Red Lentil Dahl

I have this week off before I start my five week placement at a long term care facility. Working 7am-3pm will be quite an adjustment. I should probably start finding some easy and affordable lunch/dinner recipes that I can make useful for the next month and some, and even the future.

Something I do love is mushy food. Like mushy French fries and rice with stuff on it, risotto, mashed potatoes. Smoothies, Greek yogurt... You get the point. So I decided to venture into the world of Indian cooking and make some red lentil dahl.

It didn't take too long and it was pretty easy and delicious. I took two recipes and kind of blended the aspects I liked of each, into one recipe. Then I paired it with brown rice :)

 

Red Lentil Dahl (a fusion of the Taste.com.au recipe and one from The Taste Traveller)

• 2 cups (475 ml) masoor daal (red lentils)
• 3 cups (720 ml) water
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 3 cm fresh ginger, sliced
• 3 tablespoons (60 ml) vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) chili flakes
• salt to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) garam masala
• 3 to 4 tablespoons cilantro 

Directions

Wash and rinse lentils. Place lentils, 1 tablespoon of the oil, ginger, bay leaves, half of the tumeric powder and cinnamon in a large saucepan with 3 cups of cold water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring to prevent sticking for 10-12 minutes. Discard spices and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan over a medium high heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic, rest of turmeric, cumin, garam marsala and chilli flakes and cook for a further minute or until fragrant. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and season to taste with salt. 

Add the lentils to the pan and mix well. 

Cook for a further 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Stir in 2 or 3 tablespoon cilantro. Top with remaining cilatro and serve with rice, naan break or pappadums. 

This can be make in advance and will keep well in the refrigerator for a few days. You can also freeze it for up to a few weeks.