I know I’ve told you how my Grandma is the best cook I know. Which is why when I’m home, I have to follow her around the kitchen with a weighing scale, a notepad and a camera. When I fly in (and for every day that I’m here) she always asks me what I want her to cook. And my answer is always the same.
Dahl. I could eat Grandma’s dahl every day. If you’re picturing the stodgy dahl that you get with roti canai, you’re probably wondering why I’d ask to eat that week in, week out. But shop dahl is just not the same as Grandma’s. It starts with buying the dahl, or lentils. Despite not having lived in the area for years, we go all the way to the Modern Store in Brickfields – a small shoplot that, surprise surprise, looks nothing like it’s name. Its aisles are cluttered with all things Indian, and it’s always really crowded in here. Grandma chatters away to the staff in fluent Tamil while explaining to me in English how to choose murungaka (moringa or drumsticks). “You must twist them, if cannot twist then you know this is old one.” The Indian man asks Grandma why her granddaughter doesn’t speak Tamil and gives me a look that suggests I’d make a very poor choice of wife.
Grandma says that you need two types of dahl to get the right taste. Not Australian dahl though, that’s the cheap stuff that they use to make dahl for selling because it’s starchy. She uses a half-half mix of yellow Toor dahl and smaller orange Masoor dahl (called red lentils here in Australia.) UPDATE 2020: Grandma says it’s acceptable to just use red lentils – this is her preferred method now.
When we lived in the old house, technically squatter housing I believe, Grandma had a big murungaka tree out the back. Despite us kids offering to go and pluck them for her, she’d say no, hike up her sarung and proceed to climb the tree. She did this until they day we moved, she must have been almost sixty then.
I’m not sure you can get all the stuff for dahl where you might be, but if you can it’s a great staple recipe. It’s a simple weeknight dinner with white rice, or an elaborate one if combined with other Indian curries.
G
Grandma’s Dahl
Ingredients
- 90 g yellow lentils (Toor dahl) or just substitute red lentils
- 90 g red lentils also called Masore dahl
- 5 cloves garlic peeled and halved
- 3 slices ginger 0.5cm each
- 2 carrots peeled and cut into 2cm rounds
- 1 potato cut into 3cm cubes
- 1 drumstick, cut into 5cm sticks optional (or use a handful other vegetable of your choice – cauliflower, etc)
- 1 tsp good quality curry powder
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- ¼ tsp tumeric powder
- ½ tsp stock powder
- 4 cm square of tamarind pulp
- 2 dried red chillies cut in half
- ½ tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 small onion quartered and thinly sliced
- 15 curry leaves
Instructions
- Place dahl in a bowl and pour over cold water until it is 3cm above dahl. Leave to soak for 1-4 hours, but not more – it will make the dahl hard (I have no idea why this is, but it's true – I've tried it).
- Drain the dahl. Place dahl in a pot with garlic and ginger.
- Add cold water to come up to about 3cm above dahl. Boil on medium heat for 10-15 minutes. If the mixture gets too dry, add more hot water – cold water will slow the cooking process.
- Add carrots, potatoes and drumstick and boil until all the vegetables are tender.
- Soak tamarind in hot water for ten minutes, then strain and reserve the juice. Discard seeds and pulp.
- Add curry powder, chilli powder, tumeric powder and stock powder and stir. Add half the tamarind juice and taste for balance – it should be ever so slightly sour. Add more to taste.
- In a separate frypan, heat 2 tbsp oil. Add mustard seeds and dried chili – cook for 15 seconds, then add sliced onion. Fry until onion is lightly browned on the edges, then add curry leaves and turn off the heat.
- Add this mixture to the dahl pot and stir through. Cook for a further 2-5 minutes and serve.
that looks sooooo delicious!