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Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Sweet and sour red lentils

 
It has been raining since Monday.  Now it's Thursday, and it's wetter than ever.  It felt like weather for comfort food.  I decided that = dal.  I was looking for a red lentil dal, with the thought at the back of my mind that I'd like to use some of the fenugreek I bought the other day.  I came across this recipe by Madhur Jaffrey on the BBC, and it caught my eye - it includes a few of my current favourite things (tamarind, fenugreek, nigella, fennel seed...).

250g/9oz/1¼ cups red lentils
¼tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp mustard or any other vegetable oil (used regular veg oil)
½ tsp brown mustard seeds
½ tsp panch phoran (= mixture of fennel seed, nigella, cumin seed, fenugreek and celery seed or black mustard seed - I didn't have celery seed so used a mixture of the first four)
4 hot dried red chillies (used 2 as thought they might be super hot)
1 bay leaf
1¼-1½ tsp salt
2 tbsp thick tamarind paste or to taste
1 tbsp sugar or to taste

Wash the lentils in several changes of water until the water runs clear. Put them in a medium-sized pan with the turmeric and mix. Cover with 1l/1¾pt/4½ cups water. Bring the lentils to the boil over a medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover partially and simmer for 40 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Stir now and then during the last 10 minutes. When the lentils are cooked, mash with a spoon to a pulp-like consistency.

Heat the oil in a large, wide, preferably non-stick pan or wok over a medium-high heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds. As soon as they pop, a matter of seconds, add the panch phoran, chillies and a bay leaf. Stir and fry for 5-6 seconds or until the chillies darken in colour. Add the cooked lentils, 150ml/5fl oz water and the salt. Stir to mix. Add the tamarind paste, a little at a time to get the sourness you desire. Add just enough sugar to balance the sourness. Bring to the boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 8-10 minutes. The finished dal should have the consistency of a thick purée.


This is sooo good.  The red lentils become this thick, lumpy, earthy paste, and the sweet and sour and spicy flavours mingle into that and just make it all incredible.  Didn't really mash / puree it that hard - quite liked it with still-discernible lentils in it, and red lentils turn to mush with little encouragement anyway.  Could have been more brave with the chilis.  Love how much tamarind it has in it.
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