Maharaja's Dal

Photo Courtesy of Brad Lovejoy

A quick apology that the recipes have been a bit sparse for the past few weeks. I was under the weather for several days and then in Vancouver BC so I am a skosh behind. Rest assured I will make up for it during the coming week.

When we were in Vancouver BC last week, Brad attended a business lunch at an Indian restaurant that is known to be one of the city's best. It was his maiden voyage into Indian food and I was excited when he brought take-out back to our hotel room and reported that he really liked the cuisine. Yippee! Another type of food I can cook at home! I haven't eaten Indian food in quite some time so I can't wait to prepare new recipes and to also try the two Indian restaurants in our neighborhood. Brad's discovery opens a whole new door for us.

I was browsing through the October addition of PCC Market's newspaper and came across this recipe for Dal. It was a timely find for sure because I planned to begin an online search for a recipe. For those of you that aren't familiar with Indian food, Dal is a preparation of lentils, beans or peas that have been stripped of their outer shells and split. It also refers to a thick stew prepared with these ingredients. Dal can also be spelled Daal, Dhal or Dahl. This recipe calls for red lentils as the base ingredient and then several spices, herbs and vegetables to season the Dal. Recipe follows:

Ingredients:

1 cup split red lentils

2 cups water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

5 fenugreek seeds

1 hot chile pepper

1 medium onion, diced

8 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

2 medium tomatoes, chopped fine

1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves and stems

juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp kosher salt

2 cans red kidney beans, drained

Add lentils to medium-sized pot, cover with water and simmer over medium heat until tender. While lentils are simmering, heat oil in large pot over high heat with mustard, cumin and fenugreek seeds. Cover pot and heat until mustard seeds complete popping sounds. Quickly add chile pepper. Let chile roast in hot oil, then add onion, garlic and ginger. Chile then can be removed if desired.

Lower heat to medium and stir well. Let onion become translucent; add turmeric, coriander, cumin and paprika. Stir well and let dry spices release their essence into oil. Take care not to let them burn (if needed, add more oil to prevent burning). Next, add fennel bulb and saute for a few minutes.

Add tomatoes, cilantro stems (reserve leaves for garnish), and lemon juice. Allow tomatoes to reduce down and form paste with onions. This will take a few minutes and will form base of curry. Season with salt. It is important to not leave stove. Watch pot for signs of burning and constantly stir mixture. If mixture starts to dry out, add small amounts of water.

When mixture reaches thick consistency and dark red color, add cooked lentils. Stir well, letting lentils incorporate into curry base. Add kidney beans. For soupier consistency, add more water.

I cannot provide an accurate description of the aroma of the spices that could possibly do it justice. It smelled spicy, savory and rich; all at the same time. I had never cooked with whole mustard seeds and it is interesting how they pop when they cook in oil. The sound was quite similar to popcorn as it pops, only muted. It was also my maiden voyage with fenugreek seed. I learned that fenugreek leaves are used as an herb and fenugreek seeds are used as a spice. It is very similar to wild clover, was originally found in the Near East and is now grown worldwide. The ingredient is mainly used for pickles, curries and pastes. Anyway, the aroma of the spices was amazing. I also want to note that this was the first time I have seen a recipe call for cilantro stems. I didn't have a clue that the stems are as flavorful as the leaves but now that I know, I will start using them regularly.

I enjoy fennel in many applications so I was interested to see how it would compliment the spices and herbs in this recipe. I have to say, the combination was perfect. Fennel provided a fresh, slightly crunchy element that added to the success of the texture. I did however, make one change to the recipe. After I added the first can of kidney beans, I immediately knew that this amount was plenty. I believe the second can would have been overkill so I fully recommend using only one can.

I served the Dal over long grain white rice with baked chicken on the side for Olivia and Brad. The Dal with a little bit of rice was the perfect dinner for me but I wanted to provide additional protein for Brad and Olivia. All in all, this recipe was a tremendous success. The best part? We have plenty left over for dinner tomorrow night.

As a quick side note, I used all organic or free range ingredients for this meal. Just the way I like it!

Recipe Source:

PCC Sound Consumer Newspaper, October 2011