The weather is still cold and rainy, so we thought we’d warm up inside, and warm up our insides, making some delicious dahl. This is an old family recipe, but you can add whatever veggies you have around. Cubed potato works well, as do cauliflower, spinach and mushrooms too. experiment and try different combinations to make this recipe truly your own.
Ingredients
2 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp cumin seeds
7 cardamom pods
1/2 cinnamon stick, broken up
5 cloves
4 dried bay leaves
300g red lentils, rinsed
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 litre water in which a vegetable stock cube has been dissolved
100g butter
1 medium brown onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves
1/2 – 1 tsp chilli flakes (depending on how hot you like your food)
4 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 cup coriander leaves, washed
Method
To make the garam masala, place coriander, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves in a fry pan and place over a medium heat. Gently dry fry for five minutes, moving spices around until they are fragrant. Place in a mortar and pestle with bay leaves and grind to a fine powder. Put to one side.
To make the dhal, place lentils, turmeric and stock water in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook until lentils are just soft. In a fry pan, melt butter and fry onion, garlic and chilli flakes until soft and starting to colour. Add tomatoes to onion mix then stir the mix through the lentils. Season with salt. Serve with fresh coriander and a sprinkle of garam masala on top with fresh bread on the side.
Image from here.
