SIMPLE YELLOW DAL

Serves: 6 as part of an Indian meal or 3 people as a full bowl.

Prep Time: 12 hours includes soaking.

Cooking Time: 20 minutes pressure cooked. 90 minutes slow-cooked.

Dietary Style: Veg. GF.

DF / Vegan Sub: coconut oil.

Dal is a staple served everyday. It is high in protein, easy to digest and very nourishing. Spicing dal traditionally is a simple affair. With Kashmiri dal, this means a soft, warm and nurturing approach utilising earth and warm category spices predominantly.

Take the time to soak the lentils as this makes the world of difference to both cooking times and the body’s ability to easily digest what can be a hard protein. I routinely soak my lentils overnight. Channa dal - split chickpea - is my favourite dal to use because of its ideal balance between having enough softness to take on spice beautifully, but enough structure to hold its shape and lift the aromatics to delicious heights.

Dal is cooked in two parts: the lentils, and then the tadka which is the tempered spice. Using a pressure cooker makes the process much, much faster. If you would like to make dal a meal, poach some carrots in chilli, fenugreek powder and salt strain them and add to the dal at the end with some fresh baby spinach and fresh coriander.

INGREDIENTS

For the dal base

• 2 cups channa dal
• 3 cups water
• 2 tsp fine pink salt
• 1/3 tsp fine white salt
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 2cm x 2cm cube jaggery

For the tadka

• 2 tbsp ghee
• 3 tsp whole cumin seed
• 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1/3 tsp ground ginger
• 3 tsp fresh minced ginger
• 1 tsp garam masala

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1. Soak the 2 cups of lentils overnight or at least for a few hours before making the dal in enough water that they are well covered - the lentils will soak up quite a lot of the water. Once ready to prepare the dal, strain the lentils and rinse them with cold water to remove any excess starch.

2. Put your soaked and strained lentils in a pressure cooker or pot with three cups of cold water, the white and pink salt, turmeric and jaggery. Put on the stovetop to cook.

3. Pressure cooker cooking times vary depending on the power and size of your pressure cooker. As a rule, put the dal on high heat until the pressure cooker emits two whistles, and then turn down to a medium-low heat and continue to cook for somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes. Stop the cooking process to check inside your cooker if uncertain.

4. If cooking in a heavy based pot, bring the dal and water to a strong simmer on a high heat, then turn down to a medium-low heat and cook until the dal is soft to the mouth but still retains some stricture.

5. Remove the cooked dal the heat once ready and prepare the tadka.

6. In a separate pot, once the dal is ready, prepare the ghee and the spice for the tadka. Put all of the tadka spices (except the garam masala) in with the ghee in the small pot and heat on medium heat on the stovetop until bubbling and aromatic.

7. Once the tadka is hot, stir it into the dal. To finish, add 1 tsp of garam masala and stir through.