Dal & rice

Ah, the delicious, the healthy, the quick, the makeable-with-cupboard stables: We do place demands on our food. Routinely, David and I will sit down with a sheet of paper and brainstorm a list of weeknight staples. Fads come and go - right now, halloumi sandwiches with garlic chutney are on the menu at least once a fortnight - but the most timeless item is surely dal.

Or so we call it. Obviously dal refers at once to lentils themselves and to every dish that can be conjured from them, but every couple has their shorthand, and when we say dal, we both know we mean the delicious dish made from split red lentils with a complex taste all out of measure to its brief list of ingredients.

David teases me because once when he suggested making it for friends I balked, saying it would be like serving guests toast. This dal is one of the first things I learned to make on moving to Berlin, and still seems like the generic of food - not bland, but automatic, what I make when I don't want to hesitate one second over any of the steps.

I love it because it's at once pungent and mild, filling and nutritious, and the perfect blend of spicy, sour and meaty (I can't think of another word to describe the lentils' hearty taste). It's not the quickest thing in the world, but once you've got the ingredients in the cupboard it's ready to go whenever you are. 

Red lentil dal

• 1.5 T butter + 1.5 T olive oil (it's great with 3 T ghee instead, but I rarely have any on hand, and the oil/butter mix is tasty too)
• 2 tsp black mustard seeds
• 2 small dried chilis (or one fresh green chili, split in half)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 6 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 C split red lentils
• 2 C water
• Salt
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Butter to garnish
• Corriander leaves (nice, but not a cupboard standard for me, so optional)

Heat the butter with the oil in a medium pan over medium heat. After a minute or two, depending how hot your stove is, drop in a couple of mustard seeds to check whether the butter/oil mixture is hot enough: If the seeds sputter and pop, it's the right temperature. If they don't, wait another minute or so, then try again.

Once your test seeds are sputtering away, add the rest of the mustard seeds, the chili(s) and the turmeric powder, then pick up the pan by its handle and swirl very gently. Put back on the heat for about five seconds, then add the onion. Stir thoroughly so the onion is slick and yellow, and let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until soft and translucent.

Add the garlic, stir thoroughly, and let cook for about five minutes. Then add the lentils, stir thorougly again, leave for about a minute, then add the water and a 1/2 teaspoon salt. Let cook for about 30 minutes, stirring - yes - thoroughly every ten minutes or so and making sure to scrape the bottom to avoid sticking and burning. You'll know it's done when the lentils have disintegrated into a deep yellow mush and the water is absorbed. If you'd like, when just a bit of water is left stir in a handful of chopped corriander leaves/stems.

Before serving, taste a bit to see if you need more salt. Fish out the chilis if you can find them easily, or just watch out for them while eating. The dish is delicious by itself or with some piping hot basmatic rice. To garnish, sprinkle on some freshly-squeezed lemon juice, some chopped corriander leaves, and top with a small pat of butter (or, naturally, a spoonful of ghee). We find it makes about two portions with some leftover for a small lunch.

Comments

[Katherine]

Hi S - is there a big difference between red lentils and green? I must admit I've always been biased against lentils as hippy vegetarian food - not the center of a meal for bloodthirsty me & Erik - despite liking them very well as a side, so I never learned to cook them. But now I have a bag of green lentils, and I think a smaller bag of brown lentils, that I'd like to try with your recipe. Shorter / longer cooking times? Not the right thing at all?

[Berlin Reified]

Hey K - I'll put it like this: My mother would be horrified, but I say 'go ahead'. Every dal recipe I've received from my mother (my only source) has specified which kind of dal, and every recipe is, I think, uniquely configured for that lentil's foibles. But once in a pinch I made this very recipe with yellow lentils and thought it was different, not bad, not *quite* as good, but certainly not bad. With your two, I would suggest experimenting with green lentils before brown, as they have a small size similar to the red. I haven't used green myself, I have to confess, but I know red lentils are famously fast-cooking, so I imagine you might need to add, say, ten minutes to the cooking time, maybe more - but see how you get on. And you might need a bit more water. Just add the suggested amount and if when the water's almost evaporated the lentils are still a bit too crunchy, then add water by the 1/4 C, stir thoroughly, let cook until absorbed, and taste again until just right (not mushy, not crunchy).

This dish could always complement a meaty blow-out - lamb curry, perhaps? The dal on the plate partly to soak up the delectable juices? Do let me know how it all turns out.