We needed a simple meal to get us through the ludicrous task of packing up our house - moving always leaves you eating takeaway for the best part of a week, so we also wanted something healthy. Luckily, the calendar recipe this month delivered - a very straightforward dahl recipe loaded with lentils to fill us up and give us something nutritious.
There's really not much too this - some onions, lentils and a decent combo of spices. It's warm and hearty, with a mild chilli kick and some ginger and lemony tang. Using the ground up cardamom pods really makes a difference as well - the cardamom flavours came through strongly. Combined with a fresh baguette from Baker D Chirico and you've got yourself a pretty tremendous meal.
Thick golden dahl
10 cardamom pods
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 teaspoons turmeric
pinch of ground chilli
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
2 cups red lentils, rinsed
6 cups vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper
Crush up the cardamom pods in a mortar and pestle and grab the seeds (throw the crumbled pods away)
Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add onions and then cover and cook for about 5 minutes - they should go nice and soft.
Add cardamom seeds, garlic, turmeric, ground chilli and ginger and stir-fry for another five minutes or so.
Add the lentils, stock and bay leaf and bring the mixture to the boil - drop the heat down so that it's just simmering. Cook uncovered for about 25 minutes - it'll thicken up nicely (the photo above is from the day after, when the lentils had soaked up even more of the liquid - it was still a bit soupy on the night). When it's ready to eat, stir through the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
Nothing like a nice dahl to keep you going. I like a bit of left over dahl heated up on toast in the morning. It's a wonderfully sustaining brekkie
ReplyDeleteDahl is a great basic meal. I agree with ELizabeth it is great on toast - esp with vegemite - that is my sort of comfort food - and with moving you need easy recipes when every pot is packed :-)
ReplyDeleteDahl is hands down my favourite winter meal! Looks amazing! <3
ReplyDeleteI just made this for dinner tomorrow night, should thicken up nicely by then. Hubby tasted it and was disappointed he has to wait until tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteDahl is the best. So easy and delicious. There's a similar Greek dish called "fava", not to be confused with fava beans. It's simply pureed yellow split peas dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. I think I have just a little more love for dahl though - all those spices really bring it to life :)
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