It’s the epitome of comfort food on a grey, windy autumn day with the first chilly wisps of winter in the air. And when fall comes around, I get the urge to make lots of it.
I’m talking about DAL.
What’s dal?
Dal is a thick, savoury lentil stew, and a dietary staple in the cuisine of various countries, including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the West Indies. Most folks tend to eat it with rice, or perhaps a flat bread, such as roti. It’s a superb meatless protein-rich meal for vegetarians.
I have fond memories of my father making dal on the weekends as I was growing up. He especially liked to make a traditional Bengali moong dal (split yellow lentils) that reminded him of his childhood days in Bangladesh and India. He has passed on, but when I smell moong dal being prepared now – my mother is also a master moong dal maker, having been taught the family technique by father’s mother – it reminds me of my childhood growing up in Winnipeg. I prefer to use masoor dal (split red lentils) like those on the right, but that same spirit of tradition fuels my dal too.
Now, you have to understand that when I cook I don’t usually use recipes or follow them to the letter, unless it’s something like baking – which can be pretty, um, disastrous if you don’t follow the recipe – or a new dish that I’m looking to replicate precisely. I tend to experiment with flavours and quantities, and generally it works out. I might look at the recipe to get a feel for what ingredients go well together, but I often play with it and add, shift, or change things here and there.
That’s why every single time I make my dal it’s different.
That’s also why this is really hard for me to write down a set recipe for my dal. It’s always a work in progress, and it always works out fine in the end. But this is a good exercise for me because I’m often asked for the recipe. So now, instead of saying, “Well, it’s different every time,” finally, here is a base recipe to work with (see below at the end of this post) — subject to change by you, me or anyone else at any time in any way, of course.
So what does dal have to do with living without plastic? When you make a large batch of dal, you need to store it in something. And you don’t want to be putting lovingly prepared warm dal in endocrine-disruptor leaching plastic containers (you can read more about the leaching of toxins from plastics in our INFO section).
I’ve found that our large stainless steel rectangular containers are the perfect dal storage box and they fit handily in the fridge and freezer (the round ones work just great too, and are a bit easier to heat up directly on the stove).
*Note: As part our “Winter Prep, Part I” newsletter the 2L/0.5 gal. size of the stainless steel rectangular containers is on sale for 10% off until October 8th, 2014, when you use the following coupon code for an online order: DAL10
Of course there are other options to storing your dal.
The recipe below is for a large batch, but when I made it last time I actually doubled it because I was planning to give away two large portions and wanted to have plenty left over to last us for several days of meals.
Dal makes a great gift, especially to folks in need, because it is a complete meal and is so simple to heat and eat. It is lovely on a bed of rice or quinoa too, which makes it even more of a full meal.
Portions of this batch went to some of our dear friends and neighbours — one who is working her way powerfully through chemotherapy (that’s her’s on the right in one of our round airtight containers), and a couple who have a two week old little baby boy. Nourishing food to heal body and soul and welcome new life.
And we are still eating the rest!
So I hope the recipe below will help you fall for dal this fall.
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Jay’s Masala Masoor Dal
Ingredients
3 cups of red lentils (soaked overnight or at least a few hours) — I usually use red lentils (known as ‘masoor dal’) because they cook quickly and I like how they get all mushy. But you can use any lentils you like, keeping in mind that most others will take longer to cook.
1 large peeled and diced sweet potato or a couple of diced red potatoes (or both!)
2 large diced carrots
4 medium-sized tomatoes
1 large zucchini
3-4 stalks of bok choy or swiss chard
1/2 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
Whatever other vegetables you have lying around!
3 tbsp coconut oil or ghee (clarified butter) or olive oil (plus a bit of butter)
4 cloves of finely chopped garlic
2″ piece of finely chopped ginger root
2 medium onions chopped
2 tsp cumin seed
2 tsp freshly ground cumin
4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
4 bay leaves
2-4 dry red chilis (or 1-2 fresh green chilis)
sea salt to taste
Instructions to cook it all up!
Rinse the lentils a couple of times and let them soak for a few hours or even overnight. (Note: I soak the lentils to make them easier to digest. Lentils contain oligosaccharides, which are long-chain carbohydrates that can be difficult to digest. Soaking releases these sugars into the water. As well, soaking decreases the cooking time necessary for the lentils.)
Rinse the soaked lentils a couple more times and put them in a large pot. Cover the lentils with plenty of water so that the pot is about 2/3 to 3/4 filled. The amount of water is variable because you can later easily play with the water quantity depending on the consistency of dal you desire. Add 2 tsp of turmeric.
Bring the lentils to a boil, and use a spoon to skim off the water surface any foam that appears. Turn the heat down to medium and let the lentils simmer.
All the vegetables can be chopped in advance, or you can chop them as the lentils are cooking then continue to chop them as you add them to the dal – but don’t start adding them yet.
In a separate frying pan, heat the oil/ghee on medium heat. When hot, add in the cumin seed (not the powder!), bay leaves and chilis and fry them stirring regularly for a couple of minutes – make sure they do not burn. Add in the chopped garlic, ginger and onion, stir, and cook until the onion and garlic are golden brown (probably around 10 minutes). Then add in the ground coriander, garam masala, the other 2 tsp of turmeric, and some sea salt. Stir it all up so the spices mix evenly with the rest. Cook it another minute or so and remove it from the heat.
By now, the lentils should have boiled and be simmering on medium heat, and be cooked. Add in the carrots and sweet potato. Cook them for about 10 minutes then add in the zucchini and tomatoes and cook another 5-10 minutes or until the carrots and sweet potato are well cooked.
Now it’s time to garnish the dal with the spices. Pour the whole spicy onion garlic mixture into the pot of lentils and vegetables and mix it up well. Add the ground cumin. Stir it up good.
Add in the bok choy/chard.
Simmer until the added greens are cooked, but not overly so, and you have it to a consistency you like. Add more sea salt to taste if desired. Some like it thick, some like it more soupy. If you find it’s too thick, add some more water. Just be sure to stir regularly.
Add and mix in the fresh cilantro just before serving or storing.
It can be served alone as a soup or stew, or on a bed of rice, quinoa or any other grain of choice.
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