Masar daal

I have always from being little, absolutely loved daal -lentil curry. I was the child in the family that would eat all her veg & wouldn't complain if there wasn't any chicken or meat for dinner.

Thankfully I still love it just as much now as an adult, although my husband and I always debate what is a better accompaniment..  Are you team rice or chappati ? I love my rice with daal but to be fair whenever I do cook daal i will alternate between rice and chappatis. This time round it was the turn for rice.

I made my husband's favourite daal which is masar daal - brown lentils. 

So for my masar daal to serve 4-6 people you will need 

500g brown lentils
Knob of butter - leave this out if you're wanting it for a vegan diet
1 medium onion chopped
2 frozen cubes garlic/ 5 fresh cloves crushed
2 frozen cubes of ginger/ thumb size peice crushed
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 green chillies chopped
1 tsp hot curry powder
2 tsp cumin seeds 
1 bay leaf
Fresh coriander chopped to garnish. 

• Start by giving the lentils a quick rinse and leave them to soak whilst you cook the masala.
• On a hight heat add a little olive oil to your pan with the knob of butter. Add in the chopped onion. You want the onion to brown and crisp up but watch they don't burn as the heat is high
• Once they have turned a nice dark brown, add a splash of water to soften them. Lower the heat to medium, add in the salt , garlic, ginger and chillies. Cook through for a couple of minutes so the ginger and garlic brown and the chillies soften.
• Add in the bay leaf, cumin seeds and curry powder, stir through and add in all the lentills
• Pour enough water over the lentils to cover them. And leave to simmer on a medium heat for 45 minutes. Stir them intermittently to stop them catching or burning,  and top up the water if need be.
• After 45 minutes the lentils should be fully cooked and the daal should be the perfect consistency 
• If you prefer a drier consistency, leave it to simmer a little further - I make my daal slightly drier if im serving it with chappatis .. Garnish with coriander just before serving

Spicy Lentil & Carrot soup

This is the classical lentil & carrot soup with a kick. It's a perfect winter warmer too with the addition of  spice. It's also brilliant for freezing in batches so you've always got some to tuck into on a rainy day

The amount below will give 4-6 generous servings :

4 oz split red lentils
2 1/4 pints vegetable stock
12 oz carrots - chopped
2 onions chopped
1/2 tin chopped tomatoes
3 garlic cloves - crushed
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 green chillies
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
300ml milk
coriander to garnish

• Start by washing the lentils under cold water, place in a large heavy based pan with 900ml of the stock, the carrots, onions, tomatoes & garlic cloves. Bring to the boil on a high heat, lower the heat, cover with a lid and leave to simmer till the vegetables have softened - about 20-30 minutes
• While the vegetables are simmering, heat the oil in a frying pan & add the seeds, green chilli & curry powder & fry on a low heat till the seeds browned, remove from the heat & add in the lemon juice & salt*
• Add in the remaining stock, milk & spice mixture to the vegetables. Blitz together with a blender, and simmer for 10-12 minutes - or until it's reached your preffered consistency. Serve garnished with fresh coriander & an optional swirl of natural yogurt 

*If you're freezing the soup, freeze after the 2nd step. Fully defrost the vegetables on the day of use & carry on with the 3rd step

Tharka Daal

This is a recipe for daal that has fried garlic as a base - this is the tharka element. It gives the dish a wonderful aroma of  garlic, combined with the fragrant spices it's so simple but full of flavour.

It's another dish that is super cheap to make, a little goes a long way and is made in just 5 steps 

The amount below will easily serve 4 people:

3 tbsp melted butter
1 small onion
1tbsp oil
1tsp mustard seeds
3 garlic cloves crushed
6-8 fenugreek seeds
1/2 inch piece crushed / grated ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup /6 oz red lentils
1 pint/600ml water
2 tsp tomato puree
1 large tomato
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 green chilli
coriander to garnish

• In a heavy based pan, add the melted butter & oil. Finely slice the onions and add to the pan on a high heat. When browned, add in the mustard seeds and cover the pan with a lid until the mustard seeds start popping
• Take off the lid straight away, lower the heat slightly & add in the garlic, ginger, salt, fenugreek & green chilli
• Stir through, add in the tomato puree, chopped up tomato & curry powder once the garlic and ginger have browned.
• Add in the lentils & the water, simmer on a low heat for about 15 minutes
• Just before serving garnish with coriander & serve with naan or boiled rice

Split chick pea daal & bottle gourd curry

I'm starting this post with a confession, I have made this dish on countless occasions but never blogged it,  I made this for Iftar last night, (breaking of fast at sunset) as I thought of sharing this recipe I realised that although I knew in Urdu the name of the vegetable in question for this dish  .. but what of the English name ? Well I was totally clueless

How could I possibly post a recipe without knowing what i was referring to ? So I asked for help from my fellow Tweeters, thankfully the mystery was solved. This particular beauty is whats known as bottle gourd and looks like this , it's a much milder version of bitter gourd which is an acquired taste. The slight sweetness of bottle gourd works extremely well with the spice in a curry.

