Easy red lentil dahl

This simple, nutritious red lentil dahl requires just 5 minutes hands-on time to create a rich vegetarian dinner that simmers away on the stovetop. Serve with a homemade tadka that infuses oil with cumin, curry leaves, garlic and chilli to add mouthwatering flavour.

• serves

  4

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Stream free On Demand

Quick Comfort Foods

Watch the full episode here

G

Watch the full episode here

G

Ingredients

• 1 cup red lentils (mansoor dal)
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• Pinch of asafoetida powder (optional)
• 1 tsp salt, plus extra to season
• 1 L water
• ½ tsp garam masala
• ½ cup roughly chopped coriander
• Your favourite Indian pickles or chutneys, to serve
• Rice or Indian breads, to serve

For the tadka

• ¼ cup vegetable oil (or mustard oil or ghee)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 6 curry leaves (optional)
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 dried red chillies
• ½ tsp mild Kashmiri or Korean chilli powder
• Pinch of asafoetida powder (optional)

Soaking time: 1 hour

Instructions

1. Rinse the lentils a few times with cold water and then soak for 1 hour in plenty of cold water, then drain. If you don’t have time to soak the lentils, you can skip this step and just cook them for longer in step 2.
2. Combine the soaked, drained lentils, tomato, onion, ginger, turmeric, asafoetida (if using) and salt in a large saucepan. Pour over 1 litre of water. Bring to the boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are creamy. Add an extra 15 minutes cook-time you have not soaked the lentils. Stir through the garam masala and coriander, then remove from the heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
3. To make the tadka, heat the oil in a small saucepan and add the cumin seeds and curry leaves (if using) and fry until the cumin seeds start to brown. Add the remaining ingredients and stir for a minute until the garlic is just starting to brown. Pour the tadka over the dahl. Serve with pickles, chutneys, rice or bread.

 

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

Want more from The Cook Up?

• Stream free here at SBS On Demand.

• Get the show recipes, articles and more here.

• Cook more Adam Liaw recipes here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Quick Comfort Foods

Watch the full episode here

G

Watch the full episode here

G