Submitted by sunshineband
Here’s my version of dhal, quantities don’t need to be exact but I have given some as a bit of a guide!
You will need:
split mung beans (those orangey pink lentils in the supermarket in bags) about 8 oz
half an onion
half a lemon
2 bay leaves
2 green chillies slit open
half teaspoon of turmeric
couple of table spoons of sunflower oil OR largish knob of butter with a teaspoon of oil
3 or 4 dried red chillies
medium sized onion cut into fine slices/rings
tablespoon of either mustard seeds or cumin seeds or fennel seeds
largish pinch of ground asafetida* (can miss this out if you don’t like it or haven’t got any)
To make the dhall:
Pick over the lentils to make sure there are no little stones
Wash thoroughly, put in large saucepan with half onion, lemon, green chillies, turmeric and bayleaf and enough water to cover to a depth of 2 ins.
Bring to boil, skimming off any froth and throwing this away
Simmer partly covered for about 20 minutes, until lentils are soft enough to squash easily.
Take out all flavourings and discard.
Add salt.
While they are cooking make the tarka topping:
Heat up oil or oil/butter mix (the oil stops the butter burning) in frying pan
Add the dried chillies, asafetida and seeds carefully as they will splutter.
Put in the finely sliced onion and cook until brown and crisp. Low/medium heat, don’t stir too much
Pour contents of frying pan over the top of the lentils and serve immediately
Plain rice and green salad go really well with this, or any Indian bread like naans, or hot buttered toast.
Cooking rice
I have also put in our way of cooking rice as it is foolproof and dead simple. You can cook it while the dhall is cooking.
1. Put three quarters of a cup of rice per person in a medium size saucepan and rinse unitl water runs clear. Don’t mess about too much with it or starch is released and the rice will be sticky.
2. Put cold water in until it covers the rice to the depth of your first knuckle of your middle finger, half way up the knuckle.
3. Bring to the boil, cover and turn down heat to low and leave it alone for 18 to 20 minutes.
4. There should be no water left. Fluff up the rice and serve (if you leave the lid on the pan the rice will stay warn for about half an hour).
You can add cardamom seeds, bay leaf, lemon etc with the water, or salt if you like.
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