East Indian Dal - - FabulousFoods.com

Printer Friendly

RSS Feed

Bookmark

Home

East Indian Dal

Rate it!
Votes (1) | Comments (0)

By Swapna Sehgal

Posted July 23rd, 2007

FabulousFoods.com Recommends: The Indian Grocery Store Demystified (Take It with You Guides), by Linda Bladholm, (2000, Renaissance Books)

The Indian Grocery Store Demystified (Take It with You Guides)

Servings:	6
Author Notes:	This classic East Indian recipe is usually served over rice. Use the small red lentils available at Indian Grocery stores. These markets are treasure troves for adventurous cooks, and great places to get bargain prices on a wide variety of herbs and spices, like the ones used in this recipe. Sometimes the variety and labels can be a little confusing to American eyes, but it's worth learning about. An invaluable reference to take along is Linda Bladholm's wonderful guidebook *Indian Grocery Store Demystified*.
Ingredients:	1 cup red lentils 3-4 cups of water 2 1/2 teaspoons turmeric 1 large onion, chopped 2 green chilis, chopped 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated 3 cloves garlic, minced 3 medium tomatoes, diced 1/4 cup chopped cilantro 2 teaspoons whole yellow mustard seeds 1 teaspoon whole cumin seed 4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided salt to taste
Instructions:	Cook lentils with the turmeric in about water until lentils are completely soft boiling water until lentils are soft, about 40 minutes. Drain. Meanwhile, sauté the onions, chilis, ginger, and garlic in 2 teaspoons oil until onions are soft, about 6 minutes. Add tomatoes. Continue cooking and stirring for about 7 or 8 minutes. Add the tomato mixture to lentils and mix to combine. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons of oil over low heat. Add mustard and cumin seeds and toast until fragrant. Stir into the lentil mixture. Serve hot over rice or as side dish.