Dal. You've surely heard of it, no? It's not usually the kind of dish you order at an Indian restaurant, unless of course it's a Punjabi restaurant like Indique whose dal makhani is to die for. Dal is the dish that you find in the homes, it's a staple. Most vegetarians in India have dal with every meal. Some drink it. It's incredibly nutritious and healthy. Some people serve it as a side. I like it by itself. It's a great detox meal. Just boil some rice and you've got yourself dinner. My husband was hinting the other day that we haven't had Indian food in a while, and then he mentioned how much he would love it if I made dal. We get our fair share of dal in our diet but it always comes from my mother or my mother in-law. There are endless ways of making dal (and spelling it), and I wanted to create my own. If there is one thing I have learned about dal over the years it's that everyone's is different. I followed my mother's directions but got a bit lost along the way but everything turned out great. The colors of dal can vary, I wanted mine not a pale yellow, but a rich orange (then why does it look brown up there?), and I wanted it thicker and not as watery as it often is. It can also be prepared extremely simple. When you get sick in India all they let you eat is dal and rice, with some yogurt. Dal and rice, dal and rice, and I never get sick of it. Sometimes when I would be so sick of eating heavy meals I'd pretend my stomach hurt so I had an excuse to eat dal and rice. This recipe is for moong dal, a great variety that cooks the fastest of most lentils. You can even cook dal with the rice, but that's another time and place. I decided to put squash in mine, as I love Indian squash. It was called Long Squash at the Korean market, and I've also seen it called Indian Squash. I'll include it with these instructions, but you can easily leave it out. Lots of vegetables can be added, like spinach.
1 cup moong dal (this will be enough for at least 4 servings)
1 long squash, seeds removed, peeled, cubed, soak in bowl of water
1 white onion
1 green chili (optional)
2 garlic cloves
t fresh grated ginger
1/2 c crush tomatoes, or a fresh chopped tomato, or you could add a T of tomato paste
t cumin seeds
1 t each of Indian spices: turmeric, red chili powder, ground cumin and ground cilantro
Sautee half a white onion in a pot or dutch oven. Add a spoon of turmeric, then dal, sprinkle with salt. Toss in a fresh green chili, sliced (seeds removed if you like). Cover with water. You want the dal swimming in the water, and you can add as it cooks and absorbs it depending on how thick you want it. Let simmer for about 20 minutes or so. I like my dal very tender and soft so I let it cook for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large sautee pan, heat some oil and cumin seeds together and cover. Wait for them to pop, then add half a chopped white onion and let brown. Then add fresh garlic and ginger. Next spoon in the spices and let roast in the center of the pan. Add tomatoes, let cook down. Toss in squash if you are using, and let cook for several minutes. Back to the pot with the dal. If you want a smoother dal, place immersion blender in the pot and puree for a bit. I pureed a bit but still wanted the texture of most of the dal. Now slide in everything from the sautee pan into the pot with the dal and let cook together, until squash is tender. I added some chopped fresh cilantro at the end but this is optional. You can also add a bit of butter for a little indulgence.
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