Masoor Dal Indian Food Cook-Along Extravaganza

[Anonymous No.18894009]

Good morning sirs, today I will be cooking masoor dal. Masoor dal means red lentils.

[Anonymous No.18894020]

>>18894009
Tell me it's already made and you're not taking pics in real time like a fucking n00b.

[Anonymous No.18894042]

>>18894009
Ingredients (mostly from left to right)
>Masoor Dal
>Ghee
>Yellow Onion
>Lime
>Salt
>Corriander (fresh)
>Serrano chilis
>Canned tomatoes
>dried red chilis
>ginger garlic paste
>garam masala
>cumin seed (whole)
Kasmiri chili powder
>corriander (ground seed)
>Hing AKA Asafoetida
Not pictured:
>Dried kasuri methi
>turmeric powder
>probably something else I'll remember later


A few notes:
Red onions are more traditional for most Indian cooking. I need to use up my yellow onions though.
Serrano chilis are a Mexican chili but they work just fine in Indian food. You can find more traditional green chilis at your local Indian grocery store. Some traditionalists will be appalled at the idea of using something like jalapeños, but they're just fine.

>>18894020
It is, sir. I actually made it last night.

[Anonymous No.18894045]

This is what the masoor dal looks like up close.

[Anonymous No.18894053]

I always give my dal a quick soak for a minute or two and then rinse it to get it cleaned off.

[Anonymous No.18894065]

While the dal is soaking, I prepare my spice blend. I like to prepare my spice blend ahead of time because it makes it less likely I'll forget some spices. Normally, you'd add garam masala at the end because it's already toasted and doesn't need more cooking. This garam masala I bought was not toasted ahead of time so I'm mixing it in with the other spies.

I'll post the full recipe including the spice blend at the end of this thread.

[Anonymous No.18894097]

After rinsing the dal off, I put it on the stove with 3 cups of water for a 3 cups water to 1 cup dal ratio. I bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.

While the dal cooks on a pot on the stove, I use the time to prep my ingredients. I'm dicing the onion, chopping the chili, and redicing the tomatoes. The tomato can says diced, but it's a scam because they're big huge chunks. You gotta dice them extra. I prefer to just buy the whole canned tomatoes and do all the cutting myself rather than these partially diced ones.

Unless tomatoes are in season, I always use canned. Out of season grocery store tomatoes absolutely suck and are completely inferior to canned 'matoes. Even in season grocery store tomatoes are usually questionable. Buy them at a farmers' market or grow your own.

[Anonymous No.18894100]

Next, I heat up my pan and dump some ghee in it. If you think that's a lot of fat, you should see how much Indian restaurants in America and the UK use.

[Anonymous No.18894105]

>>18894100
Man, that pic looks like shit. Sorry bros. Hopefully this one will look better.

[Anonymous No.18894108]

>>18894105
Damn, that pic looked like crap too.

[Anonymous No.18894111]

Time to sizzle some cumin and dried red chili. This is called tempering. You want to be careful not to burn the cumin seeds or pepper because the burned taste will screw up the whole dish.

[Anonymous No.18894120]

good morning sir. very nice thread and informative . you are not a bloody benchod

[Anonymous No.18894124]

>>18894045
we just call those red lentils here

[Anonymous No.18894155]

Next, add your onions and green chilis. I usually add my green chilis at this stage, some people add them later after the onions are mostly cooked. For less heat, don't chop your green chili. Just cut a slit in it.

[Anonymous No.18894181]

You want to get your onions to sort of a golden color. They should be soft and translucent, but you don't want to fully caramelize them. Unfortunately, I didn't take a good picture to show you guys the level I got them to.

Next I added a some garlic ginger paste. I should really just make my own garlic ginger paste, but I'm lazy. Unless you cook a lot of Indian food, do not buy a big ass jar of ginger garlic paste.

Keep cooking until the "raw" smell of ginger garlic paste goes away. This usually takes a minute or two.

[Anonymous No.18894185]

After the raw smell goes away, add your spice mix and get the spices nicely mixed in with everything. I wish I had taken a better picture so you could see the doneness of the onions at this stage.

[Anonymous No.18894201]

Be back in about 10 minutes. I gotta do the dishes and get some water.

