| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 50 min |
| Prep: | 10 min |
| Cook: | 40 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup ghee or clarified butter
- 1 1/2 cups diced onions
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 jalapeno peppers, cored, seeded and minced
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted and crushed
- 2 cups orange lentils
- 2 tablespoons finely minced ginger
- 2 tablespoons Garam Masala, recipe follows
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- 3/4 cup diced tomatoes
- 1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1/2 tablespoon whole cloves
- 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds
- 3 tablespoons cumin seeds
- 3 tablespoons coriander seeds
- Four 3-inch cinnamon sticks
- 1/4 cup dried red chiles
- 1/2 tablespoon freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the ghee and stir-fry the onions just until wilted, do not brown. Add the garlic, jalapeno, cumin, lentils, ginger, curry powder, salt, pepper, sugar and bay leaf. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes, until the herbs and spices bloom (aromatic). Add the tomatoes and deglaze with the vinegar. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer and cook until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasoning with cumin, salt, pepper and sugar.
- In a large saute pan, combine the black peppercorns, cloves, cardamom seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cinnamon sticks, and dried red chiles. Over medium heat, cook just until slightly toasted, stirring constantly. Turn off heat and stir in the grated nutmeg.
- Transfer to a food processor and grind to a fine powder. Pass through a fine strainer. Allow to cool to room temperature. Store in an airtight jar. Use as needed.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 496 |
| Total Fat | 15 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 68 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 12 g |
| Sugar | 12 g |
| Protein | 26 g |
| Cholesterol | 31 mg |
| Sodium | 1137 mg |
Reviews
I couldn’t figure out when to add the garam masala….. and the body of the recipe says add curry powder- but no where does it say how much. Thank you.
Dal, or How I used fifteen dollars in spices to dress up a dollar of lentils.
Wish the nutritional information was provided with the recipe, very delish!
This is my favorite. Although I understand why some people prefer less chicken stock, I like the consistency when the soup is less thick. I use a little less salt, but otherwise follow recipe exactly. Toasting and crushing cumin seeds is crucial. It’s so good!!!!
its good
This is my go-to dal recipe…and I have tried MANY! I have probably make it over 40 times and receive huge compliments on it. I personally replace about 1/4 of the amount of liquid for coconut milk, and blend half of the dal once cooked. It gives a nice creamier consistency. Never had any issues with the liquid/ lentil ratio. Cheers!
thank you so much for Dal recipe giving such amazing and luscious recipies… I appriciate your write up.
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OH boy,this recipe ratio is way off. For 8 cups of stock you need ONE POUND of red lentils. Everything else on the recipe is fine,just add more lentils and simmer for 40 mins and you got enough to choke an elephant with. Peace.
This was very good- I will make it again. I made half a recipe. I used water ( only 3.5 cups) instead of stock and used ground cumin. I agree this was a bit salty but will pair this with rice and some steamed veggies so that should help with the salt content
8 cups is too much stock!. I had lentil soup instead of Dal. Taste was good, but perhaps a bit too salty from cooking so long to try and obtain thicker consistency, even after using reduced sodium stock. Was hoping to retain some of the orange color from the lentils, but it cooks out to a refried bean appearance.