Big Tasty Daal

The basis for a lot of South Asian cooking is daal.  There are a million different ways of doing this. This is as close to my mum’s recipe as I have managed to achieve, she is the absolute master of this though. I do the ‘tarka*’ at the end slightly differently, I also often add a spritz of lemon juice at the end too (sorry mum).  It is a bit of a dark art getting the consistency just right; you don’t want it to turn to mush, but the lentils should just start to break down, yet retain some of there consistency. I tend to add a bit of water gradually, almost ‘risotto style’ until it is just right. (Do not add much salt until near the end as it impairs the cooking of the lentils and can also accidentally end up v salty!)

* Tarka is traditionally a technique where spices are added to hot oil, it is used either as a base or to finish a dish. This is technically a tarka daal.

Gear

• Chopping board
• Bowl to soak lentils
• Sharp Knife
• Big saucepan (Big as you’ve got), with a lid
• Frying pan
• Wooden spoon
• Mug or tin from tinned tomatoes

Big Tasty Daal

Ingredients

• Good quality vegetable oil
• 3 or 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Thumb size piece of ginger, chopped
• 1 or 2 green chillies, chopped.
• 2tsp of chilli powder
• 1tsp of turmeric
• 1tsp paprika
• 2 tsp of garam masala
• 1 tin of plum tomatoes or chopped tomatoes (You can also use 6-8 large fresh tomatoes if you wish)
• 500g yellow split pea lentils (Washed and soaked for at least 3 hours or overnight) (This makes a pretty massive portion, but it freezes really well)
• 1 small or ½ a large onion sliced fairly thinly in half moons
• 1tsp cumin seeds
• 1tsp coriander seeds
• ½ tsp black pepper corns
• 1 tsp nigella/onion seeds1
• tsp sugar
• (Optional: juice of 1 lemon)
• Sea salt

Method

1. Wash and soak your lentils in a bowl for at least three hours, or overnight.  It is not essential, but it will speed up cooking and lead to better daal.
2. Add oil to the saucepan and place on a low/medium heat.
3. Add the garlic, ginger and green chillies and fry for one minute.
4. Turn the heat up to medium/high. Add the chilli powder, turmeric, paprika and 1tsp of garam masala, continue to cook for 30 secs to a minute, if it is a bit dry add a slug of oil.
5. Add the tomatoes, a very small amount of salt (small pinch) and a splash of water (I usually swill out the juices from the tin). Keep the tin or grab a mug. Continue to cook for about 5-10 minutes until the tomatoes break down a bit and it is almost a paste.  Do not let it burn.
6. Add the lentils and allow them to ‘fry off’ a little bit in the paste for just a couple of minutes.Add two ‘canfuls’, or ‘mugfuls’ of cold water, stir and cover; bring to a gentle simmer and reduce the heat to low/medium.
7. After 10-15 minutes, lift the lid and have a look, the lentils should have soaked up most of the water, if not replace the lid and continue to simmer.  If they have, add another can/mug of water.  Keep doing this but gradually reduce the amount of water you are adding; towards the end you can keep it uncovered. Be very careful not to let the daal at the bottom of your pan burn! It is very easy to do this at this stage.
8. (Sorry for the vagueness in terms of quantities of water needed here but it is never quite the same each time/I have not fully experimented and measured this accurately!)  After about 90 minutes or so keep tasting a few lentils.  You do not want them to be too firm, but we do not want to end up with mush.  If they are still a bit chalky/firm you need to add a bit more water.
9. Once you have got your lentils to the desired texture (try not to undercook as you will get indigestion) turn the heat off and leave them to sit whilst you prepare the ‘tarka.’
10. Put a frying pan onto a high heat and add about 2tbsp of vegetable oil.
11. Add the onion 1tsp of sugar and a pinch of sea salt. Fry until the onion turns almost black (seriously, you want to pretty much burn them).
12. Once the onion is really dark add 1tsp cumin seeds, 1tsp coriander seeds, ½ tsp black pepper corns, 1 tsp nigella/onion seeds, 1tsp of garam masala.
13. Fry all of this together for 1 minute and then add the mix, (oil and all) into the daal.
14. Put your daal back onto a low heat and stir the mix in.
15. Taste, and season with salt (you might need quite a bit for this quantity).  You can also add the juice from a whole lemon if that floats your boat.

Serve and enjoy!

Time restricted cheat version!

This is a timesaver if you haven’t got the time to soak and cook dried lentils. Do steps 1-6, add a tin of green lentils (including the water in the can).

Warm through and if needed add more water.

Jump to step 12 and do the tarka.