Red lentil dal
A pot of lentils with cumin and tomato, rice on the side. Cook once, eat for a few days.
Cook modeAbout the dish
In India dal is part of almost every meal, and in many families it sits next to the rice every day. For a red lentil dal you only need things you can get in any supermarket, and red lentils have the big advantage that they break down by themselves as they cook and make the dal lovely and creamy. This version, with cumin, tomato and a spoonful of hot spiced fat at the end, is loosely based on the way it is cooked in Gujarat.
The order matters. First you toast the whole spices in hot fat, then you soften the onion, and only then do the ground spices go in. If you add everything at once, the dal easily tastes dusty. The lentils take just under 20 minutes, which is enough time to cook the rice alongside.
At the end you pour a little more hot ghee with some cumin over the dal. In India this is called tadka, and it makes the whole pot smell of cumin when you serve it.
Dal is great for cooking ahead. In jars it keeps for a few days in the fridge and thickens as it sits. When you warm it up, just stir in a little water and add fresh lemon and coriander.
Ingredients
Steps
What to drink
Lassi, or a cold lager
For a simple lassi, whisk yogurt with cold water and a pinch of salt. It is refreshing and goes well with the warm spices. A cold lager works too, dry wine less so.
Variations
- With spinach
- Stir in two handfuls of fresh spinach for the last 3 minutes and let it wilt into the dal.
- With egg
- Crack one egg per person into the hot dal, put the lid on and leave it for about 4 minutes, until the whites have set.
- Hotter
- Chop a fresh green chilli and add it with the ginger. Start with one and taste before adding more.