IMBB#14: Tarka dhal
I've been craving dhal for some time now. There's something deliciously comforting about a spoonful of steaming hot, spicy dhal with rice.
I've never made it before though, and IMBB#14: Orange You Hungry seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so.
A couple of clicks later on the Internet and I found what looked like an authentic recipe from someone who had visited a friend's mother in New Dehli. Wow I love the Internet.
I added coarsely mashed carrot to this recipe for extra sweetness, texture and yes, orangeness too.
Amit's Mum's Tarka Dhal (Lentils)
For 2-3 people
Ingredients:
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 large carrot, steamed and roughly mashed [my addition]
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (or 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 cup red lentils (lal dhal) [I used chana dhal, or yellow lentils]
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sunflower oil, or for special occasions 50g butter
Water (to cover lentils at step 4)
Method:
1. In a saucepan, fry the onion and tomato in oil (or butter) for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add salt, cumin seeds, coriander and garam masala and fry for 1 minute.
3. Add the lentils and fry for a further 1 minute.
4. Cover the lentils with water and bring to the boil.
5. Slowly boil lentils for 15 minutes (add a little water if they go dry).
6. The lentils should turn yellow and mushy.
7. Boil off the excess water and serve.
Maybe I was doing something wrong but I ended up cooking my lentils for about 2 hours and though it was cooked, it still wasn't quite mushy enough for my liking. However I was cooking a whole bag of lentils (probably about 3 cups) which may have had something to do with it.
Still, it tasted good, and the carrots did add a nice touch of natural sweetness.
For a full summary of all the orange-themed recipes, check out ladygoat's wrap-up at Foodgoat.
Related GrabYourFork posts:
IMBB#14: Moroccan carrot dip
IMBB#14: Germans carrots cooked in beer
I've never made it before though, and IMBB#14: Orange You Hungry seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so.
A couple of clicks later on the Internet and I found what looked like an authentic recipe from someone who had visited a friend's mother in New Dehli. Wow I love the Internet.
I added coarsely mashed carrot to this recipe for extra sweetness, texture and yes, orangeness too.
Amit's Mum's Tarka Dhal (Lentils)
For 2-3 people
Ingredients:
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 large carrot, steamed and roughly mashed [my addition]
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (or 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 cup red lentils (lal dhal) [I used chana dhal, or yellow lentils]
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sunflower oil, or for special occasions 50g butter
Water (to cover lentils at step 4)
Method:
1. In a saucepan, fry the onion and tomato in oil (or butter) for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add salt, cumin seeds, coriander and garam masala and fry for 1 minute.
3. Add the lentils and fry for a further 1 minute.
4. Cover the lentils with water and bring to the boil.
5. Slowly boil lentils for 15 minutes (add a little water if they go dry).
6. The lentils should turn yellow and mushy.
7. Boil off the excess water and serve.
Maybe I was doing something wrong but I ended up cooking my lentils for about 2 hours and though it was cooked, it still wasn't quite mushy enough for my liking. However I was cooking a whole bag of lentils (probably about 3 cups) which may have had something to do with it.
Still, it tasted good, and the carrots did add a nice touch of natural sweetness.
For a full summary of all the orange-themed recipes, check out ladygoat's wrap-up at Foodgoat.
Related GrabYourFork posts:
IMBB#14: Moroccan carrot dip
IMBB#14: Germans carrots cooked in beer
posted by Anonymous on 4/24/2005 02:00:00 pm
3 Comments:
At 4/25/2005 8:54 am,
deborah said…
The dhal looks great. And most probably the thickness as Mrstweety refers to and the 2 hours cooking time may have to do with the type of lentil you used. We use a split pea type lentil, and the actual lentil is like a peachy orange colour, and about the size of half a smartie.. This lends to a mushy type consistency where you dont even see the round lentil by the 15 -20 minute cooking time. My favourite additions are spinach and red hot chilli. Dhal is one of my comfort foods too :)
Another type to soften this tye of lentil, is to soak over night. For another dish we make, called vadai (which is fried balls of lentil, mashed up with chilli, spices, bayleaf, onion etc) we soak overnight and nearly half a day.
At 4/25/2005 9:37 pm,
deborah said…
I think you did a wonderful job AG. And you're on, I'll try my hand at a few curries and what not. The vadai I was referring to is not the vadai used with the ground lentil flour, but rather in chickpea form, soaked and pulsed in a blender, all still moist. You then add chopped white onion, chilli, curry leaves (smaller variety of bay leaf), salt and pepper and other sri lankan spices. Make into bite sized balls and deep fry. This is often served before dinner as guests arrive. Goes well with beer and other alcohol. :)
I'll look for a good recipe for you.
At 6/01/2005 11:10 pm,
Anonymous said…
hehe tharka daal is awesome! ok you hafta see this site..its 1 of my favs: http://www.indian-recipe.net
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