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[which_chick]

Recipe review. Tart Red Lentils with Tomatoes, Lime Juice, and Scallions. p. 399 on 660 Curries by some dude named Raghavan Iyer. I think I'm going to like this book, fiddly recipes or not.



Mostly, I did follow the directions. I used moong dal (little and yellow, these are skinned, halved mung beans) instead of masoor dal (little and salmon-colored, these are skinned brown lentils). This was a substitution that the book suggested, so yay. Also, I adore moong dal and am merely lukewarm about masoor dal.

I didn't include scallions because I figured two kinds of onion was enough for me. Not a huge fan of scallions anyway. I used slightly less salt and slightly more turmeric (I really like turmeric) than the recipe suggested. Also, I used two canned whole tomatoes instead of one medium real one. Other than that, I followed the directions. Oh, and I added about a cup of water at the end where it said to add two. I don't like my dal very runny and I figured that two cups would send the thing over the runny event horizon to where I wouldn't eat it.

This recipe was not tasty at all until the very end, whereupon it got pretty damn tasty in a hurry. Neat trick, that. Seriously, the legume part is cooked in straight water. No excitement there. The other part is spices, garlic, ginger, and onions being cooked until brown before adding the tomato and some water. There's nothing to taste there until the water gets added and it's very raw tasting, not yummy at all. At the end, you dump the spice stuff into the dal and then add lime juice and cilantro, whereupon it tastes like food, instantly. It tastes like shit until all the pieces are added together, and for a bit after that (maybe three to five minutes) while the flavors come together and then voila, it is yummylicious.

Eat this one again? Hell yeah.

1 cup masoor dal or moong dal
2 small onions (one chopped, one sliced in half top to bottom and then thinly sliced)
2 slices ginger, 2"x1"x1/8"
2 large cloves garlic
2 Tbsp. fat (I used lard, book suggests canola)
2 teasp. Panch phoron (see p. 36 -- it is a blend of cumin, fenugreek, fennel, nigella, and black mustard seeds)
2-4 fresh green Thai, cayenne, or serrano chilis. (I used "Cayenne type" which was what the gocery had. My grocery sucks.)
3 scallions, in 1/4" rounds (I omitted these.)
1 1/2 teasp. sea salt (I used less and just plain store brand cheapie salt)
1/2 teasp. ground turmeric (I used about 3/4 teaspoon.)
1 medium tomato, cored and cut into 1/2" dice (I used two canned whole tomatoes instead.)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
juice of one lime

Rinse dal, put in large saucepan with 3 cups water. bring to boil, reduce heat, cook with some stirring until lentils are done (about 15 minutes).

Make a mince of chopped onion (reserve sliced one for later), garlic, ginger. Use food processor or blender if you want.

Put oil in skillet. Medium heat. Add Panch phoron for 15 sec, until fragrant/nutty and sizzling and stuff. Add onion mince blend AND sliced onion pieces and scallions (if using). Cook until you have some browning going on, there, probably ten minutes or more. (I cook with white onions, which take a long time to make browning. If you can tolerate yellow onions, you will get browning faster.)

Add salt, turmeric, tomato, and (it says) 2 cups water. I added about 3/4 cup of water, myself. Cook until it looks like a sauce sort of thing, maybe ten or fifteen minutes.

Stir sauce into lentils. Simmer for about ten minutes (with stirring) until flavors come together.

Stir in cilantro and lime just before serving.

I had two bowls. I'll see if it reheats tomorrow. :)

Comments

[which-chick.livejournal.com]

This is not as good the second day. It's edible, but the bright/fresh from the cilantro and lime has totally faded. I'll bear that in mind -- the Tasty Dal that I make is better on the second and third days than it is on the day it's made, so it has an edge over this thing. However, this thing is interesting and tasty even if it's a dish that fades slightly after it's assembled.