Ammas Delicious Daal Food

DAL (INDIAN LENTIL CURRY)

Steps:

• Soak Lentils: Rinse lentils and leave to soak in plenty of water for 1 hour. Drain in colander.
• Heat ghee/oil in a heavy based saucepan over high heat. Add green chillies and fry for a minute until starting to blister.
• Add onions and fry until softened.
• Lower heat to medium, add garlic, ginger and curry leaves. Cook for 1 minute until garlic starts to turn golden and smells amazing.
• Add tomatoes and cumin, cook until tomatoes start to break down and thicken to a paste - about 2 minutes.
• Add lentils, water, tumeric and salt. Stir, bring to simmer, cover and simmer gently for 1 hour. Stir two or three times during the hour.
• Remove lid and simmer gently for 30 minutes to thicken, stirring every now and then. The dal is ready when it has a consistency like porridge - some lentils should be intact but some have broken down to thicken the sauce.
• Stir through garam masala at the end. Adjust salt if desired.
• Pour over Tadka, if using, and stir through.
• Serve Dal over rice, garnished with a sprig of coriander if desired.

DAL RECIPE (INDIAN RED LENTIL CURRY)

Steps:

• Rinse the lentils well until the water is clear and drain in colander. Tip: If using other yellow lentils instead of red lentils, then soaking in water for about an hour will help.
• In a medium cooking pot take the drained red lentils, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, sliced garlic, turmeric, water and bring it to a boil.
• Lower the heat and cook it for about 30 minutes. Add salt to taste and continue to cook until most lentils start breaking down, become a bit mushy and turn into a thick sauce like consistency.
• Cook the dal until it reaches a consistency that is thinner than what is desired, because it will thicken further after cooking.

AMMA'S DELICIOUS DAAL

Steps:

• Put lentils, onion, cinnamon and bay leaf in pot with enough water to cover.
• Bring to the boil, turn heat low and leave until the lentils have soaked up all the water.
• Add salt, turmeric and coriander, and mash with a wooden spoon or with a potato masher.
• Add water depending on the consistency you want, stir and bring to the boil. Allow to cook for 3 minutes and then remove from heat.
• Using a small frying pan, heat the oil until very hot add the chillies and the garlic.
• Remove the chillies once they have darkened and add them to the daal.
• Take the pan off the heat once the garlic turns brown, pour the oil and the garlic into the daal.
• Add the fresh coriander, stir and cover.
• Serve as a soup, or part of a main course with rice/ roti/ naan bread.