Rachael Hall 01/12/2023 Rachael Hall 01/12/2023

Lentils and Dals

Hi. We are going to look at some the different types of lentils used in Indian style cookery, explain some of their uses and explore a couple of easy Dal recipes. Dals make amazing meals, are incredibly tasty, lots of protein and freeze brilliantly so great for batch cooking. Although Dals are often eaten as lunch or dinner, why not try them as a filling, protein rich breakfast. The recipes below are sized so that you can batch and freeze some. If you have any questions on these recipes or any of the ingredients here then you can email me on tony@rachhall.com

Lets’s start by looking at some of the tyes of lentils. In the UK, many supermarkets now have international food aisles where you can pick up bulk bags of lentils and spices at a fraction of the price of smaller bags. online sources ******* If you have an aisle like this in your area i would start with the following ingredients:

A large bag of red lentils

Bag of whole cumin seeds

Bag of ground coriander

Bag of turmeric

Bag of garam masala

Bag of chilli powder

Tins of coconut milk

Packs of pre-made chapatis (or bag of chapati flour of you fancy making your own)

With these and some fresh ingredients you can batch up tasty dal for weeks ahead and make any number of other Indian style dishes.

First off lets look at red lentils. These are a small and quick to cook lentil. They don’t need soaking first and can be cooked to completion in around 30 minutes. As a side note, small lentils like this can be made into batters too by soaking and blending, these can then be turned into pancakes and even tofu like blocks.

My favourite recipe with red lentils is a one pot all in method - tomato and coconut dal. A very comforting food. This is enough to make a family meal and put c couple of portions in the freezer

You will need:

800g red lentils
2 onions - chopped
6 cloves garlic - finely chopped
1 inch of fresh ginger - finely chopped (you don’t need to peel it)
2 tins chopped tomatoes
2 tins coconut milk
4 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ground coriander
3 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
4 tsp garam masala
small bunch fresh coriander
bag of spinach - optional

oil - olive, coconut, rapeseed

You will need a large pan, ideally with a heavy base like a cast iron pan. Heat a couple of tbsps oil then add onions and turn down to a med/high temperature and cook till softened. Add cumin seeds, turmeric, chilli powder and cook for a couple more minutes, stirring. Add garlic and ginger, cook for 2 minutes. Stir in lentils then add tomatoes and coconut milk.
Cook on low simmer (prob 30-40 mins) till lentils have lost their bite, it should be like a thick soup, so add water if necessary.
At the end I add fresh coriander, garam masala and salt to your your taste.
Spoon dal into containers, ready to cool and freeze. The portion you are eating now you can add spinach leaves in to wilt before serving.

Serve with rice or chapatis.

You can reheat from frozen, i tend to add a little water to each batch as i reheat or it thickens too much. Better too wet then too dry in my view.

Note - you will see i use whole cumin seeds in this recipe, i think their flavour is superior, but if you wish you can substitute 3 tsp ground cumin

Next - Chana

these are also known as split pea lentil, they are yellow and have no skin on with a little more bite than red lentils. These can be cooked pre-soaked or not. They take longer to cook than red lentil, so i generally prefer to cook them in a light broth and then add the punchy flavours at the end in the form of a tarka. A tarka is oil heated with spices and poured inte the cooked lentils to make tarka dal.

Tarka Dal Recipe

Channa Dal
3 tsp Turmeric
2 inch piece of fresh ginger - cut in half

Tarka
4-5 Tbsp oil - coconut, veg, olive
1 brown onion finely chopped
4 to 6 cloves garlic finely chopped (to your taste)
Chopped fresh coriander stalks
4 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp black mustard seeds (optional)
1 - 2 tsb chilli powder (to your taste)

To Finish
Chopped fresh coriander leaves

put channa dal in a lrge pan wih xxxx litres water, add turmeric and ginger and bring to a boil. Skim off any foam and cover pan/ reduce heat to a low simmer. Typically the dall will cook in 1 hour xxxxx. If it’s too ‘bitey’ then don’t worry about continuing to cook it till done. You can add more water as necessary - it should be fairly soupy when done. I generally find that it’s done when the whle dish start to amalgamate as opposed to being water with lentils in. The magic happens with the tarka, add oil to a hot pan, add the onions and stir till just browning. Add all the spices and stir for 1-2 minutes. Add the garlic and coriander stalks. don’t let the garlic brown, just get it all to a nice sizzle and pour the whole lot into the dal and stir. Add salt to taste, don’t be shy here, it brings out all the other flavours. Add chopped coiander to the plate. Can be served with Naan bread, chapatis, rice etc. Goes great with a side dish such as mushroom masala.

