Transport Your Taste Buds with Traditional Indian Dal

The spices in this warm dish will rescue you from winter's misery.

Michele Moses

If the winter weather has you trapped inside, let dinner be an adventure to a faraway land and cure your cabin fever. I learned to make this dish, called dal, while living with a Tibetan family in Dharamsala, India. Though they mostly cooked traditional Tibetan food, my host family made an exception for this standout Indian staple. We ate it for dinner at least once a week.

So in addition to being mouthwatering, this dal’s rich aroma has instantly transporting effects on me. And based on enthusiastic reactions I’ve gotten to it, I think it will do the same for you.

Because lentils are packed with protein, fiber, iron, and complex carbs, they are also a perfect recovery food. This is a nourishing dish for after a long run in the cold or for during a long lounge out of it.

You can serve this stew as a side dish (say, with chicken and some green vegetables) as a more nutritious replacement for a starch. Or spoon it over some brown rice and enjoy it as a hearty vegetarian entrée.

What you'll need:
1 tablespoon coconut or olive oil
½ large white onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small plum tomato, chopped
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 ½ cups lentils
4-½ cups water

How to make it:
Heat the oil on a medium flame at the bottom of a large pot. Add the chopped onions and sauté until they are translucent but not browning. Add the garlic and the chopped tomato and turn the flame down to medium-low. Cover the pot. Let everything cook and soften into more of a sauce for about ten minutes, periodically stirring it to make sure that nothing sticks or burns. Mix spices into contents of the pot until they are evenly distributed. Add lentils and then water. Bring everything to a boil and then lower the flame, cover the pot and simmer for 40 minutes or until water is absorbed and lentils are soft. If the former comes first, add a bit more water or some broth. When finished, salt the lentils to taste. Spoon into bowls and top with a dollop of yogurt and some chopped cilantro.




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