Daal Indian Spiced Lentils Food

DAL MAKHANI (INDIAN LENTILS)

Steps:

• Place lentils and kidney beans in a large bowl; cover with plenty of water. Soak for at least 2 hours or overnight. Drain.
• Cook lentils, kidney beans, 5 cups water, and salt in a pot over medium heat until tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Remove from heat and set aside. Keep the lentils, kidney beans, and any excess cooking water in the pot.
• Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook cumin seeds in the hot oil until they begin to pop, 1 to 2 minutes. Add cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and cloves; cook until bay leaves turn brown, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low; add ginger paste, garlic paste, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Stir to coat.
• Stir tomato puree into spice mixture; cook over medium heat until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Add chili powder, coriander, and butter; cook and stir until butter is melted.
• Stir lentils, kidney beans and any leftover cooking water into tomato mixture; bring to a boil, reduce heat to low. Stir fenugreek into lentil mixture. Cover saucepan and simmer until heated through, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes. Add cream and cook until heated through, 2 to 4 minutes.

MASOOR DAL (SPICED RED LENTILS)

Steps:

• In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, heat oil, and sauté onion until softened. Add sweet potato, and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add minced ginger and garlic; stir, and reduce heat to low.
• Finely dice chili, keeping seeds if you wish to add more heat. Add chili, lentils, coriander, cumin, turmeric and ground ginger to pan. Stir until lentils are well coated with oil. Add tomatoes and 4 cups water. Raise heat to bring to a boil, then reduce heat until mixture is at a fast simmer. Cook uncovered until lentils and potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes.
• Season to taste with salt, and continue to simmer until mixture has thickened, about 10 minutes. Whisk dal to amalgamate lentils and sweet potatoes. If dal is too soupy, increase heat and cook for a little longer.
• To serve, place dal in a serving bowl and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. If desired, shave thin strips of fresh coconut on top. Serve hot.

SPICY INDIAN DAHL

Steps:

• Cook the lentils by boiling or pressure cooking until lentils are soft. (Pressure cooking is faster.)
• In a skillet heat the oil and add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds begin to flutter, add onions, ginger, jalapeno peppers, and garlic. Saute until the onions and garlic are golden brown. Add coriander and cumin. Add chopped tomatoes. Saute the mixture well until tomatoes are well cooked.
• Add water. Boil 6 minutes. Add cooked lentils, stirring well. Add salt to taste, stirring well. Add finely chopped cilantro and remove from heat. Serve hot.

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.

SPICY INDIAN LENTIL STEW (DAAL)

Steps:

• Rinse the yellow lentils, red lentils, and mung beans and put them in a medium saucepan with 5 cups water, salt, turmeric, and 1 teaspoon ghee. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are easily mashed, about 30 minutes.
• Heat remaining ghee in a frying pan over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and cook until they sputter. Add onion, chile peppers, and ginger; stir-fry until onions are soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and add cilantro and cayenne. Transfer mixture to lentils.
• Let mixture simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

DAAL TARKA (SPICED LENTILS)

Steps:

• To prepare daal: Combine water, lentils, red onion, tomato, serrano, salt, chile powder and turmeric in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Adjust heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender and the mixture is thickened, 25 to 30 minutes. Stir often during the last 10 minutes to prevent burning.
• Meanwhile, prepare tarka: Heat ghee (or oil) in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, tomato, chiles, garlic, ginger and cumin seeds; cook, stirring often, until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Serve the daal topped with the tarka. Garnish with kasuri methi and cilantro, if desired.

PALAK DAAL (SPINACH & LENTILS)

Steps:

• In a large pot over medium-high heat combine the lentils and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then add the spinach, ginger, turmeric, 3/4 of the green chiles, and all of the tomatoes. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the lentils are extremely soft. You may need to add a bit more water during the cooking process to keep the lentils soupy.
• After an hour and a half, stir in the salt. In a separate pan, heat the butter and cumin and fry until the cumin seeds start to pop. Now add the red chile powder (and asafetida if you're using it) and fry for another 30 seconds. Taste and add more asafetida if you like. Add this butter mixture to the lentils and allow to cook for another five minutes. Taste, and season with more salt if needed. I also enjoyed a touch of lemon juice added at this point. Serve topped with the cilantro and the remaining green chiles.
• Serve with rice.

INDIAN SPICED LENTILS

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chopped onion, ginger, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; cover and cook 10 minutes or until soft, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in minced garlic, cumin, Homemade Curry Powder, and ground coriander; cook 1 minute.
• Stir in water, chicken broth, lentils, and bay leaves; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 2 hours or until tender.
• Uncover and cook 5 minutes or until most of liquid is absorbed.
• Remove from heat; cool slightly. Discard bay leaves. Gradually stir in 1/4 teaspoon pepper, yogurt, and tomato puree; cook over low heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

MASOOR DAAL - INDIAN RED LENTILS

Steps:

• Wash the lentils well, and then put them into a sauce pan. Add 4 - 6 cups of salted water to cover the lentils.
• Bring lentils to a boil then reduce heat, cover and allow to simmer until they are soft. Keep the water level above the lentils.
• While the lentils are simmering, grind the spices together then toast them over low heat in a dry sauté pan until you have released their aromas. Set spices aside.
• Using the same sauté pan, heat ghee or oil over low to medium heat. Add onions and sauté until they are soft. Add garlic, sauté another 3-4 minutes. Do not burn the onions or garlic. Add spice mixture; continue to cook for 2 minutes.
• Once the lentils have become soft, add them and their cooking liquid to the onion and spice mixture (add more water or broth if lentil are too thick). Stir and scrape up any bit from the bottom. Stir in lemon juice, adjust salt and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
• Just before serving add yogurt and heat through. Serve with a wheat flat bread such as roti.