Dal

The SEasOning

This dish has magical powers. It can make you the sexiest person on the block or it can be the reason someone wants to marry you. In fact, this dish is so beloved that people will just sing about how awesome it is.

This is another West Indian staple that hails from the Indian subcontinent and is a soup made from dried spit pulses. In the Caribbean, the yellow slip pea reigns supreme. Anecdotally, I’ve been told the dominance of the yellow split pea in the Caribbean is due to it being the cheapest pulse imported or grown locally. This is the lazy version of dal. I’m using red lentils because they cook quickly and don’t need any pre soaking.

This is an extremely versatile dish. My late father loved drinking a cup of dal as a mid day snack. This pairs VERY well with curry – it’s traditionally served with that – or you can add dumplings to this and perhaps a few okra.

So organize your mise en place and get your dal belly in the kitchen!

The Ingredients

This will serve 4-6 people:

• 1 cup red lentils – washed (rinse these under cold water till the water run clear-ish)
• 1/2 large onion diced
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 wiri wiri pepper (or hot pepper of your choice) – OPTIONAL
• 2 tsp whole cumin/geera
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 4 cups of water (plus 1 cup water to adjust for consistency)
• 2 tbsp neutral oil (canola, vegetable, grapeseed)
• Salt and pepper to taste

The Method

1. Pre-heat a pot over medium/medium-high heat. Add your oil to the pot
2. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the geera and stir. If your oil is hot you’ll see the geera start to splutter and pop. That’s a good sign. It should only take 15-20 seconds to toast
3. Add your onion and sauté for 1 minute
4. Add your garlic and hot pepper. Stir regularly till the garlic is nice and golden brown
5. Add the turmeric, the lentils, and the 4 cups water. Stir everything together and make sure to scrape up any of the fond. Bring this up to a boil, reduce the heat to medium/medium low and let the lentils simmer
6. You’re going to let this simmer for 20-30 min stirring occasionally. The lentils will absorb the water and swell. The dal is cooked when you can smush the lentils easily against the side of the pot. If they’re absorbing the liquid too fast and sticking to the bottom of the pot, just add a little more water.
7. Once cooked, grab an immersion blender or a whisk to blend everything together. This part is all personal preference. Some people like chunks of lentils in their dal. If that’s the case, skip this step and go to step 8. Once blended you can adjust the consistency by adding more water, or turning up the heat and letting some of the water boil off.
8. Once the dal is at the consistency you like, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and serve piping hot!

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