Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: bhamcurry on September 22, 2023, 04:06 PM
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My wife and son don't like tarka dal - they find it "too dry".
I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for a lentil curry that I could cook instead of tarka dal?
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My wife and son don't like tarka dal - they find it "too dry".
I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for a lentil curry that I could cook instead of tarka dal?
The best lentil dish I have ever tasted was also the very first and is about as simple as it can get - dal soup, specifically as served at a specific Indian restaurant for at least 40 years. I have been trying to recreate the same delicious flavour at home for almost as long. I can get quite close but it's still not as good. The starting point is red lentils, which turn yellow. Add pinches of salt and turmeric and not much more.
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thanks, George :cool:
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My wife and son don't like tarka dal - they find it "too dry".
Not being funny but just add water. Any daal can be thick like paste or thin like watery soup, it's just down to the amount of water you add. Can't help feeling I'm missing something in what you want though as the solution is too obvious.
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The dahl I took away was actually 2 different ones made separately as experimental, and then finally combined. The first was red lentil with mild spice and coconut milk (quite nice) and the second was a 4 lentil mix which my wife said was a bit dry or floury. I allowed both to sit in the fridge for 24 hours before tasting again and deciding to combine them, which gave a nicer dish than either alone.
My next attempt will be to make the dhansak lentil / dhal base without any meat and muck about with that. What I did find when searching for recipes is that they are all very similar, so the next thing to do would be to search for something that is obviously different in one way or another.
I agree with Santa as well. Several of the recipes I found were indeed very watery / soup like. This isn't what I was after for my trip away though.
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My wife and son don't like tarka dal - they find it "too dry".
Not being funny but just add water. Any daal can be thick like paste or thin like watery soup, it's just down to the amount of water you add. Can't help feeling I'm missing something in what you want though as the solution is too obvious.
I've tried that, they still say it was "too dry". Darn near soup, "too dry", which implies to me that the problem is a texture rather than moisture problem, hence looking for a lentil curry idea :umy:
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It would appear that you are not the only one to experience this phenomenon —
by phaeton21
My lentils always have a 'dryness' to them, and I don't know why.
Hey folks, I really like lentils but there's an issue I keep having with them, and I don't know why. Even after being fully cooked, they have a weird 'dryness' texture to them. I'm not sure how else to describe it- it's like the legume equivalent to eating some uncooked (but not hard) grain like wheat or oats. I typically buy Goya brand (which doesn't really matter) brown lentils in the usual 1lb bag. My method for cooking is pretty textbook:
Sort/rinse/drain
Cover in a few inches of water
Bring to a boil, put on lid, turn down heat
Simmer 20-25 minutes (I use a chomp test to tell when done)
Drain and rinse.
Even when the lentils end up in a soup (i.e., suspended in liquid) or in a dish with loads of fat (i.e., my cheater tikka masala sauce loaded up with heavy cream and butter) they exude this dryness. In fact, leftovers stored in the fridge seem to get 'worse' over a day or so. Meanwhile, if I make the exact same recipe but substitute some form of beans (canned or prepared from dry) it turns out wonderful.
Has anyone else experienced this, and/or have do you have any suggestions? Thanks.
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the problem is a texture rather than moisture problem ...
Ah right, that makes more sense. I wonder if this this is similar to people who think coriander leaf is the bees knees while others can't abide it, saying it tastes like soap. In other words no matter what you do they're going to detect something that most other people won't so there's no winning.
Oh, and back to your original question, the obvious red lentil curry is dhansak. Have they tried that? What did they think?
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My first introduction to dal was in Ahmedabad, India. Dal Makhani is a wonderful, buttery dish of black Urad dal and not dry at all. I recently made this ‘house dal’ from the Dishoom cook book. It’s an investment in time, takes 4-5 hours but mostly hands off. In India they cook it 24 hours.
Perfect with naan, although I didn’t have any.
(https://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/20cc54eca6a1158c14eeeceeae90d8e0.jpeg) (https://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#20cc54eca6a1158c14eeeceeae90d8e0.jpeg)
I bet it would pressure cook easily. Not a ‘curry’ but worth a try.
Robbo
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the problem is a texture rather than moisture problem ...
Ah right, that makes more sense. I wonder if this this is similar to people who think coriander leaf is the bees knees while others can't abide it, saying it tastes like soap. In other words no matter what you do they're going to detect something that most other people won't so there's no winning.
Oh, and back to your original question, the obvious red lentil curry is dhansak. Have they tried that? What did they think?
