Sourdough starter is used to make this cinnamon-raisin bread rather than commercial yeast.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- 1 cup red lentils
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup onion, thinly sliced, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped, divided
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 bay leaf
- ¾ cup cherry tomatoes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 (2 inch) whole serrano chile peppers (Optional)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Wash lentils in a strainer. Combine lentils and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 of the sliced onions and garlic, reserving the rest for later. Stir in turmeric, bay leaf, tomatoes, and salt. Add chiles, leaving them whole to add flavor or cut in half to add heat. When mixture begins to boil, reduce heat to a simmer; cook until lentils break apart and thicken slightly, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium heat until oil shimmers. Add reserved sliced onions; cook and stir until onion has softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; continue cooking and stirring until onion is very tender and dark brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Stir in reserved garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant and tender, about 2 minutes.
- Add onion-garlic mixture into cooked lentils and stir. Garnish with chopped cilantro.
Reviews
Easy peasy
Really easy to make, and tastes good too. A keeper!
I added more garlic, and it made it much better. Instructions could be a little clearer, but otherwise great!
Followed the recipe. Switched out cherry tomatoes for roma tomatoes. Authentic flavor!
My husband and I both really enjoyed this for dinner tonight. I misread the instructions and put the garlic in the fry pan at the same time as the onion. Still had a nice flavor, after I scooped out the burnt garlic. ?? The dish is so flavorful and easy to make. I actually had everything in my kitchen for the meal tonight! I served it over rice and alongside tandoori chicken- Yum!
Not as flavorful as I had hoped, even though I used extra Tumeric and bay leaves. I want to try again but with more Serrano chilis, I was expecting a little more spice. Still a good, easy recipe and I loved the garlic taste.
I used canned cubed tomatoes. It was very good but I let it cook maybe 1 hr. The lentils have to be very cooked. Served it with rice and coconut curry chicken. Heaven
This needed a healthy dose of salt, but the flavors were actually quite nice.
Good recipe! I think it needed more salt but other than that it was delicious.
I really loved the flavor of this Dhal. I added a bit more garlic (2 cloves), 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper and 1/4 tsp ground coriander seeds, in addition to the fresh. We enjoyed this.
The real thing is great (but no tomatoes) but here is my non-authentic shortcut for this dish. Pour a can of lentils, liquid & all into a saucepan and warm gently. Fry 1 cup chopped onions in a little veg oil and add to lentils. Sprinkly 1 tablespoon (more or less) curry powder on top and stir. Add salt & pepper to taste. With a hand- blender mix until smooth and pour over cooked rice – real comfort nursery food! Reminds me of my childhood in India
It had beautiful color and a wonderful smell. For some reason there was a bit too much bitterness. I’m not sure if it was the turmeric or what, but it was in every bite and I couldn’t shake it!
This is really good – I am really surprised! Will definitely make again and super easy as well!
This was really easy to throw together. I made it on a whim and I had all of the ingredients at home already. It seems like quite a simple dish, but the caramelized onions and fresh coriander really give the dish something extra so don’t leave those out! I will probably double the caramelized onions next time. I increased the turmeric, as per another reviewer’s suggestion. And… I had to use up some butternut squash in the fridge, so I grated about a cup of that and threw it into the pot with the tomatoes. I don’t think it really affected the flavour or texture of the dish at all. Not ‘authentic,’ I know, but it DID make this dish even healthier. I still prefer spicier curries to dhal, but this recipe is still a keeper due to it’s simplicity. Thanks for sharing!
A few things to note: 1. Traditional (and in my opinion, more flavorful) daal is made with chhana daal, this can be found in the ethnic section. 2. cherry tomatoes are never used in bengali cooking, I recommend 1 small tomato, diced. 3. I recommend using 1 large onion in the whole dish, 3/4 in the lentils and the remainder when frying up at the end. 4. The heat level for this dish is not high with serrano peppers. I would recommend using the small hot peppers found at an Indian store. 5. 1/2 tsp of turmeric is very mild to me. I would use 1-2 tsp myself, as it’s very healthy for you and doesn’t have a strong flavor.
This is delicious! I had never cooked anything Indian before and was a little skeptical but it turned out great. Advice to others…do not buy the turmeric from the spice aisle like I almost did. Buy it from the Oriental food section. The difference? One 3 oz. bottle for $9 or one 14oz. bag for $3.
**** Very tasty
This dhal is generally made with channa dhal,but will taste good with red lentil.good dish to serve with plain rice and dry potato subji.bengalies make sweet tomato chutany alond with it as side dish. chhaya