Daal Curry Recipes

DAAL

Steps:

• Recipe kindly shared by the Tesco Community Cookery School with Jamie Oliver. The recipe has been written to be flexible and scalable up to 50 portions. Note: all veg weights are for trimmed, prepped vegetables.
• Peel (or trim) and roughly chop the alliums. Peel the garlic and finely chop.
• Scrub or peel the veg, then chop into 2cm chunks.
• Place a pan large enough to hold all the ingredients on a medium heat with the oil.
• Add the alliums, cook for 4 to 5 minutes until they start to soften, then add the garlic and cook for a further 4 minutes, or until golden, stirring frequently.
• Tip in the hard and root veg (if using), cook for 15 minutes or until golden and softened, then add the Mediterranean veg (if using) and cook for 10 minutes more.
• Rinse the lentils, then add to the pan along with the curry base sauce and 600ml water. Cover, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the lentils are soft and creamy.
• Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.

DAAL CURRY

Steps:

• Wash lentils. Bring plenty of water (six cups) with turmeric to a boil in a large saucepan and cook lentils until overdone and mushy, approximately 15 minutes.
• In a different saucepan, heat oil on medium heat. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves until seeds start to pop (no more than 30 seconds). Add tomatoes and fry for about three minutes. Add onions, garlic, methi leaves, curry powder, salt, chili powder and sugar. Add mashed lentils and boil for five minutes. Add one cup of water to dilute to curry consistency.
• Remove from heat and add garam masala. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro before serving. Serve with chapatis, roti or rice.

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.

MOONG DAL

Steps:

• Rinse the dal, checking for any debris; add to saucepan with 2 1/2 cups water. Allow to soak for 30 minutes.
• Bring dal, water, and salt to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until beans are very tender and mixture has thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. Add more water, if necessary, to prevent drying out. Stir in ginger, jalapeno pepper, tomato, lemon juice, and turmeric.
• Heat oil in a small saucepan and add cumin seed and red chile pepper. When pepper is heated, add Asafoetida powder and garlic. Stir mixture into split peas and add cilantro; mix well.