Red Lentil Dhal
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Method
- 1
Rinse the lentils in a sieve until the water runs clear. Skip this and you get a grey scum on top and a slightly gritty dhal.
- 2
Oil into a pot on a medium heat, then the onion with a good pinch of salt. Eight minutes, stirring now and then, until it is soft and going see-through. This is the bit people rush and it is where all the sweetness comes from.
- 3
Garlic and ginger in for one minute, no longer. Burnt garlic tastes bitter and you will taste it in every mouthful.
- 4
Cumin, turmeric and curry powder straight into the oil and stir hard for thirty seconds. Frying the spice instead of boiling it is the whole difference between this and a bowl of yellow water.
- 5
Lentils in, then the tomatoes, then 600ml of water. Stir it and bring it up to a simmer.
- 6
Lid on but pushed slightly to one side, then twenty minutes on a low simmer. Stir every five minutes so the lentils do not catch on the bottom.
- 7
Rice on while that happens. 160g, 320ml water, lid on, lowest heat, twelve minutes, then off the heat and leave it alone.
- 8
The dhal is ready when the lentils have collapsed and it coats the back of a spoon. Too thick, add a splash of water. Too thin, lid off for five more minutes.
- 9
Salt it properly at the end and taste it. Under-salted dhal tastes like nothing and people blame the recipe.