extra curry leaves.

Enjoy with basmati or brown rice and yoghurt if desired.