Title: Dal Curry - Dal with Coconut Milk
Categories: Indian, Curry, Beans, Chilies
Yield: 6 Servings
1 c Skinned toovar dal or
- yellow-split peas
1/8 ts Ground turmeric
1 tb Shallots, peeled, minced
1 ts Ground cumin seeds
4 Whole fresh, hot green
- chillies, slit down their
- middles
4 tb Vegetable oil or
2 tb Coconut oil and
2 tb Ghee
1/2 ts Whole black mustard seeds
10 Curry leaves
2 Whole, hot, dried red
- chillies broken up into
- 4 pieces each
2 tb Peeled, sliced shallots
2 cl Garlic, peeled, minced
1 md Tomato, chopped
3/4 ts Salt
1 1/4 c Tinned or fresh, unsweetened
- coconut milk
Pick over the dal and wash it in several changes of water. Drain.
Put in a heavy based pan and add 3 3/4 cups of water as well as the
turmeric. Bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and cover, leaving
the lid slightly ajar. Simmer the dal for about 45 minutes. Now put
in the chopped shallots and ground cumin. Stir, cover in the same
way as before and cook for another 15 minutes. Add the green
chillies and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the dal is tender. If
the dal seems too thick at any point, add up to 1/2 cup of boiling
water. The dal, at this stage, should be like a thick, paste like
soup. Leave on a very low heat as you complete the final step.
Heat the oil in a small frying pan over a medium flame. When hot,
put in the mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to
pop, (this takes just a few seconds), put in the curry leaves and
the red chillies. When the red chillies darken (this happens
almost immediately), put in all the sliced shallots and garlic.
Stir and fry until the shallots turn a reddish-brown colour. Now
add the tomato pieces. Stir and fry until they soften. Pour the
entire contents of the small frying pan into the dal. Add the salt
and mix. Add the coconut milk and stir in. The dal may be cooked
several hours ahead of time and then reheated.
