[soups]
I made some dal for a crowd last night. I doubled the amount of this original, added some spinach and coconut milk.
Preparation Time: 20 minutes.Cooking time: 60 minutes.
Unique Equipment: Pestle and mortar.
Shopping List
- Onions, 4 to 5 medium.
- Ginger, 4" piece.
- Garlic, 8 cloves.
- Chillies, 4 small fresh green.
- Lemon, 1.
- Cilantro, fresh, handful.
- Spinach, fresh, couple large handfuls.
- Ghee, or vegetable oil, 4 tbsp.
- Lentils, raw, 3 cups.
- Chillies, dried, 8.
- Turmeric, 1 tsp.
- Cumin seeds, 2 tsp.
- Garam masala, 1 tbsp.
- Nutmeg, ground, 1/2 tsp.
- Salt.
- Coconut milk, 400 ml can.
- Water, 8 cups.
Meez
- Lentils - Rinse very well.
- Chillies.
- Turmeric.
- Water.
- Ghee.
- Onions - Finely chop.
- Garlic - Finely chop or mince.
- Chillies - Finely chop.
- Ginger - Peel and finely chop, grate, or mince.
- Lemon - Juice, reserving the juice.
- Cumin seeds - Grind in pestle and mortar.
- Garam masala.
- Nutmeg.
- Salt.
- Coconut milk.
- Spinach.
- Cilantro - Chop.
In The Kitchen
Place the lentils, dried chillies, turmeric, and water in a large pot and bring the water to boil. Once boiling, cover, reduce to a simmer and cook until tender, about 40 minutes.
Heat the ghee in a medium skillet over medium heat. Fry the onions until they begin to brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and fresh chillies and fry for another 5 minutes.
When the lentils are cooked, remove the dried chillies from the pot. Add the browned onion mixture along with the remaining ingredients except for the fresh cilantro and spinach. Stir well, adding salt to taste, and bring to a simmer.
Once it's simmering, add the fresh spinach on top. The steam from the simmer will start it cooking. Start stirring in the spinach once it begins to deepen in colour. Mix it in well and simmer the whole deal for another 10 minutes. Serve garnished with cilantro.
Posted February 09, 2003