Chana dal with cauliflower

Continuing with the dal theme and following on from the Dal bhat that I reported on in September, here is another vegetarian recipe. It reflects our increasing move towards a less meat based diet. I am sure that there are recipes out there but this one was put together with the stuff that we had available. Not a little unlike the Collector of Tales in that his preference was always to make do with what was to hand, although in his case the concept of a no meat ( or fish) meal was rather alien.

Chana dal is a Hindi term for both the lentils also known as Bengal Gram) and a spicy dish that is made from them. These are yellow coloured lentils that are made by splitting black chick peas and removing their skins. they are nutty and rich in protein.

The benefit of this recipe is that most of the work is done in the oven in one pot other than soaking the dal.

Ingredients

• 1 cup chana dal

• 1 cup split red lentils

• cold water ( 2 or 3 cups see method)

• 1 medium red onion finely diced

• 250g cauliflower curd

• 4 cloves garlic crushed and sliced

• 20g fresh ginger diced

• 4 birds eye chilies

• 150g ghee

• 3 fresh tomatoes chopped up small

• 1tbsp ground cumin

• 1 tbsp ground coriander

• 1 tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp paprika (I used smoked paprika)

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1/2 tsp ground mace

• 2 tbsp dried methi

• salt to taste (pinch)

Method

Rinse the chana dal a few times until the water runs clean. Bring a pan of water to boil and the tip in the dal and cover and turn off the heat immediately. Leave to soak for at least 30 minutes. I left if for about an hour and a half.

When soaked , bring the pan back up to boil and simmer for at least 30 minutes or until the dal is cooked.(Try crushing some of the lentils and if they do they are done). Drain and set aside.

Rinse the red lentils in water to remove fine particles and set aside.

Heat the oven to 160C (fan)

Add the ghee to a large heatproof dish and place in the oven when at temperature to melt.

Add the diced onion and give it a stir in the ghee and place back in the oven for about 10 minutes before adding the rinsed red lentils. Stir and leave a further 10 minutes.

Add the garlic, ginger and slice the chillies lengthways to the dish and stir once more before returning for a further 10 minutes .

Add the spices and the tomatoes and stir well before adding the cauliflower and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.

Add at least two cups of water and stri before returning to the oven for 10 minutes and then add the drained chana dal and place back in the oven for a further 10 minutes, keeping an eye on the absobancy of the lentils. If the mix looks dry add more water.

When the dish is looking ready, add a pinch of salt and stir in the dried methi and then serve. We had a small quantity of plain boiled rice but you could equally use roti or some other flatbread.

Observations

Really harty meal full of flavour. Whether the addition of stock would have enhanced it coudl be tried another time but I did not think anything was lost. The chana dal benefited from soaking in boiling water. I already had cooked rice to hand but it would have. been just as easy to cook the rice in with the red lentils in the oven. That would have required a close fitting lit to enable steaming also.