So here we go Channa Daal & Thoriyaah: (pronounced tho-ree-yah)

1 cup/ 125g channa lentils ( split chick pea lentils)

1 large bottle gourd

4 medium onions

1 tbsp garlic paste / 6-8 crushed cloves

2 tsp salt

1 tin chopped tomatoes

2 green chillies

1 1/2 tsp curry powder

125g butter

• Start by washing the lentils till the water runs clear. Soak the lentils in a bowl with warm water*, whilst the lentils are soaking, roughly chop your onions and fry in a large non stick pan with butter
• When the onions have softened, add in the garlic, salt & green chillies. Stir on a medium heat and  when the onions are golden brown, add in the tomatoes & curry powder. Add a splash of water, cover the pan and leave to simmer on a low heat for the tomato to soften 
• Peel your gourd, chop of the stalk and bottom and give it a quick rinse under water. Cut the gourd in half lengthways, and then slice the 2 halves. Place to a side
• Check back on your masala in the pan, if the onions have softened, then drain the water from the daal, add the daal to the pan.
• Let the daal simmer on a low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, it should almost double in volume as the lentils cook through.Check that the lentils have softened by taking a few between your fingers and squashing. They should break easily without too much pressure. If they still feel raw, add a little water and leave to simmer on a low heat for a little longer.
• When the lentils have softened** add in the sliced gourd & stir together. If most of the water has evaporated, and the daal is looking dry, add just enough water to cover the daal, cover the pan & leave to simmer on a low heat once more for about 20 minutes.***
• Check back on the daal, the gourd by now should have softened & cooked through. The way to check this is that the colour of the gourd will have changed from white to them becoming see through, as well as being soft in texture. You can do the finger test with a slice of the gourd just as with the lentils earlier. 
• When your gourd has cooked and softened, depending on the consistency, you can add a little water if it loos too dry. Serve with either plain boiled rice or my cumin rice

*pre soaking the lentils helps speed up the cooking, even if they are left for just half and hour it's a bonus 
** the lentils should be soft but not mushed, you want to try and keep the lentils whole
***whenever you cover up the pan, do remember to keep an eye on it so your daal doesn't end up sticking to the pan

Kidney Bean Daal

This is possibly one of my all time favourite Daal's. For those that aren't familiar with what Daal is, it's a curry using lentils. Most often Daal's are garnished with what is called a tharkaah, (pronounced thur-kah) which is crushed garlic browned off in butter separately, then added to the daal. Adding tharkaah makes your daal that little bit more indulgent and the overall aroma is far more pungent.

This daal is one that's made without a tharkaah, but is just as delicious. The tang of tomatoes, combination of the spices and toasted cumin left tingling on your tastebuds is heavenly. It's also quick and cheap to make too, and will easily feed a family of 4.

You'll need the following ingredients:

1 medium onion
1 tsp salt
6-8 cloves crushed garlic / 2 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger paste
2 x 400g tin red kidney beans/ 800g raw kidney beans soaked over night
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 green chillies 
1 tsp curry powder 
fresh chopped coriander (to garnish)

• Chop your onions, and in a heavy based pan, fry in olive oil till golden brown, add the garlic & ginger, and chillies,* cook until the garlic & ginger has browned and chillies have softened.
• Add in the tomatoes , curry powder & cumin seeds. Cook the mixture till it has slightly reduced and the tomatoes have slightly 'mushed'**
• Add in your kidney beans, without draining them, then half fill one of the tins with boiled water and add the water to the pan.
• leave to simmer on a low heat for about 10-15 minutes, add the chopped coriander and serve with boiled rice or chapatis 

*if you'd like your daal spicy, chop your chillies up as this releases more of their flavour, otherwise leave them whole.

** I like to leave the tomatoes slightly chunky, it gives a nice texture and brings out their flavour more