my favorite dal

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Hafiz

This is one of my favorite meals. I make some version of this dish nearly every week. It is warming and nourishing any time of the year without being heavy at all. It is very flexible – you can swap out Swiss chard leaves for the spinach, you can use canned tomatoes instead of fresh or leave them out altogether, you can play around with the aromatics and add a bit of fresh ginger if you’d like. You can use red lentils instead of mung dal though the texture won’t be as creamy.

If you plant chile peppers in your garden, you know that they can be incredibly prolific. Just a few plants can yield hundreds of peppers. Before the first frost last October, I harvested all the remaining chiles and put them in a plastic bag in the freezer. Grating them while still frozen on a microplane works well for stir fries, dals and soups. They retain their heat and have surprisingly fresh flavor. They lose their texture, of course, but I love having an endless supply of my own chiles all year.

The spices are also flexible. Depending on the season and my mood, I may make this dish very simply with only toasted cumin, but in the winter I like to add the warm flavors of garam masala. Today’s version starts with toasting cumin, coriander, and mustard seeds blended with cinnamon verum, cloves, cardamom, cayenne, and turmeric. There happened to be a bit of caraway left in the spice grinder and I enjoyed the extra dimension it gave to the dish.

Despite temps in the single digits (°F), this cilantro that I haphazardly planted in October last year has survived the entire winter. I love walking out to my garden and seeing this seemingly tender and fragile plant thriving even after being frozen solid a few weeks ago. There are life lessons in the garden and I particularly love that some of the most tender plants are also the hardiest survivors.

mung bean dal with greens and warm spices
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mung bean dal with greens and warm spices

Recipe by Keri – adapted from Deborah Madison, The New Vegetarian Cooking for EveryoneCourse: Lunch, DinnerCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

40

minutes

A simple, nutritious dal with greens, tomatoes and an intoxicating blend of warm, earthy spices.

Ingredients

  • warm spice blend

  • 2 tsp cumin seeds

  • 2 tsp coriander seeds

  • 1 tsp brown mustard seeds

  • 1 tsp green cardamom pods

  • 2 or 3 cinnamon verum shavings

  • 8 cloves

  • 1 tsp ground turmeric

  • 1/2 tsp cayenne

  • mung dal

  • 1 cup split mung beans, picked over and rinsed well

  • 1 tsp kosher salt

  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric

  • 2 tbsp ghee or coconut oil

  • 1 small onion, finely diced

  • 1-2 cloves garlic grated on a microplane

  • 1-2 green chiles, minced

  • 2 tsp fresh ginger, grated (optional)

  • 2 tsp warm spice blend or purchased garam masala or curry powder

  • 1 large tomato, seeded and diced or a 15 oz can diced tomatoes

  • 5-8 ounces spinach leaves (or try swiss chard or another green), chopped

  • fresh lemon or lime juice to taste

  • cilantro leaves

Directions

  • To make the warm spice blend, heat a skillet over medium heat and add the cumin, coriander, mustard seeds, cardamom pods, cloves, and cinnamon shavings. Toast until the spices are fragrant and beginning to smoke. Put toasted spices in a grinder with the cayenne and turmeric and process until finely and evenly ground. Set aside 2-3 tsp and place the remaining blend in an airtight container.
  • To make the dal, place the split mung beans in a heavy pot with 4.5 cups of water. Bring to a boil and skim off the scum that rises to the surface. This is completely normal and happens when cooking most beans and lentils. After boiling for about 10 minutes when most of the scum has been removed, turn the heat down to a simmer and add the turmeric. I find that if I add the turmeric before skimming, a lot of it gets removed and I want to retain all of the anti-inflammatory power of this spice as possible.
  • While the mung dal is simmering, heat the ghee or coconut oil in another pot. When it is hot and shimmering, add the onions and cook until translucent and just beginning to take on golden color- about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic, chiles, ginger (if using), and warm spice blend. Cook until fragrant being very careful not to burn the garlic.
  • Add the tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes or until the tomato is soft and melting into the sauce. It may be necessary to add a bit of water at this stage to prevent the mixture from catching on the bottom of the pan and burning.
  • Pour the dal into the tomato spice mix. Add the chopped spinach or alternate green and cook until completely wilted but still vibrant green.
  • Serve with your choice of basmati rice, naan, yogurt, chutney, and fresh cilantro leaves and a sprinkle of cumin salt.