Red Lentil Dal

Introduction:

This is the general steps I use to cook a dal. I also learned this from my friend Yogesh. The ingredient amounts are not exact, and I use it more as a guideline than an exact science.

• Prep time: 5-20 min
• Cooking time: 30-60 min
• Total time: 35-80 min

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Dried Red lentils
• Tumeric
• Oil
• Mustard Seeds / Coriander Seeds
• Curry leaves (if available)
• Onions, sliced or chopped
• Garlic, sliced or chopped
• Ground black pepper
• 2 cloves, 2 cardamon pods, 1 cinnamon stick (approximate)
• Tomatoes diced (canned is ok)
• Ground Coriander (sometimes)
• Coconut Milk / Cream
• Lemon or Tamarind juice (1-2 tablespoons)

Steps

1. Cook the red lentils until they are mushy. I use a pressure cooker and cook 2 cups of red lentils cooks in 6 cups of water for 8 minutes, and then natural release.
2. While the lentils are cooking, prepare the masala:
3. Heat a pan/pot with the oil on medium heat, toast the mustard/coriander seeds until the mustard seeds pop or the coriander seeds have browned a bit, about 30 seconds
4. Add the curry leaves, cloves, cardamon and cinnamon and stir for around 10 seconds
5. Add the onions, cooking until they are transparent, around 2-4 mins
6. Add the garlic, cook until fragrant, around 30 seconds
7. Add black pepper. If you are using ground spices, add them here instead of before the onions.
8. Add the tomatoes and ground coriander. Turn up heat until its bubbling then turn back down to a simmer

9. This is the masala, cook this until the oil pools on the sides, or if you part the sauce by drawing a line in the pan it takes time for the sauce to cover the line again. Another way to see it is to cook it until all the vapor evaporates and you are starting to fry the masala. Could be 5-15 mins. You can shorten this if you want but its best to cook this part well.

   To learn more about the masala and when its ready, see this stack exchange thread.

10. Add the coconut milk, bring to boil, then lower to simmer for a few minutes to let the coconut milk cook a bit. The longer you simmer the coconut milk, the darker it will get. Some dishes simmer the milk for long times to get a deep brown color. (but we don’t need that for this dish)
11. Add the dal from step 1, bring to boil and simmer again for a few minutes
12. Add salt to taste.
13. Add the lemon or tamarind juice.

Notes:

• I think south indian recipies will use just mustard seed, while north indian will use cumin seeds. You can decide whether to do one, the other or both.
• The recipe can technically be done without the coconut milk if you don’t have any at hand.
• The salt is really important for this dish. I tend to make it more salty than I expect but it turns out perfect, especially if you are putting it on rice which will dilute the saltiness. I learned this when another indian friend came and cooked their dal, and made it much more salty than I usually did mine, and I’ve been making my dals saltier since then.