Rachael Hall 27/11/2023 Rachael Hall 27/11/2023

Essential Indian Spices

Tony Wright

I love spices, especially Indian spices. I use them all the time in all sorts of meals, including breakfast/ brunch. I don’t use them to add heat to a dish (though there will be a warmth) but to add a complex layering of flavours. These days i think many of us find the Indian spice palate familiar but don’t necessarily know how to use it at home. So much Indian food is very healthy, being predominantly plant based and incredibly diverse and if you like the flavours it is well worth cooking from scratch at home. In this blog i will let you know the five essential spices you need to create many Indian style dishes and some other optional spices for later on.

There are definitely some spices that crossover to other types of cuisine, for example cumin can be used in mexican and middle eastern cooking, we will cover off those cusines in the future.

There is a theme in many indian dishes where aromatic spices are cooked dry or in oil at the begininng before adding other ingredient and sauces, Then a layering effect happens when you add light spice blends such as garam masala , seasoning, fresh coriander, maybe sugar at the end of a dish. Once you get used to using these spices you can start to use this early release effect in other dishes, for example i often will pan fry tofu pieces for brunch and early on add cumin seed, turmeric and a little chilli powder.

Where to buy - if you are lucky you will have an asian supermarket nearby or many supermarkets now have an aisle dedicated to foods from around the world. In the UK my local Tesco has bulk bags of lentils, chapati flour, rice and spices. They work out so much cheaper than buying the little 30g pots of spices you normally find. Alternatively in the UK there are lots of sites online, I last used natcofoods.com, not only are they very good value, they also stock all the lentils and other dried ingredients I like to buy. I also recently used buywholefoodsonline.co.uk who stock organic spices in 125g bags. Sorry if this is a bit UK centric but i’m sure you will find a delivery service wherever you are, ideally look for an Indian or Asian specialist.

You only need a handful of spices to create many Indian dishes, they are listed below with my recommended quantities to buy (as long as you buy them in the cheaper bags) -

**Cumin seeds 100g** - i almost always use the whole seed, so aromatic. Generally dry roasted or in oil at the beginning of a dish to release their flavors. If you really think you won’t get on with the whole seeds, you can use cumin powder. However I think the seed tastes so much better and texturally is not noticeable to me in a dish.

**Turmeric powder 100g** - an earthy flavoured ground spice. Can be used at the beginning of a dish, but also added later in sauces or liquids. Not only for taste but known for it’s anti inflamatory properties. We sometimes add to green smoothies.

**Chilli powder 30-50g** - buy a pure chilli powder (not a blend). Always taste a tiny amount so you have some idea of how hot your dish might be. You can always add, but hard to take away. So maybe add 1/2 to 1 tsp at the beginning and add more later if you want more warmth. I’m a big fan of not too much heat, enough to add flavour.

Ground coriander 100g - ground from whole seeds, lovely flavour and generally i add at the beginning of most dishes.

Garam masala 100g - is a blend of aromatic spices. I like to think of them as a seasoning and add them at the end of many dishes along with salt and sometimes citrus/ fresh coriander to finish the flavouring.

As you will already have salt and black pepper, the essential Indian spice list is just 5 spices.

In our upcoming blogs we are going to take a look at Lentils and dal dishes made with this basic spice kit.

In the meantime here is a simplified bombay potato recipe:

Roast some small cubes of potato till golden - a great way to use up leftover potatoes
In a pan add some oil (coconut, rapeseed, olive), 2 tsp cumin seed, 2 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/2 to 1 tsp chilli powder, If you have time throw in a couple of cloves of chopped garlic. Let it all sizzle for a minute then throw in the roasted potatoes, toss and cook for a few minutes, stir regularly, season with salt and if you have it add some chopped fresh coriander……and that’s it. A great side dish or lunch with some salad.

Once you have the basic spices, you can settle with them and explore the possibilities or add a few extra items below if you want to expand your repertoire or just add another dimension.

Mustard seeds 100g (first extra spice I would buy) - black if possible, these crackle and release their flavour when fried in oil

Cinnamon - always whole pieces of the bark, not powdered. Imparts much more flavour and can be removed before serving.

Cardamom 50g- i use this in both powered and whole form, it’s a very fragrant flavour, some people don’t like the husks from the whole pos in their food, so either use powder or bash the seeds out on the chopping board.

Curry leaves 50g or bunch fresh- adds another layer of flavour to sauce based dishes and dals. Again used whole, can be removed or left in at the end. Mostly bought dried but if you find fresh, then buy and freeze. You’ll notice the picture shows sri lankan curry leaves - i prefer them, they are smaller and have more taste, but any curry leaves will be fine.

Chaat masala 100g - to add a sweet/ sour note at the end of cooking. Much of the flavour comes from Amchur (powdered green mango) which can also be used separately. It’s really worth trying insted of garam masala sometime, you will be surprised at how good it is.

That’s it for now. Any questions please email them to me at tony@rachhall.com

Namaste.

Rachael Hall 28/05/2019 Rachael Hall 28/05/2019

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It all begins with an idea.

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Rachael Hall 28/05/2019 Rachael Hall 28/05/2019

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It all begins with an idea.

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