I have been a home cook since my teens, and had a thorough introduction to Indian cuisine through my father. He was a branch bank manager in Cambridge, and had been selected – by chance I imagine – by the prospective owners of the first Indian restaurant in the city. He was happy to help them start the business, and thereafter every new Indian restaurant that opened brought their business to him. He brought his business to them too, and we regularly visited each of them and enjoyed their hospitality and papadums!
My first, and late, wife’s family were originally from Hyderabad, India but moved to London in the early sixties, where my wife was brought up. The family were sceptical about the Englishman that their daughter brought home to meet them, but my mother-in-law was a marvellous cook, and I knew the best way to ingratiate myself would be to take an interest in the kitchen goings-on.
Over the following years, I learnt quite a few recipes from my mother-in-law, but this was the first, and is certainly the most delicious. It’s a basic dal made with red lentils, tomatoes and most importantly, curry leaves. Don’t even attempt to cook this dish unless you have these, preferably fresh ones. I’ve cooked this regularly as my children have grown up, and it’s one of our comfort foods. It can be eaten over rice, or mopped up with a chapati or paratha. It can be the main event, or a side dish. This recipe makes enough to feed three or four people as a main, or more as a side…
Ingredients:
For the dal:
1 cup red lentils, thoroughly rinsed.
3 cups water
1/2 a clove (or a small whole clove) of garlic, sliced
3-4 curry leaves
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
some chopped tomatoes (1 or 2 medium sized ones, half a dozen cherry or baby, or half a can of drained chopped plum tomatoes)
For the tadka:
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
3 or 4 dried small chills (or some chilli flakes will do)
6 -7 curry leaves
Method
put the lentils and the water in a saucepan, along with half a garlic clove, sliced, 3 or 4 curry leaves, the turmeric and the tomatoes. Bring it to the boil over a moderate heat,
and when it comes to the boil, skim off the foam that may form and reduce to a simmer.
Simmer for around 15 to 20 minutes until the lentils have cooked and broken up. The resulting Dal should be soupy, with the lentils settled at the bottom and a layer of liquid at the top. Add some more water if this isn’t the case.Now give it a quick stick blend. 5 seconds or so should do. You want to break up the remaining shape of the lentils, but there should still be some texture to the dal.
Now make the tadka. This is some oil with spices fried in it, which we’re going to add to the dal to give it the finished flavour. Here’s the ingredients I’ve assembled, and the dish I cook it in. It’s a small karahi, about 6 inches across, but any small frying pan or saucepan will do.
Heat up the oil, and then drop in the mustard and cumin seeds. They should fizz away if and when the oil’s hot enough. Once they’re fizzing, add the garlic, curry leaves and garlic slices. fry for a minute or maybe less, until the garlic slices are just browning at the edges.
When its like this, take it off the heat, and then CAREFULLY pour the oil and spices into the dal, which should also be off the heat. It will spit and fizz when you do, so keep your face away when you do this.
After, put the dal back on a gentle heat and stir in the tadka. Heat through and taste, now adding salt to your liking. about 1/4 teaspoon of table salt would do it for me, but try it and adjust it to how you like. As you cook it now, be careful to stir often, as the lentils will settle and may stick to the pan otherwise.
It should look like this at the end. As I said before, this dal can be poured over rice, or mopped up with a chapati or paratha. Either way, it’s delicious!
as any fule kno 