How do you make Dahl?

Emm-in-a-pickle

We loved the Tarka Dahl from the takeaway, and tried many ways to reproduce it at home, none was quite right till we got the right LENTILS!
You need `Chana Dahl`- yellow lentils, found them in Tesco. Pre-soak them, either overnight or from morning till suppertime when you intend to cook them. It`s NOT fast food, but well worth the prep time!
Finally, I can make this dish as good as (my folks say better, actually) than the local takeaway.
Ghee, olive oil, or olive oil/buter mix, doesn`t really matter.
Get the butter/oil hot but keep it low, add in a scoop of onion seeds - grind them first if you can, then loads of crushed garlic, keep it low, brown but not to burn the butter - wait till it smells lovely then put it into a big pan with your pre-soaked dahl and a dissolved stock cube (veg or chicken Knorr), stir it up and simmer till the dahl goes mushy. Add a load of fresh chopped coriander at the last minute. It really does taste like the gorgeous stuff our local takeaway used to do.

ladylouise62

Further to "Emm-in-a-pickles" recipe, if you do forget to soak them the night before, I've done it from lunchtime but with some bicarb of soda in the water - it softens it slightly, allowing the water uptake... and apparently if added to the dish when cooking will also help with the, ahem, less social results of beans

*Paris*

I love dhal! This is the recipe I use from '330 Vegetarian Recipes for Health'


Ingredients:
2 tbsp veg oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 carrot, diced
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1 inch peice of fresh ginger, grated
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
225g red split lentils
400ml water
400ml coconut milk
5 chopped tomatoes
juice of two fresh limes
4 tbsp chopped coriander
salt & pepper to season
sprinkle of toasted almonds to serve

I usually serve this with naan bread. The recipe is for 4 people and takes about 1 hours cooking time.

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a large pan, saute the onion for 5 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, carrot, cumin and mustard seeds and ginger. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring until the seeds begin to pop and the carrot softens slightly.

2. Stir in the groung turmeric, chilli powder, and garam masala, and cook for 1 minute until the flavours begin to mingle, stirring to prevent thespices burning.

3. Add the lentils, water, coconut milk and tomatoes, and season. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the lentils sticking.

4. Stir in the lime juice and 3 tbsp of the coriander. Cook for a further 15 minutes until the lentils become soft and tender. To serve, sprinkle the remaining coriander and the toasted almonds.

5. Enjoy!

jennieshrew

I made a rice and lentil dhal in the slow cooker. Have tried feeding it to the kids but even the three year old has turned his nose up. It is tasteless. Tastes of too much turmeric and not a lot else. Has onions, chilli powder, cardamon, cloves and cumin in it but tasteless! Please help me rescue it!! What can I add quickly.

spike7451

Problem is Turmeric is a very hard spice to hide if you over did it,you could try a garam masala or teaspoonful of curry paste.

lizzyb1812

Something with tomato in it - sauce, ketchup, tinned, puree, etc plus a pinch of sugar

jennieshrew

Miracle! That's done it. I added a spoonful of harissa, a tin of tomatoes and some sugar. Yummy again. Thanks!! Hopefully DH will like it.

:j:j:j

FelinePrincess

I see the problem has already been solved but for future reference, the way to add flavour to dhal is.. (taken from Madhur Jaffrey recipe book)

Just before serving heat 3 tbs vegetable oil in 4-5inch frying pan over medium-high heat. When very hot, put in a pinch of ground asafetida and 1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds. As soon as the asafetida begins to sizzle and expand, and the cumin seeds darken pour the contents of frying pan over lentils and stir.

HTH someone

Reverbe

my lentil dhal i tried to make once was the same. didnt use asefoewhatsit but the ones in the local restaurant/takeaway seem to be creamier and more flavourful.. more garlic???

spike7451

jennieshrew,You might like to try Mamta's recipy for the same dish;

http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=10041