Red Lentil Dhal
Submitted by Isa
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| prep time: 15 minutes | cooking time: 50 minutes | makes 6-8 servings |
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| Toasting and grinding your seeds is so worth the effort, and doesn't take long at all. Serve this dhal as a main dish with rice or as a side dish. It is aromtaic, rich and delicious. |
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Equipment:
Coffe grinder or spice millor mortar and pestle, saute pan, large, soup pot
Ingredients
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 medium yellow onion
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried red lentils
2 tablespoon tomato paste
4-5 cups water or veg broth
5 plum tomatoes, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1 cup lightly packed chopped fresh cilantro
Spice blend
2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
6 whole cloves
4 cardomom pods
2 dried red chilis (seeds removed)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
In a saute pan over medium heat, toast the seeds (but not the dried red chili) for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from pan and let cool. Transfer to coffee grinder, aling with the dried red chili and cinnamon, and grind to a fine powder.
Over medium-high heat oil a soup pot, add onions and saute for 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and saute 5 more minutes. Add spices and salt, saute 5 minutes more.
Add 4 cups of water and stir to deglaze the pot. Add tomato paste and lentils. Bring to a boil then lower the heat a bit and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, lime juice and cilantro and more water if it looks to thick. Simmer 10 more minutes, or until lentils are completely tender. |
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Reviews (add your own)
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| Sarah wrote on Sunday May 23rd, 2004 01:04 PM |
 four soybeans |
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This was amazing!!! It was so flavorful.
I had trouble finding some of the spices, but I found them in the bulk spices section at our grocery store. Quite handy, because I could just buy the right amount for the recipe. I didn't even know such a thing existed.
The recipe itself was wonderful. I had pita with it.
Yum. Now I want to make it now.... |
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| Andr wrote on Thursday July 01st, 2004 04:31 PM |
four soybeans |
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When I toasted the spices, it enveloped the kitchen with all sorts of wonderfull smells; it almost smelled like incence burning. It was wonderful. It was my first time using most of the spices and I'm glad I discovered them! I will keep this recipe always. |
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| Blake wrote on Tuesday August 24th, 2004 09:15 PM |
four soybeans |
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Four soybeans just doesnt seem like enough... I've seen some crummy dhal recipes in my time, this one is the absolute antithesis. I chucked a few veggies in mine like zucchini and carrot and green beans etc but the recipe by itself is excellent. The smell of the spices toasting... it's making my mouth water right now!
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| julie wrote on Monday August 30th, 2004 10:12 PM |
four soybeans |
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i made this tonight and it was absolutely fabulous! i also made homemade naan and a side dish of gobi aloo (cauliflower and potato). i finished the meal off with a nice mango chutney. it was oh so delicious!! and i'm happy for the large amount because i'm gonna love the leftovers! :) |
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| psycho wrote on Friday March 25th, 2005 11:20 PM |
 three and a half soybeans |
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I'm pretty much of the school that every veggie/vegan needs a decent dhal recipe. Lentils are such a great source of protein. And good dhal is divine!!!!
I was lucky. There are so many bad dhal recipes out there. I found a really good one with Channa Dhal some six years back at the start of my veggie "career". It was one of my first succesess when I first started to cook for myself and others. And honest to god if I couldn't balls it up with the skills base I had then - then ANYONE can turn a decent, simple Dhal recipe into kick ass cuisine. There are also many bad recipes out there too, though. Hell I've lived in inner city student digs and I've found bad takeaways serving watery dhals, drowned in butterghee (I ordered vegan) and nuked with Chilli at the expense of all other tastes......and they're supposed to be professional!!!!!!
But forget bad dhal, lets talk about good dhal. Lets talk about THIS dhal. Well, it isn't the best dhal I've ever had (but I'm biased!!!!) but its a damn close number 2. Firstly the spice blend (cinammony, clove-y and cardommony- and also dry roasted so it looks like coffee grounds in color and texture) is different and absolutely not interchangeable with your average indian spice blend (its basicly a Sri Lankan curry powder). Its aromatic, has a rich taste and gives a deep beautiful dark brown color to the dish which puts it way above your avegerage dhal dish. Honest to god it looks so professional >. The texture is perfect. It is actually quite meaty - but in a good way. The lime makes a big difference without being overpowering.
I have to confess I upped the chilli level (I used 4 fresh red ones). I think fresh chillis, even at a lower level actually make it appear visually even more amazing. Also I used fennel seeds as part of the dry roast seed blend and I added a tiny amount of asfoetida >.
The look and texture is SO impressive. I've never seen a dhal look better to be honest. I've encountered the odd one that tastes maybe a little better......but if you've never had dhal before this is a great place to start and if you're already a fan then you will totally buzz off this!!!!! |
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| Josh wrote on Friday June 10th, 2005 04:50 PM |
four soybeans |
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Right after grinding the spices, I knew that this dahl would be exceptional. I knew that with a spice mixture like this, there was no way it wouldn't be good. but it was more than good. when it came all together in the end, it was amazing! I friggin love this recipe and will cook it reguarly. Lentils alone are good and I couldn't think of a better way to eat them than this. I hope that Vegan with a Vengence has more recipes like this! |
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| Diane wrote on Tuesday October 25th, 2005 11:31 AM |
four soybeans |
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I'm a omnivore, but hope you don't mind me posting a review! I do love eating meatless and do it as often as I can and using red lentils makes for a quick, nutritious meal! My MIL grew up in India during British Rule and has gotten away from most traditional Indian meals that she had growing up with the exception of her beef/chicken/egg curries and dhal. Her dhal recipe is very tasty but this one blows hers away due to the complexity of the spices used! It's great over pressed, diced tofu, btw! |
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| Amanda wrote on Friday November 11th, 2005 07:36 PM |
four soybeans |
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This... is so good. I'd give it 40 soybeans if I could. Seriously, stop reading this and go make yourself some red lentil dhal RIGHT NOW. |
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| Jen wrote on Monday February 13th, 2006 10:25 AM |
four soybeans |
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I was snowed in yesterday and made this - YUM! It warmed up the kitchen + smelled soooo good. The spice mixture is wicked. I substituted a 14-oz can of chopped tomatoes instead of fresh (I added it when the water went in), and had to use parsley instead of cilantro, but it was still kick-ass! |
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| LostCove wrote on Monday February 20th, 2006 07:39 PM |
three and a half soybeans |
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The only dhals I've had previously are coconut based. This was a really nice change. :) Turned out beautifully. |
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