Recipe | Red Lentil Stew

I love beans and lentils and incorporate them into various dishes, but this red one called masoor dal is my favourite. Making it into a thick creamy like stew or soup and served with plain rice is not only super easy to cook but delicious. Best part, you can choose to cook it quickly or slowly depending on how you are feeling. These red lentils are not only delicious but also very healthy. They have high levels of protein, amino acid, fibre, potassium, iron, and antioxidant. This was one of those meals my mother used to cook whenever our family was taking a break from eating meat. To her, this is the best detox. Here’s the recipe.

Recipe: Red Lentil Stew also called ‘Dal fry’ 
serves 2–4

Ingredients 

1 cup Red split Masoor Dal washed
1 medium size onion diced
2–3 Thai chillies (optional)
2 medium size tomatoes diced (4, if using Roma tomatoes)
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter) or olive oil
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ curry powder
Salt pepper to taste

Method

Fry onion in ghee until golden brown. Add Thai chillies, turmeric and curry powder and let it cook for a few seconds. Add tomato paste and fry for a minute. (I usually add tomato paste when tomatoes are not in season, and sometimes substitute the paste for tomatoes altogether. When replacing the tomatoes with the paste I use 1 tablespoon.)  Add dal, salt, and pepper. Stir for a few seconds. Add 2 ½ cups of water. (If you want the stew thicker you can cut it down to 2 cups. For soup, you will have to add at least 3 cups for every cup of dal. You can also substitute the water for stock.) Stir the dal in water for a couple of minutes and cover. If you want the dal to cook quickly you can leave the gas at medium and turn to medium-low once it is boiling. This will take about 20–30 mins. If you are willing to let it cook slowly, turn the gas to medium-low immediately after covering. This will take 45 mins to an hour. Once dal is soft, the stew will thicken itself and that’s when you know its ready.

5 minutes before serving the dal, traditionally, we have to make something called Tarka and add it to the Dal. It is just frying a couple of diced cloves of garlic and chilli peppers in ghee until the garlic is brown. Once the garlic is brown, immediately add to the dal. It will be sizzling. This adds that extra flavour and spiciness. Serve with plain rice or naan or have it on its own.