Lentils, or daal, in Bangladeshi family dinners (okay, just the ones I am familiar with) is a step-child. It’s there for every meal, but it’s not really the highlight of the meal. It also has a bit of a stigma for being “poor people’s food”. Last time I heard from my mom, lentils are really not cheap any more, however, definitely cheaper than animal protein.
I love lentils. I love anything bean-y really. I used to be not much of a veggies fan, but lentils were a different story. Sometimes, I would even get looks from people not familiar with my “strange” food choices, when I would say, “Oh I am good with just lentils with rice.” Probably I am not “classy” enough, or am I?
I saw the following recipe on Aarti Party on Food Network. It is not really my mom’s everyday daal, but it is my mom’s fancy daal. My mom would make it on a special occasion or when tomatoes were in season. She would actually make a kind where you replace the tomatoes with tart green/raw mango. I will have to try that one of these days; as soon as I can find some real green mangos.
This is a two-part recipe – boiling the lentils and mixing flavored oil with the boiled lentils. Anthony asked me a good question. Why do the oil separately? Why not do the oil part first and then add the lentils and cook them together? My notion is that because of the cooking time, you tend to lose some of the flavor of the tempered oil. I have had lentils done both ways, and trust me doing the oil separately is totally worth it!
Ingredients
The star of the show
1 cup organic red lentils (available in bulk section of large grocery stores or in Indian grocery stores)
4 cups water
½ onion, diced
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
½ cup tomatoes, finely diced
1 green chili, split
The oomph
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon black mustard seeds (mom always used black, I didn’t find any at the grocery store, I got the yellow kind, which turned black in the oil anyway)
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Soak the rinsed lentils in water for about 15-30 minutes.
In a medium saucepan, combine all the ingredients under lentils and bring it to a boil over high-ish heat. It might help to skim off the foam from the surface. Be careful not to skim off the onions or tomatoes. Aarti says not to add salt yet. It would take longer to cook. Who am I to argue with her logic? Turn the stove to low, cover the pot and go do your own thing for about an hour. Don’t totally forget about your food on the stove though. Check on it once in a while. No need to stir.
After done cooking, at which point the lentils are falling apart, my mom uses a wooden utensil, resembling a pestle but with a flat end for muddling. This process makes the lentils creamy and delicious. I don’t have the tools, so I used the back of a big spoon. I also listened to Aarti and used a whisk which apparently releases the starch from the lentils. Whatever makes my lentils thick and smooth! The consistency should be similar to that of bean dip. Add water or evaporate some off if needed. Some like their lentils more watery. I don’t. When you put a scoop of my ideal lentils on rice, there shouldn’t be water oozing out from the bottom of the mound of rice.
In a small frying pan, warm the oil. Once sufficiently hot add the cumin and mustard and cover. After they are done with their spluttering, add the turmeric and cover again. After about 30 seconds, err toward less and not more, pour this oil mixture into the lentils. Be careful not to splatter any on yourself. The oil is also likely to be a little feisty once it hits the lentils. Watch out!
Mix the oil and the lentils in the pot. You should be getting an enchanting (yes it is!) aroma now. Add salt and now taste. Incredible, isn’t it?
I love lentils. I love anything bean-y really. I used to be not much of a veggies fan, but lentils were a different story. Sometimes, I would even get looks from people not familiar with my “strange” food choices, when I would say, “Oh I am good with just lentils with rice.” Probably I am not “classy” enough, or am I?
I saw the following recipe on Aarti Party on Food Network. It is not really my mom’s everyday daal, but it is my mom’s fancy daal. My mom would make it on a special occasion or when tomatoes were in season. She would actually make a kind where you replace the tomatoes with tart green/raw mango. I will have to try that one of these days; as soon as I can find some real green mangos.
This is a two-part recipe – boiling the lentils and mixing flavored oil with the boiled lentils. Anthony asked me a good question. Why do the oil separately? Why not do the oil part first and then add the lentils and cook them together? My notion is that because of the cooking time, you tend to lose some of the flavor of the tempered oil. I have had lentils done both ways, and trust me doing the oil separately is totally worth it!
Ingredients
The star of the show
1 cup organic red lentils (available in bulk section of large grocery stores or in Indian grocery stores)
4 cups water
½ onion, diced
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
½ cup tomatoes, finely diced
1 green chili, split
The oomph
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon black mustard seeds (mom always used black, I didn’t find any at the grocery store, I got the yellow kind, which turned black in the oil anyway)
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Soak the rinsed lentils in water for about 15-30 minutes.
In a medium saucepan, combine all the ingredients under lentils and bring it to a boil over high-ish heat. It might help to skim off the foam from the surface. Be careful not to skim off the onions or tomatoes. Aarti says not to add salt yet. It would take longer to cook. Who am I to argue with her logic? Turn the stove to low, cover the pot and go do your own thing for about an hour. Don’t totally forget about your food on the stove though. Check on it once in a while. No need to stir.
After done cooking, at which point the lentils are falling apart, my mom uses a wooden utensil, resembling a pestle but with a flat end for muddling. This process makes the lentils creamy and delicious. I don’t have the tools, so I used the back of a big spoon. I also listened to Aarti and used a whisk which apparently releases the starch from the lentils. Whatever makes my lentils thick and smooth! The consistency should be similar to that of bean dip. Add water or evaporate some off if needed. Some like their lentils more watery. I don’t. When you put a scoop of my ideal lentils on rice, there shouldn’t be water oozing out from the bottom of the mound of rice.
In a small frying pan, warm the oil. Once sufficiently hot add the cumin and mustard and cover. After they are done with their spluttering, add the turmeric and cover again. After about 30 seconds, err toward less and not more, pour this oil mixture into the lentils. Be careful not to splatter any on yourself. The oil is also likely to be a little feisty once it hits the lentils. Watch out!
Mix the oil and the lentils in the pot. You should be getting an enchanting (yes it is!) aroma now. Add salt and now taste. Incredible, isn’t it?
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