Hey Dhal!

Hello dhal-ing is what I was saying tonight to everyone who came across my path when I was busy cooking dhal for the first time. Indian was on the menu. Curried vegetables, rice and dhal. For my first time I decided to try and cook this delicious lentil dish. Here's the recipe I used. I didn't need to add any extra water to it, but if you feel the lentils are getting too dry and thick, you can add extra hot water as it is boiling away. This recipe serves 4-6. We managed 5 meals out of it.

Ingredients:

• 250g red lentils
• 1 1/2 tbs oil
• 1 large onion, finely sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon of finely grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground tumeric
• 3 cups of hot water
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp garam masala

Method:

1. Wash lentils thoroughly- pouring water and draining them several times.
2. Drain well
3. Heat the oil and fry the onions, garlic and ginger until onion is golden brown
4. Add lentils and fry for a minute or two. 
5. Add hot water and bring to the boil reduce heat to simmer
6. Cover and cook for 15-20minutes
7. Add salt and garam masala
8. Continue cooking until the lentils are soft and of the consistency of porridge (If there is too much liquid, leave the lid off the pan to speed evaporation)

Lentils

Bringing it to the boil

Almost finished

Voila! Dhal with rice and curried vegies!

You can eat dhal by itself, with rice or Indian breads, as an accompaniment to curry or simply garnished with fried onions on the side. It's to me one of the lighter and healthier Indian dishes.