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.