Sour lentils Lucknow style

... or Lakhnawi Khatti Dal

I picked this up from Classic Indian Cookery by Julie Sahni and I first made it because I had tamarind pulp anyway (for making pad thai), but I've returned many times since and it has become a regular dish around our house.

Ingredients:
- 250 g pink lentils
- 1,25 L water
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 inch piece if ginger, finely chopped
- 1 heaping tbsp tamarind pulp
- butter
- 1 tbsp garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- salt

The lentils were brought to a boil together with ground turmeric and finely chopped ginger.^[1] After simmering, partially covered, for 25 minutes, tamarind pulp was added^[2] and cooking was continued for about 15 minutes. At this point I am usually happy with the texture and simply season it with salt before serving.^[3]

While the lentils finish, butter was melted and when starting to brown added garlic paste, paprika and ground cumin - the spices were stirred into the butter in the hot pan before transferring to a bowl.

The lentils are served with the spiced butter (stirred into the lentils just before digging in), freshly chopped coriander, raita, chutney, rice, and flatbreads.

^[1] In my experience, when lentils first start to boil they tend to foam a lot and need a lot of stirring at this point in order for the pot not to spill over - after a few minutes this foaming subsides.

^[2] The original recipe calls for dissolving the tamaridn pulp in boiling water and straining it to rid it of fibrous strings - but all the brands of tamarind pulp I've bought have been too highly processed to contain any fibrous material to be removed by straining. Hence I use the tamarind directly.

^[3] The orignial recipe calls for beating the lentils to smooth the puré. I never bother with this.

Sri Lankan Dal

Inspiration: The Essential Asian Cookbook (in Danish translation)

I was leafing through this book one last time to see if I could find justification for keeping it. I noticed this recipe for a Sri Lankan dal, but concluded if that was all the book could still go. And so it did. But this recipe has come to stay - with a few modifications.

The original called for curry leaves and lemon grass which I've replaced with lime leaves. I tend to use more of the dried shrimp than the original recipe calls for. Also, I've adjusted the amount of water as I found in my hands it had too much of a tendency to get burned with the amounts in the original recipe.

Ingredients:
- 5-6 yellow onions, sliced
- rapeseed oil
- 1 handfull dried shrimp, chopped ^[1]
- 1 fresh green chilli, chopped
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 400 g red lentils
- 0,5 L water
- 0,5 L vegetable stock
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 3-inch stick of cinnamon
- 10 lime leaves

The sliced onions were fried golden in the oil (for some 5-10 minutes) in a large pot, after which about half of them are removed from the pot. At this point, chilli, dried shrimp and turmeric was added and stirred briefly till fragrant. The rest of the ingredients were added and the pot was brought to a boil before reducing the heat and letting it simmer till the desired texture was achieved (I've found this can take 30-60 minutes). Seasoned to taste with salt and served with the reserved onion.

Additional sides:
- chopped coriander
- rice and/or flat breads
- chutney
- raita

^[1] I am planning to try replacing the chopped, dried shrimp with shrimp paste once I run out of dried shrimp.

Tarka dal

Inspiration: Anjum Anand / BBC Food Recipes

I stumbled upon this recipe when I was looking up a Rick Stein recipe that also employs dried split yellow peas, and after trying it out a few times it's surely become a standard in this household - with a few minor modifications from the original.

Ingredients:
- 225 g dried split yellow peas (chana dal)
- 9 dL water
- rapeseed oil
- 1 yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 clove garlic, finely diced
- 1 thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, finely diced
- ¹/₂ tsp ground cumin
- 3 tomatoes, diced
- ¹/₂ tsp ground turmeric
- ¹/₂ tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- salt and pepper
- optional: chili

The dried split yellow peas were brought to a boil in an uncovered pot - best to keep an eye on it as it tends to foam a lot. The heat was reduced, and the pot was covered and allowed to simmer for 40 minutes. After removing from heat, the boiled peas were mashed coarsely.

Onion, ginger and garlic (and chillies, if used) were fried lightly golden in oil together with ground cumin in a large pan. Tomatoes were added and heating on medium high was continued for some minutes until the tomatoes could be easily mashed with the spatula. The mashed peas were added to the pan together with the rest of the spices. After stirring together it was allowed to simmer till the desired texture was obtained (I prefer my dal somewhat thick).

Serving suggestions:
- freshly chopped coriander
- rice and/or flat breads^[1]
- raita
- chutney

^[1] After moving back to Copenhagen I haven't baked my own naan even once. I find that the Lebanese breads sold at every green grocer is a suitable substitute.