Dinner Tonight: Tadka Dal
My infatuation with vegetarian Indian cuisine continues. Tadka dal combines masoor dal (red or pink hulled lentils) with a hell of a lot of onions and spices. It doesn't quite sound like enough to make a satisfying meal, but the result is a creamy, slightly spicy stew that is astonishingly good and hard to keep from downing in just one sitting.
I found this recipe in Saveur, and my only worry was finding the right kind of lentils. I finally tracked them down in the bulk section of Whole Foods. My only previous experience with lentils has been with the green variety, which can make a mean soup when paired with pork. But I've never explored their use in Indian cuisine. It's the star of this dish, and it breaks down after 20 minutes into a fragrant, luscious puree.
The only animal product to come close to this guy is butter—lots of it. Like a whole stick. Of course, you'll need to turn that into ghee, and here is a great recipe for doing so. It does take a little time, but it is relatively painless. I've also seen ghee sold in enormous plastic bottles at a local grocery store if you can't be bothered, but I don't really see the point. You could also safely just use butter, but it certainly won't taste as gloriously nutty and fragrant.
About the author: Nick Kindelsperger is a freelance writer in Chicago. He is the co-founder of The Paupered Chef and spends most of his time playing with the new cooking gadgets he got from his wedding.
Tadka Dal
- serves 4 -
Ingredients
1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled, sliced
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup ghee
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 1/2 cups masoor dal (hulled red lentils)
Salt
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 Thai green chilies, stemmed and sliced
Procedure
1. Add the ginger, garlic, and 1/4 cup of water to a blender and process until smooth.
2. Pour half of the ghee into a large pot set over medium-high heat. Dump in the onions and cook, stirring often, until they are well browned, about 20 minutes.
3. Pour in the garlic and ginger puree along with the cayenne, coriander, ground cumin, and turmeric. Cook until the water has nearly evaporated, about 5 minutes.
4. Pour in 4 cups of water along with the lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the rest of the ghee to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Toss in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and chilies. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes. Ladle some of the lentils into a bowl and pour some of the ghee and chili mixture on top.
View other entries from Dinner Tonight.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
11 Comments:
I love red-lentil dal. But I don't understand the rationale of puréeing the garlic, ginger, and spices with water. I'd think there's a risk of dangerous spattering if the ghee is too hot when you pour it in, and do you really properly bring out the flavor of the spices if there's water in the mix? Just curious.
emilydev at 4:42PM on 04/08/09
emilydev: The water is just used to help puree the mixture. I didn't have any problem with it splattering for me, as there are loads of onions in there already. Also, you cook the mixture until the water is evaporated. Believe me, it's plenty flavorful!
Nick Kindelsperger at 4:46PM on 04/08/09
Nick -- which Whole Foods? I only recall ever having seen the split red lentils at the Lakeview location; I want to be sure I get the correct ones as well.
anysuchname at 4:48PM on 04/08/09
anysuchname: The one just north of North Ave. So I guess that's Lakeview. It was just to the side of the bulk bin, already in little plastic containers. I see they are getting ready to build a new one just a block away. They need it. This one is kind of a tangled mess.
Nick Kindelsperger at 4:53PM on 04/08/09
The one by the American Eagle/Best Buy/Patagonia/etc. at Sheffield is technically still Lincoln Park I think. Lakeview = the one on Ashland north of Belmont. ;)
Thanks much for nailing down the locale though, I will look there!
anysuchname at 4:59PM on 04/08/09
Great post! We have a different type of daal almost every week since it's a great source of protein and so easy to make. Just wanted to point out that we never use ghee or butter at home but instead just a splash of cooking oil. I think that the few simple spices and daals themselves still come across as nutty and decadent. Here's a favorite of mine, methi daal that I made using a recipe from Mahanandi.
nithya at hungrydesi at 6:43PM on 04/08/09
That's a lot of ghee for the dal. You could get the same taste by sauteeing the onions in a little bit (maybe couple of tsps of vegetable oil) and just reserving a tsp of ghee for the "tadka" (the part where you add in the mustard and cumin seeds in the end). That way you get the taste of ghee without all the fat.
Looks Lovely though...
arundathi at 5:15AM on 04/09/09
As a fellow vegetarian Indian cuisine infatuee, I can't wait to try this with arundathi's modifications! Thanks for helping me to get my delicious Indian food fix with minimal effort.
verak at 10:11PM on 04/09/09
Look for an Indian food store (or spice store), and you'll be able to find all the dal you need. My tip though is not to buy the spices there unless you can't find a nicer packaged version elsewhere, I used to buy cumin from my local indian spice store, but when the local SAM's Club started selling it, the difference in quality was fairly large. It made the Indian cumin seem stale in comparison . . . at least when buying in bulk.
Your mileage may vary- I think this says more about my local Indian spice store than anything ;P
comicsan at 4:19AM on 04/11/09
arundathi expressed my concern and i appreciate the alternative suggestion. That is a lot of buter/ghee though if it truly serves 4, then the breakdown isn't too bad (1/2 cup divided by 4 comes out to roughly 2 TBS of butter per person. still, i would not mind the alternative as long as the flavors are affected and i wouldn't expect them to be.
Fluffnik at 4:10PM on 04/13/09
Anyone in Chicago can find all the Indian ingredients they could possibly want at the many Indian groceries on Devon, between (roughly) Western and Kedzie. They're all considerably cheaper than that Whole Foods! I agree with the comments regarding the amount of fat in the recipe--just a little peanut oil or ghee, and the rest of the flavors will come through much better.
JoeChicago at 4:20PM on 04/16/09