Topic: Shan brand Dal Curry Mix

[tatsoi]

Greetings all,

I've put this post in the spice area, sorry if it's in the wrong place.

Does anyone here has a mix similar to the Shan brand Dal Curry Mix? I'm hooked on this stuff and can't put my finger one why it's so pleasant. I'm asking for help recreating it as the shops in my area aren't carrying it any more, and it's extremely handy when I'm stuck for dinner.

The box states it contains:

Salt, red chilli, turmeric, black pepper, cumin, coriander, brown cardamom, green cardamom, garlic, ginger, dehydrated dill leaves, citric acid (E330), maltodextrin, hydrolised soy protein, cane sugar, canola oil, silicon dioxide.

I use only 1 tbsp for a pot of the lentils, but the lemony flavour is what intrigues me. If anyone has a similar tasting spice recipe, I could probably go from there? The main flavour is salty lemons with a slight burn afterwards (from the chilli and black pepper). It's a mild chilli, I know that much, as I'm not good with hot things. I add a tbsp of methi leaves to the pot as well, which complements the other items fine. The dal is goes with is mainly split mung dal and with a minor amount of masoor dal to thicken.

[livo]

Hello tatsoi.

Well you could start by omitting the more difficult to obtain ingredients (maltodextrin, soy and SO2). The other ingredients are listed in order of volume so you would start with say 50% salt and then just muck about with the ratios of the other ingredients till you got it right. 12 other spices / ingredients so I'd go with about 4-5% of each as a starting point and then tweak it from there.

Salt and Citric acid is your salty lemons. 

Use Kashmiri Chili which is colourful but not too hot or even plain Paprika for milder still.

Leave the oil out till you cook.

Maltodextrin is just a thickener so you could add a little cornflour.

Hydrolysed Soy Protein is a flavour enhancer similar to MSG, leave it out or sub some MSG if you must. 

Silicon Dioxide sounds like it should be in a chemistry lab but is actually a naturally found compound, with a daily requirement level as a source of silicon as a trace mineral. In powdered foods it is used as an anti-clumping agent. Think of the little bags of silica gel found in packaging to keep things dry. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2011/07/what_happens_if_i_eat_silica_gel.html
 If you are making it fresh you probably don't need to worry about this anyway.

You will of course find Shan products available online.

[littlechilie]

What a great explanation Livo, I think I would take your advice and order online if it was not available to me! Sounds like a lot of hard work considering the low price.

Maybe add a few boxes to a bulk order to save on postage.