I like dhansak, wife and kiddo not so much. I am going to try making a curry lentil soup at some point just to see if it's an inherent texture thing!
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I like dhansak, wife and kiddo not so much.
And was their dislike texture based because of the lentils?
I am going to try making a curry lentil soup at some point just to see if it's an inherent texture thing!
But what is curry lentil soup if not daal?
Also I had a thought. How about precooking and then blending the lentils before adding them to whatever curry dish you're making. I've never tried it but perhaps the extra blending will alter the texture to their taste?
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My first introduction to dal was in Ahmedabad, India. Dal Makhani is a wonderful, buttery dish of black Urad dal and not dry at all. I recently made this ‘house dal’ from the Dishoom cook book. It’s an investment in time, takes 4-5 hours but mostly hands off. In India they cook it 24 hours.
Perfect with naan, although I didn’t have any.
I bet it would pressure cook easily. Not a ‘curry’ but worth a try.
Robbo
Made this yesterday. Never been a big fan of lentils etc but really enjoyed it. Tasted like a sort of posh beans on toast - especially when I slightly overcooked the chapati. I shall definitely make this again
Regards
Mick
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Posh beans on toast. You've got me.
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My wife and son don't like tarka dal - they find it "too dry".
I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for a lentil curry that I could cook instead of tarka dal?
Kabuli Chana recipe from Mrs Balbir Singh's Indian Cookery. It is, without doubt, the best Dhal Recipe that I have in my repetoire and goes down very well with guests as a side dish at any dinner party.
Chana Dhal (to be started the day before it is required)
250g Chana Dhal
720ml water
1.5 teaspoons salt
4 green chillies, 2 whole and 2 chopped
1 inch piece of cinnamon
Seeds of 3 brown cardamoms
4 cloves
0.5 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
15g fresh root ginger finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, chopped
80g ghee
0.5 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 small onion finely chopped, about 160g before peeling
2 to 3 firm tomatoes roughly chopped (I use plum tomatoes)
0.5 teaspoon garam masala
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
Place the Dhal in a large jug and fill with water, swill around until the water turns very milky then drain. Repeat until the water is reasonably clear, drain the Dhal and cover with 720ml of fresh water and leave to stand overnight.
Break up the cinnamon stick and place it in a hot dry frying pan with the cardamom seeds, cloves, cumin and coriander seeds. Dry fry over a medium heat for a few minutes until they become aromatic; take care not to let them burn. Transfer to a pestle and mortar or a spice mill and grind to a fine powder. To the ground spices add the chopped chillies, ginger and garlic and enough water to grind or process to a paste.
Place the Dhal and its soaking water into a saucepan with the two whole chillies and a teaspoon of salt and bring to a simmer. Remove any scum that rises to the top and simmer covered until the Dhal is tender but retains a little bite (al-dente).
Drain the Dhal reserving the stock that has formed, wipe out the saucepan and add the ghee. When it is hot add the chopped onion and fry until it is golden. Remove the pan from the heat and add the red chilli powder. Stir until it is fully incorporated then return the pan to the heat. Gradually add two tablespoons of water, a little at a time allowing it to bubble up and cook off each time.
Add the spice paste and fry for five minutes until the raw smell is cooked out and the ghee separates and rises to the top of the masala. Add the roughly chopped tomatoes and stir them in. Cover the pan and let the tomatoes simmer until they break down and form a homogenous mixture with the masala.
Add the boiled Dhal and stir to mix thoroughly with the masala. Stir over a medium heat for ten minutes gradually incorporating the stock. Cover and simmer over a low heat for twenty minutes. Check for seasoning and add the remaining salt as required. Sprinkle with garam masala and chopped fresh coriander then serve.
A pinch of Asafoetida in the hot ghee before adding the onion is supposed to aid digestion of the dhal.
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I've made a batch of Dahl Makhani yesterday and I did a bit of research before going ahead. I read something interesting that I'd not considered and just wonder if it may be part of the "dry" issue. One blog site I was looking at mentioned the need to use "fresh" lentils otherwise they take too long to cook completely. I've had containers of red and green lentils put away in the cupboard for years and always just assumed that they would be ok. Apparently not, and the same applies for Red Kidney (and other) dried beans as well.
There is an element of truth is this as the dried red beans I used in the Makhani were about 2 years in the cupboard at least and even after overnight soaking and 25 minutes in the Instant Pot under pressure, they remained very firm and "dry". The fresh Urad Dahl on the other hand cooked as expected.
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Vineet Bhatia’s take on these dishes —