Gujarati Sweet and Sour Lentils
This delicious stewed dish strikes an elegant balance between sweet and tart flavors.
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Credit: James Oseland
1 cup toor dal
1⁄4 cup ghee or peanut oil
1⁄4 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
3⁄4 tsp. cumin seeds
1⁄2 tsp. black mustard seeds
1⁄4 tsp. asafetida
1⁄4 tsp. fenugreek seeds
16 fresh curry leaves
2 chiles de árbol, broken in half
2 plum tomatoes, cored
and roughly chopped
4 tbsp. finely chopped jaggery
or packed brown sugar
2 tbsp. tamarind concentrate
2 tsp. hot paprika
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt, to taste
2 tbsp. roughly chopped cilantro
1. Bring dal and 9 1⁄2 cups water to a boil in a 4-qt. saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, stirring, until tender, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, vigorously stir dal to mash it up; set aside.
2. Meanwhile, melt ghee in a 12" skillet over high heat. Add peanuts, cumin, mustard seeds, asafetida, fenugreek, curry leaves, chiles, and tomatoes; cook until fragrant, 3–4 minutes. Pour spice mixture into dal with jaggery, tamarind, paprika, turmeric, coriander, cumin, and lemon juice. Season with salt. Simmer until flavors meld, about 10 minutes. (Stir in a little water, if necessary; it should be soupy.) Garnish with cilantro.
SERVES 4
may be authentic, but it lacks the richness and depth of flavor that we expect from Indian food.
Followed the recipe by the book, perfectly balanced/spiced
Can't wait to try it again!
Firstly do not use peanuts for this recipe, the taste is all wrong. Use cashews or leave it out entirely. Cheap broken cashews are fine.
I used 2 tsp whole cumin, a tsp of black mustard seed, curry leaves to make popu - heat the oil, add the cashews, when they start to cook add the whole cumin, then quickly add the mustard seeds. Dump in the ground spices and a T of minced ginger. (of course you have this stuff all measured out beforehand). Use actual red chili powder instead of paprika, and 3/4 tsp ground roasted fenugreek (not whole). After 2 mins add tomatoes, cook about 5 mins then add to dal.
Use 1 T tamarind paste, it is concentrated that will be plenty. Use 2 T of lime juice, lemon juice in this is just weird. Use only 1 T of brown sugar or 1.5 T jaggery - jaggery isn't nearly as sweet as brown sugar. (Jaggery is palm sugar, comes in blocks, don't try to grate it, just smash it - in a heavy duty plastic bag - with the smooth side of a meat tenderizer)
After that it was still lacking something so I added about 1T each of curry leaf podhi and home made chaat masala. Then it was OK but nothing that special.
Use 8 c of water to 1 c toor dal, let it cook at a fast simmer the first 30 mins, then cover and reduce heat, whisk to puree before adding the rest of the ingredients at the end.
This dal however was ok, only.