Daal recipe?

red lentils are my go to! Very quick, takes less than 10 minutes (for me on a gas burner anyway). Here, they like to smash it up with a rotator thingy, don't know english name for it? so its more soupy. My husband and I prefer not to do it though and have it much thicker, since we didn't have one of those things when we lived in Ireland.

Bump. Love Indian food, missing my Friday night curry!

Love me some lentils!

This is a family recipe for yellow daal. It may not be the same you tasted at the restaurant because that was probably Punjabi style daal, but it's another option.

Healthy Homemade Yellow Dal South Indian Style

I make this in a pressure cooker since it takes about 5-10 minutes. The longer way would be to make it in a pot. Can be eaten with bread, roti, rice or by itself. Its pretty filling too.

Makes 5 servings of 1 cup each
Ingredients:
1 cup Toor dal (split pigeon peas) soaked for an hour
1 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
curry leaves
1/2 cup chopped onions (optional)
5-6 cloves garlic crushed
3-4 Thai green chillies cut lengthwise whole
Spices: turmeric 1/3 tsp, asafoetida/heeng 1/3 tsp (Optional. Can be found in any Indian store.), mustard seeds (they look like tiny black balls), jeera (cumin seeds)
cilantro
salt to taste
4 cups water
1 tsp sugar

The initial part is the same for a cooker or a pot... All the directions ahead can be performed in the pressure cooker too.

Heat the ghee in a pot. Add a pinch of mustard seeds with 2 fingers.
When the mustard seeds start spluttering, add the onions and saute them till brown.
Add the curry leaves, a pinch or 2 of cumin seeds, half a tsp turmeric and asafoetida/heeng and move around in the pot.
Add the soaked dal and the water. Add to it the garlic, chillies and salt.

At this point:
If you're using a pressure cooker, shut the lid and wait till it completes 4 whistles. Open after all the pressure has been released slowly. Add the cilantro and adjust salt accordingly and stir to mix and mash the boiled dal.

If you're making this in a pot, keep boiling till the dal is fully cooked. When you taste a piece of the dal, it should completely disintegrate without you having to chew it. Once it has boiled completely, add the cilantro and stir and adjust the salt.


Total calories = 803

Per 1 cup/serving:
calories = 160
Protein = 9gm
carbs = 29gm
fat = 2gm

Dal Makhani/Kali dal

I've tried it out in the crockpot a few times and tested it till it came out right. I make this in a big quantity and freeze it in batches of 2 cups since it freezes well. This does take a long time so its always better to make a big batch.

Total calories: 1742
Makes 15 cups
Cals per serving/1 cup = 111!!!
Per cup: carbs=16gm, fat=3gm, protein=5gm, fibre=3gm

Soak 1.25 cups whole Urad dal (sold as black lentil. Indian stores call it kali dal/urad dal) and 1/2 cup red kidney beans together for 8-9 hours or overnight.

Ingredients to put into crockpot together:

Soaked black and kidney beans
3 cups diced tomatoes
1 cup diced onions
10 cloves of garlic + 3 tsp ginger both + a handful of cilantro all crushed together
4-5 Thai chillies split lengthwise (add more or use less depending on how hot you want it)
2 tbsp roasted cumin powder
2 tbsp cilantro seed powder (available in Indian store as coriander powder/dhaniya powder)
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
about 5-6 cups water

Cook on high for 6-7 hours. Low for 8-10 hours.
Put most of the contents of the crockpot in a food processor and paste-ify it and put it back in. This gives the dal a creamy texture.

Ingredients for Tadka/seasoning:
3 tbsp butter (can put more but it won't make a noticeable difference unless u put like 4-5 tbsp and I can't make myself do that!)
4 tbsp half and half cream
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp garam masala powder (can use more but I like to actually taste the ingredients rather than just the masala)

Heat the butter on the stove in a small pan and when it starts to sizzle, add the cumin seeds, turmeric powder, garam masala and the cream while constantly stirring. Heat it for a bit and add the whole mixture to the crockpot. Adjust salt according to taste. Throw in a handful of finely chopped cilantro for garnish.

Can be eaten with rice, bread, roti, nan or even just like that as a soup! It is unbelievably filling!

This is the recipe i use for Daal

Daal Base

100g Masoor Daal ( Red Lentils )
100g Moong Dal ( Split Yellow Mung Beans )
1.2 Litres Water
1/2 tsp Ground Turmeric
2 tsp Salt

Tadka

2 tsp Ghee
2 Dried Red Chilies
Pinch Asafoetida
4 cloves of garlic ( Finely Chopped )
1 onion ( Finely Chopped )
1 Tomato ( Finely Chopped )
2.5cm Fresh Ginger ( Chopped )
2 green Chilies ( Chopped )
1 tbsp Fresh Coriander ( Chopped )


Method

For the Daal Base

Wash the Red and Yellow Lentils and drain well, put in a pan with the water turmeric and salt, bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes remove from heat and keep warm


For the Tadka
heat the ghee in a pan add the whole red chilies, asafoetida, and cumin seeds allow them to crackle.
Add the garlic, onion and saute over a medium heat until golden.
Add the chili powder and cook for a minute
Add the tomato and cook for 5 minutes
Add the ginger, green chilies and coriander, then pour the mixture over the lentils

taste for seasoning !!

Lentils are my new favorite food. Bump!

not really, there are different versions of ways to cook daal. a basic mung bean version was listed. There is also a black lentil daal called daal makhani which is popular at indian restaurants in the US, that tastes very different from basic yellow daal.

There is also masala daal (spiced daal), etc.

Buh-bump