Food Lust People Love: Spicy Urad Dal

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Spicy Urad Dal

This spicy urad dal is made with split and skinned black lentils, seasoned with many spices including cumin, ginger, coriander, onion and dried chili peppers.

I was racking my brain to come up with a recipe ingredient that starts with the letter U for this edition of the Alphabet Challenge when all that thinking sparked a memory. Once upon a time I had eaten at an Indian restaurant in Dubai and was served dal makhani. It was a beautiful dark color, rich and flavorful and unlike any dal I had enjoyed before.

My only experience prior had been with dals that were yellow! I offer this recipe as evidence: My Tarka Dal or Curried Lentils.

Of course, when I got home, I did a little google search to discover that dal makhani is made with whole black lentils or urad dal. Further investigation revealed that urad dal can be purchased whole - with the black skins still intact, split – with skins intact but with the inside exposed, and "white" – with skins removed.

Now I had my ingredient name for U, but where to buy some? Had I been back in Houston where Indian supermarkets abound, no problem. But in Jersey, we aren’t so fortunate. Amazon to the rescue again.

I ordered white urad dal as well as some asafoetida which is recommended when cooking legumes of any sort, including lentils, as it is meant to meant to help with digestion and, ahem, gas.

Spicy Urad Dal

Despite the urad dal I bought being skinned and split, every recipe I found assured me that I could not skip the soaking step. So I did not and you shouldn’t either! Soaking the dal not only reduces the cooking time but also makes the dal more easily digestible. Even with soaking, this did not break down to a mush like other lentils. We really liked the texture.

Ingredients

To cook the dal:

1 cup or 220g white urad dal (split and skinned black lentils)

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Small knob ginger, peeled and grated

For the tempering aka tarka:

3 tablespoons ghee

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

¼ teaspoon asafoetida (also known as hing)

¼ teaspoon kalongi

2-3 dry red chili peppers

½ medium onion, chopped

5-6 curry leaves

1 teaspoon cayenne

To serve:

1 tablespoon lime juice

chopped cilantro

Method

Rinse the dal well with water until it runs almost clear. This takes a few times.

Soak it in 4 cups or 960ml water for 30 minutes.

Drain the water and add the dal to a large pot. Pour in 26 oz or 750ml water. Bring to the boil, and use a slotted spoon to remove the scum that rises to the surface.

Add in the turmeric powder, coriander powder, salt and grated ginger.

Stir to combine and turn the stove to simmer.

Put on the lid, but leave it partially ajar, to prevent the pot from boiling over. Simmer for about 30 minutes, checking it every so often to give it a stir. Add a little more water if necessary so the lentils don’t dry out.

When the lentils are cooked, we make the tarka. Heat the ghee in a small pan over medium-high heat. Once the ghee is hot, add the asafoetida, cumin seeds and kalongi and let them crackle for 4-5 seconds.

Add the dry red chili peppers and chopped onions and cook until the onions turn golden brown, stirring frequently.

Quickly stir in the curry leaves and cayenne.

Immediately add the tarka to the cooked dal.

Stir then add the lime juice.

Garnish the dal with chopped cilantro and serve hot with rice, naan or chapati.

Enjoy!

Welcome to the 21th edition of the 2024 Alphabet Challenge, brought to you by the letter U. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the U recipes below: