Topic: Simple Massur Dhal

[colin grigson]

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

[Salvador Dhali]

Many thanks, Colin.

I'm a massive fan of all manifestations of dhal, and that looks like a great recipe to me.

As a subtle tweak, I'd be tempted to leave the frying of the garlic until the very end to use tarka style. But then I'm a hopeless case when it comes to garlic heavy tarkas...

[Edwin Catflap]

Hi made this Friday to go into a dhansak this week; it didn't survive!! It was too nice to leave so had it with UB,s Garlic chill chicken and it was deelish, the wife who doesn't "do" lentils is now a lentil holid!Got orders to do another batch today   

[Edwin Catflap]

Oops meant lentil holic!

[colin grigson]

Glad you enjoyed it Eddie !

It's a shame more haven't tried as it's top drawer this one IMHO   

It particularly suits a dhansak   

[976bar]

It looks great Colin, I love Dhal...

Will certainly be giving this ago

Good post mate!!

[976bar]

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

Just a couple of questions Colin if I may?

Could the dried chilies be replaced with fresh ones?

Would adding the garlic after the onions have had time to soften and go translucent be a better practice, as this would stop the garlic getting burnt and turning bitter?

And lastly, do you add boiling water or cold water and bring to the boil?

Regards,

Bob

[colin grigson]

Hi Bob ,

I hope you do give this a go .. I'd be interested to hear what 'an experienced member' has to say   

Regarding your queries ... I'm sure fresh chillies could be used just as well .. the garlic and onion go into to gether and just 'catch' but you could try your way just as well and finally I add cold water and bring to the boil .

I hope this helps and good luck !

[976bar]

Hi Colin,

I will always try someone's recipe the way they do it first because it's too good an opportunity to learn something new and miss it

The only reason I asked about the garlic was that it turns at the edges, then other dryish ingredients are added and the garlic is cooked for another 7 minutes before the water is added. I was just wondering if this was enough for the garlic to burn prior to adding water, but as I said i will try it your way first and I am sure it's delicious

Thanks again for posting

[colin grigson]

Hi Bob ,

I use elephant garlic ( those large single cloves from China I think ) for my BIR dishes ... I'm not sure if they're a little more tolerant to high heat but err on the side of caution ... it would be a shame to spoil the dish for burning the garlic or as SD suggests above add it as a tarka at the end ...

I love these lentils by the way and cook them often and have found that sometimes the second 0.5 tsp of salt is too much .. taste and see what you think ..  a little extra coriander doesn't hurt either