Topic: Simple Massur Dhal

[curryhell]

A definite keeper of a recipe and a pleasant dhansak to follow 

[h4ppy-chris]

My Bangladeshi friend showed me this and I was impressed because a) it's tasty and quick and b) a biffa like me can cook it time and time again and it always turns out nice.

You'll need : to serve 4 as a generous side dish

200g red lentils washed under cold water in a sieve for at least a couple of minutes
half an onion chopped smallish
3 cloves garlic sliced
1/2  teaspoon Panch Phoron
5 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 bay leaf
1 + 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/3 teaspoon cumin powder
2 dry chillies
water
2 tablespoons of fresh coriander chopped fine

In a wok : heat the oil over a highish heat and add 2 chillies and bay leaf , fry for 30 seconds or so and add the Panch Phoron , fry until you hear the seeds cracking / popping and then add the onion and garlic , fry until you can see the edges of the garlic and onion have caught a bit ( don't stir too often ). Add lentils and fry stirring often for about 5 minutes ( you'll see the lentils turning yellow ), add turmeric , cumin and 1 teaspoon of the salt and fry for a further 2 minutes. Add enough water to cover the lentils with a layer of water around 1cm thick over them. Cook uncovered for 20ish minutes until you can see that the lentils are no longer round but are soft and hard to distinguish as lentils ( most of the water will have been absorbed by now ) add the 1/2 teaspoon of salt you have left and the chopped coriander and cook for a further minute or two.

It's that simple and cheap as .. well lentils

Well colin, tried this just now. I didn't have any dry chillies, so i used 2.5 Tsp of crushed dried chillies.
Being a lover of Dhal this is a winner for me. Added some pre-cooked chicken gona have it for tea with some rice.

[Jeera]

Made this tonight..I also added pre-cooked chicken ...outstanding recipe...many thanks for sharing Colin. Cheers.

[urbanrajah]

I made it to the recipe.So delicious and i added extra chilli.Thank you for sharing.

[LouP]

I just made this and it really is delicious. I am trying my hardest not to eat it all :/

[Edwin Catflap]

That will be hard to resist Loup!

[curryhell]

I just made this and it really is delicious. I am trying my hardest not to eat it all :/

I know the feeling    All ready to get tarka'd  ;D  If i can stop picking at it that is.  Excellent dhall recipe.

[london]

I've just made this to go with Tandoori chicken tonight and it's a winner, I'm not really a lentils person but this has changed my mind, the first taste was ok but then the after taste kicked in and I had to tear myself away from it to make sure I had enough for later.

[Sverige]

How important is the frying of the lentils in this recipe? In the OP the lentils are added to the oil/garlic/onion mix and fried for five mins until they turn a little yellow, then water is added.  Is this a common technique with lentils or an essential step in massur dhal recipes generally, as I haven't encountered it before?

My reason for asking - I tried this recipe yesterday and didn't get a great result. It was ok, but not great, and I suspect that during the 5 mins of frying the lentils, the garlic probably caught a bit too much. So I'm wondering about adding the powdered spices sooner then just boiling the lentils rather than frying.

[Edwin Catflap]

I don