One of my favorite meals is dal, plain boiled rice and pickle. While growing up, Mama had different dals for each day of the week. Each dal had its own seasonings, and we children had our own favorite dal.
Dals (including the larger legumes and beans) are a staple in the Indian diet. They are easy to prepare and add protein to vegetarian fare. The dals are mostly boiled with ginger and garlic and then tempered or seasoned (called Tadka, Baghar, or Chaunk) depending on which part of India you are raised. Dals taste great spooned over rice or eaten with rotis or any other flat bread.
I remember our Peace Corps friends, back in the 60s, said they survived on dal and rice until they got used to the other spicy food. There were no fancy restaurants in the villages and small towns where they worked, and with their meager salaries, lentils were cheap, wholesome and easy to prepare.
Dals (Lentils)
Ingredients
- 1 cup lentils of choice
- 4 cups water (or 6-7 cups, depending on dal)
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger (chopped finely)
- 1 whole green Serrano chili (slit half-way)
- 1 tsp tumeric powder
- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
For Tadka / Tempering
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 medium tomato (finely chopped, optional)
- ½ onion (finely chopped)
- 1 tsp garam masala (optional)
- ½ tsp red chili powder (optional, or to your taste)
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro (finely chopped)
Instructions
- Sort and clean any grit in the dal. Rinse well. A friend, Lilani who is a fantastic gourmet chef, suggested washing and rinsing through a strainer so that any little bits of grit get washed away. But make sure you sort through the dal so you don't have any tiny stones that can crack someone's tooth!
- Ina deep saucepan or cooking pot, add the dal, chopped garlic, fresh chopped ginger, whole Serrano chili or a whole dried red chili, turmeric powder, and salt to taste.
- Add water and boil until it resembles a thick soup.
- Stir every 15 minutes. Initially, the scum(froth) will rise to the top, you can remove it with a spoon. Half cover the pot with a lid so that some steam escapes and the dal water does not overflow.
- Cooking time will vary from 45 minutes to 3 hours depending on the size and type of lentil.
- Set aside and use any of the following ways to temper the dals.
Basic Tadka / Tempering for All Lentils
- Heat oil in a small pan.
- Add onions and sauté them until half browned. About 4-6 minutes.
- Add tomatoes (if you like). Once they start to soften and curl, in about 3-4 minutes, turn off the heat and add the spice powders. Stir a minute or two and pour over the cooked dal.
- Stir the dal and let the spices cook for another 3- 5 minutes to absorb the flavors of the tadka. Turn off the heat and let the dal rest for 5 minutes.
- Pour the dal into a deep dish and garnish with chopped green Cilantro.
- Serve with cooked white rice and a vegetable or a spicy meat dish and pickle.
- The lentils are poured over the rice. If you are eating it with roti, flatbreads or bread, then pour the lentils into individual cup-sized dishes for easy dipping or the use of a spoon.
We are on our famous cross-country trip across the hot and heated summer plains of Northern India, making our way to the cool hills of Jammu and Kashmir. It has been a long ride from our night stop at Ambala in Punjab. It is only mid-morning, but the sun is bearing down strong and hard. Hot gusts of dust hit us from time to time. We plan to make a pit stop at Ludhiana, which is about 65 miles away from Ambala. The roads are rough and the going slow. It is a busy highway, with the laden public carriers (trucks with merchandise) swerving dangerously close. We call them Public Killers as there are involved in so many fatal road accidents.
I watch the halwai closely as he fixes the drinks. He takes big dollops of yogurt from the large flat earthenware pot, on which he has a block of ice to keep the yogurt cool. The ice is wrapped in a gunny sack to prevent it from melting. Those were the times when small restaurants and dhabbas did not have refrigerators. Things are different today. The yogurt is so thick you can cut through it with a knife. He puts the yogurt into a large stainless steel jug. To this he adds sugar and iced water along with the juice of a couple of lemons. After he quickly blends together the ingredients, he pours the lassi into tall glasses.
My favorite fishmonger is there, so I don’t have to haggle back and forth over price. I pick two good fish and have him clean and prep them whole for me. When I get home, my cook will wash them well and slice them into fillets.
