eglamkowski's Journal: slashdot cookbook

Continuing with the indian vegetarian theme, next up is tarka dhal:

1/2 cup masoor dhal (split red lentils)
1/4 cup moong dhal (split yellow lentils)
2.5 cups water
1 teaspoon ginger pulp
1 teaspoon garlic pulp
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 fresh green chillies, chopped
1.5 teaspoons salt

Tarka:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, sliced
1/4 teaspoon mixed mustard and onion seeds
4 dried red chillies
1 tomato, sliced

Garnish:
1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
1-2 fresh green chillies, seeded and sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

1) Boil the lentils in the water with the ginger, garlic, turmeric and chopped green chillies for 15-20 minutes or until soft.

2) Mash the lentil mixture down. The consistency of the mashed lentils should be similar to a creamy chicken soup.

3) If the mixture looks too dry, add more water. Season with the salt.

4) To prepare the tarka, heat the oil and fry the onions with the mustard and onion seeds, dried red chillies and sliced tomato for 2 minutes.

5) Pour the tarka over the dhal and garnish with fresh coriander, green chillies and mint.

My notes to this recipe:
. I use straight up ginger and garlic rather than "pulp" and it works out just fine.
. Instead of mustard seeds I have used prepared yellow mustard with acceptable results.
. Obviously adjust the number of chillies (both green and dried red) according to your taste preference.
. In many cases you can use 1 teaspoon of a dried herb in place of 1 tablespoon of a fresh herb. I've replaced the fresh mint with dried mint in this way and it's just fine. Also note that mint and basil can sometimes be substituted for each other, and indeed I actually prefer basil over mint for this recipe. Try it both ways!
. I don't always mash the lentils down - I don't really have any suitable mashing device so I often leave them whole.

oooh oooh

[ellem]

You know what would make this really good?

Steak tips and bacon.

Just saying.

Re:oooh oooh

[NeMon'ess]

It's true. What makes Americanized foods so great is that we take the best of other's ethnic cuisine, and make it better. Meat was more expensive in China, but plentiful here, so we took Chinese banquet dishes, not the day-to-day stuff, and added meat (and sugar) to make it better. We also improved pizza, and sushi (avocados baby!)

Re:oooh oooh

[ncc74656]

We also improved pizza, and sushi (avocados baby!)

I could buy the improved-pizza argument (except for pineapple), but "sushi" is still just the Japanese word for "bait." :-P I don't know that I'd consider adding something as disgusting as avocado to anything an "improvement," either.

(All the above is very much IMNSHO, of course. :-) )

Re:oooh oooh

[eglamkowski]

Sushi was originally chinese, but they abandoned it centuries ago finding better ways to preserve fish than storing it amid fermenting rice. The japanese didn't catch on to sushi until about the time the chinese were abandoning it. Stupid gits ;-)

Re:oooh oooh

[NeMon'ess]

Good thing you added that last line, because I was ready to say that just because your tastebuds are defective doesn't mean you have to let us all know.

oops :)

Re:oooh oooh

[ncc74656]

Good thing you added that last line, because I was ready to say that just because your tastebuds are defective doesn't mean you have to let us all know.

At least Hooters [hchvegas.com] agrees with me on the whole "sushi == bait" thing. :-) The Bait Shoppe got a mention [reviewjournal.com] in the food section of today's R-J...great timing, given my earlier post.

Re:oooh oooh

[NeMon'ess]

Heh. Strange, I thought the hooters were the bait.