Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Thick golden dahl

August 7, 2013


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.

5 comments:

  1. 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

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  2. Dahl 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 :-)

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  3. Dahl is hands down my favourite winter meal! Looks amazing! <3

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  4. I 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!

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  5. Dahl 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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