[Anonymous No.18894241]

In the meantime, let's see how the dal is doing.

[Anonymous No.18894294]

>>18894241
You're not making a puree so you still want to still be able to see individual lentils even though they're quite soft. You should be able to take one between thumb and forefinger, give them a rub together, and turn the lentil into mush. If the lentil still has some shape when you do this, simmer longer. Cooking time can vary a lot depending on the type of dal and how old it is. I think these took about 45 minutes.

If you've got too much water left when they're done, take a fine mesh strainer and pour liquid through it. The liquid will go through the mesh and the dal will remain in the strainer. I err on the side of having too much water rather than not enough after a disaster where I cooked off all the water a few years ago. As long as you're paying attention, you can just add more water if it runs low.

[Anonymous No.18894296]

>>18894155
Nice work OP, im Paki myself and enjoy cutting the onions long wise (crescent moon shape) this allows the onions to be thinner and melt easier in the final dish. Up to preference though same as the oil, i like making mine rather lean (less surface area on the onions helps with that) . Also add your chilis at the boiling phase to prevent burning, and add a few extra whole ones if you like it really spicy.

Great thread 9/10

[Anonymous No.18894305]

Now that the spices are all mixed in with the onions, dump your tomatoes in and start mixing. The acid in the tomatoes will sort of freeze the cooking of the onions so they won't turn into a blackened mess.

You want to cook the tomatoes until they're nice and mushy. You should be able to see the oil separating from the 'matoes.

[Anonymous No.18894376]

Some details on the spices I added before the tomatoes:

Coriander powder: it's made from ground coriander seeds. I suck at describing spices, but you probably already know what this one tastes like.
Kashmiri chili powder: this is a pretty mild chili powder made from Kashmiri chilis. It has a strong red color. Flavorwise, it's kind of like paprika with a very mild amount of heat. You could also use a hotter chili powder (usually just sold as chili powder at your local Indian grocery store). Do not use American style chili powder. It's got a bunch of stuff besides ground chilis in it and does not have the sort of flavor profile you want. Save it for things like tex-mex.
Turmeric: turmeric is fun because it's extremely yellow and can turn all sorts of things like your stove, clothes, and hands yellow if you get it everywhere. It has an earthy flavor.
Hing AKA Asafoetida: It has an allium (that's the plant family things like onions and garlic are from) sort of flavor and a little goes a long way.
Salt: I err on the side of caution and just use a little salt in the initial spice blend. It's easy to add more salt, it's really hard to fix a dish that's too salty. Some people fear salt, but unless you've got salt sensitive blood pressure, it's not something you need to worry about. If your Indian cooking tastes bland, odds are the problem is that you didn't use enough salt rather than not using enough spices. Salt brings out the flavors of spices, vegetables, lentils, beans etc.
Garam masala: Garam means warm, masala means spice. Garam masala can vary a lot and every brand will use different spices and in different amounts. It's a spice mix of ingredients like cumin, mace, cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise. Every mix will be made differently. Most of the time, it's made from spices that have already been toasted in which case you should add it at the end of cooking. Mine seems to be made from spices that weren't toasted before they were ground so I added it earlier.

[Anonymous No.18894378]

Tomatoes getting to mush mode

[Anonymous No.18894387]

>>18894378
Once the tomatoes were done (they were either really close or done in the previous pic) I added the dal, mixed it all up, and simmered it a bit longer.

[Anonymous No.18894391]

OH NOES!
IMAGINE THE STENCH!

[Anonymous No.18894400]

>>18894391
Fuck this guy.

Don't listen, OP. Please go on!

[Anonymous No.18894408]

>>18894009
Wow that's a lot of ingredients. When I make masoor dal I only use like 10 ingredients

[Anonymous No.18894411]

>>18894387
The dal will thicken as it cools. While it simmers like in the previous pic, make sure there's enough salt.

Add some chopped coriander (fresh) and squeeze in some lime juice or mix in some amchur (dried mango) powder and serve. I recommend serving it with roti or basmati rice. Naan isn't actually that common in India.

