Easy Dal

I don’t own an Indian food cookbook, but I think I should buy one. No, I know i should.

I decided that I wanted to make dal. Not the bastardized dahl that I normally boil up, but something more like the wonderful curries that I remembered from Malaysia. There was one in particular that was so rich and creamy with ghee it was a revelation. I wanted to replicate that, and I even removed the ‘h’, to make it more authentic, which is what every website that I read said about dal. 

Remove the h, they all said, and there was one other point, too; cook the lentils in the right amount of water, and then whisk them to break up the soft pieces and emulsify. It isn’t pretty, but it hits all the right spots.

EDIT: I didn’t realise why I was so interested in making dal until the evening after I had posted this. I live in a small apartment in a small block and I can smell wonderful smells wafting through my open kitchen window(as well as being distracted by the pounding of the mortar and pestle in the late afternoon). Something delicious is always being prepared in there, maybe I should go and introduce myself!

Easy Dal
(recipe cobbled together from here and there and everywhere)

1 cup yellow split peas
1 ripe tomato
1t cumin seeds
1 onion
1/2t tumeric
1/2t ground coriander
2T ghee
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 long red chilli (more or less, dependent on personal taste)

Soak split peas in water for 1 hour. Drain and place in pan with chopped tomato and 3 cups of water. Bring to the boil, then lower heat and simmer for about 50min to 1 hour until peas are softened and starting to break down.
Meanwhile, heat a small frypan and add ghee. When hot add cumin seeds and fry for a minute. Add chopped onion and cook over high heat until onion is browned. Add garlic and cook until for few minutes. Add chilli, tumeric and ground coriander and cook for a minute longer. Set aside.
When the dal is cooked, mix spice mixture in a cook for a few minutes, season with salt. Whisk to break up split peas and emulsify. Stir through some chopped coriander (if you want, I didn’t have any, and it was great without).