>>18894400
The dal was done at that point, I didn't take more pictures :(

>>18894391
I will show you my designated shitting toilet

[Anonymous No.18894416]

Aww crap, I forgot to mention to crush some kasuri methi (dried fenugreek) between your palms at the end and mix it in. You can see the box of kasuri methi on the left in this pic.

[Anonymous No.18894421]

>>18894411
Dang bro you shoulda taken a photo of a portioned plate!

It looks good to me but I woulda liked some meat!

[Anonymous No.18894425]

>>18894421
dal is vegetarian dumb mutt

[Anonymous No.18894457]

>>18894411
>I recommend serving it with roti or basmati rice.
Also, for side dishes:
I like kachumber which is a salad made with cucumbers, onions, tomatoes. It's kind of like the Indian version of pico de gallo. Raita is a great side dish too. Cucumber raita is probably the most common kind in the US, but there are a ton of different ways to make it. I eat it as a side dish although in America it's sometimes used as a dip.

>>18894425
how rude!

Full recipe in next post

[Anonymous No.18894582]

>>18894457
>Indian version of pico de gallo
More like pico de puko

[Anonymous No.18894589]

RECIPE:
Makes at least 4 servings.

For the lentils:
1 cup masoor dal (red lentils)
3 cups water (this is what I used for stovetop. Pressure cookers are common in Indian cooking, but since I don’t have one at the moment, please look up how much water to use if using one. I don’t want to give out a wrong number

For the recipe (ingredients in order of adding to to pan)

3-4 tablespoons ghee (use a different oil to make it vegan)
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 or 2 dried red chilis, broken in half. Some people would remove the seeds. I don’t.
1 medium onion, diced (I got a bit over a cup of onion out of mine). Red onion is recommended but
1 green chili, diced or slit. Dice it for more heat, slit it for less. An Indian green chili like jwala or a Serrano chili will give you a more authentic flavor, but feel free to use something jalapeño if that’s what you have or like.
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste (alternatively, just mince an equivalent amount of fresh ginger and garlic and use that.)
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 big pinch of hing (asafetida)
3/4 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder. Use a chili powder just sold as “chili powder” at your Indian grocery store for more heat. Do not use American chili powder which has a flavor profile better suited for tex-mex. If I were using a hotter Indian “chili powder” I’d use less than 1 tsp. Kashmiri chili powder will always be labeled “Kashmiri Chili Powder” rather than just “Chili Powder”
Salt (small amount, you will add more at the end.)
1 can worth of tomatoes, diced
1-2 tsp of dried kasuri methi (fenugreek)
1 or 2 tsp of lime juice (could also use lemon or amchur powder)
2-3 tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves

Part 1/?

[Anonymous No.18894591]

>>18894009

[Anonymous No.18894593]

>>18894111
Are you supposed to reconstitute the chili first or just throw it in dry? I tried using them in a dal once but it was inedibly hard.

[Anonymous No.18894598]

>>18894582
Imagine being this afraid of a vegetable

[Anonymous No.18894611]

>>18894593
You don't actually eat the dried chilis. You don't want to eat larger ingredients used in tempering like whole cloves, star anise, or bay leaf, either.

[Anonymous No.18894619]

Get a load of this guy here at >>18894589, he be goin' for the assofahteedah!

[Anonymous No.18894650]

To make your dal (lentils):
Soak your dal for a minute or two, drain, and rinse.
Mix your water and the masoor dal. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Check every once-in-awhile to see how they’re cooking. Mine took about 45 minutes.
You still want to still be able to see individual lentils even though they're quite soft. You should be able to take one between thumb and forefinger, give them a rub together, and turn the lentil into mush. If the lentil still has some shape when you do this, simmer longer.
Once your dal is the right level of doneness, mash some of them your spoon or a mashing utensil. You don’t want to mash all of them. Remove from heat.

The rest of the dish
Heat ghee on low, add your whole cumin seeds and red chili. Make the cumin seeds crackle but do not overcook. If they’re burned, start over.
Add onions and green chili, turn your heat up to medium, and cook until the onions are a nice golden color.
Add your ginger garlic paste and cook until the raw smell goes away.
Add your spices (turmeric, coriander powder, garam masala*, Kashmiri chili powder, hing, a little salt) and mix until it’s nicely blended.
Add your tomatoes, cook and stir until the tomatoes are mushy and the oil is separating from the tomatoes.
Pour the dal in, reduce to low, and simmer for a few minutes. Add more water if needed and taste for salt at this point. You will likely need to add more salt. If there’s not much flavor, the problem is probably lack of salt. Salt brings out flavors and lets them shine.
Crush the kasuri methi between your palms by rubbing them together and let it fall into the pan. It helps to say voilà (wah-lah in /ck/ speak) once the last bit of kasuri methi falls in.
Add lime juice and chopped coriander
Mix everything around one final time.
Serve with roti or basmati rice.

*in most cases you would add garam masala at the end. I added it here because mine was not previously toasted.

[Anonymous No.18894664]

>>18894650
>>18894589
Boy do I hope I didn't make any typos and fuck this up

[Anonymous No.18894672]

Looks good buddy!

[Anonymous No.18894680]

>>18894672
Are you ducking with me

[Anonymous No.18894694]

>>18894680
No sir, I’m more of a chana masala guy but it looks good

[Anonymous No.18894803]

>>18894009
Why do you have a two syllable word for such a common color?

[Anonymous No.18894812]

>>18894803
Sir, have you forgotten about yellow?

[Anonymous No.18894827]

>>18894009
How does that brand of ginger garlic paste taste? I find most jars bad-tasting.

[Anonymous No.18894898]

>>18894827
It's OK. you're definitely better off making your own ginger garlic paste. I should stop being so lazy.

[Anonymous No.18894966]

>>18894411
>Naan isn't actually that common in India.

Yes it is what the fuck are you on about.

[Anonymous No.18895024]

>>18894966
Compared to roti it's not that common.

[Anonymous No.18895095]

>>18894400
DO NOT REDEEM SIR!

[Anonymous No.18895121]

>>18894966
It's a pretty big area, and nearly half of it prefers rice to breads. Then regions in the other slightly more than half has different bread preferences, which isn't always naan.

[Anonymous No.18895206]

>>18894376
I've been having trouble with Indian recipes lately. I made garam masala from whole spices recently and it's a bit more powerful relative to any other spice I'm using that's pre-ground (so basically everything except cumin seeds and mustard seeds, because those are the only whole spices I'll use since I don't have to grind them after tempering). So it's hard to get the proportions right based on a recipe where the garam masala specified may have any level of intensity. But I think your tip on salt being the problem is something I should try next, since I've never had much like for salt and so always undersalt my own cooking.

Why do the fresh chilies not have to be tempered like the dried chilies?

[Anonymous No.18895728]

>>18894966
>>18895121

I've been to India twice and had naan everywhere.

[Anonymous No.18896631]

>>18895206
If you’re making grinding your own spices, they’re going to be more flavorful than the prepackaged stuff. You can probably use around 1/3 to 1/2 of what you’d normally use. Assuming you toasted the whole spices before grinding them making garam masala, add your garam masala at the end of the recipe. You can add gradually and see how it tastes.

A lot of people fear salt, but it’s a really important ingredient. Unless you have high blood pressure or certain medical conditions like edema where you’re supposed to avoid salt, don’t worry about your salt intake. Salt should bring out the flavors in a dish. If you find yourself thinking “boy, this is salty” you’ve added too much. Next time you cook something like lentils, stew, soup, or beans, don’t add salt until the very end. Then, start adding salt a little at a time. Mix everything, give it a taste, and repeat until you’ve reached a great flavor.

Fresh chilis are tempered sometimes.

>>18895728
>>18895121
Nobody really makes naan at home though. Unleavened flatbreads like roti are much more common in day to day cooking. I did not mean to imply that nobody in India eats naan - it's found in a lot of restaurants.

[Anonymous No.18897753]

>>18896631
>Nobody really makes naan at home though. Unleavened flatbreads like roti are much more common in day to day cooking. I did not mean to imply that nobody in India eats naan - it's found in a lot of restaurants.

Ah ok. Makes sense.

[Anonymous No.18897787]

>>18894009
Sounds good. Looks like shit. Maybe show it plated next time. I'll give you a 8.3/10