Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid's Two Lentil Stew

I have three minutes to write this post before I fall asleep on the couch and I don't want to break NaBloPoMo right in the very first week, for Pete's sake. Give me seven days at least. The emotion and the nerves from the past few weeks, wait, months, wait, oh hell, years seem to have finally caught up with me and I am staggeringly tired. Plus, do you know what I discovered today? My Very First Gray Hair, growing impudently out of my right temple. Didn't it know I had an agenda of reaching my 31st birthday proudly sporting the same hair color I had on my 30th birthday?

It's all a little much.

So before I nod off with my laptop humming away on the tops of my thighs, let me tell you quickly about the first thing I cooked with the sack of chana dal that my dad brought when he came to visit a few weeks ago. I found a recipe in this brilliant cookbook that has you combine a whole rainbow of Indian dals into a spicy stew.

I didn't have all those dals in my pantry, so I made do with some red lentils and the aforementioned chana dal (the recipe is originally called five-lentil stew) and it was simply lovely. I simmered the lentils until tender in spiced water, dyed yellow from turmeric, then cooked tomatoes and onions with garam masala and cumin until thick and sticky.

The tender legumes are folded into the spiced tomatoes and what results is comforting and homey and spicy without being painful and nutritious and wonderful. The kind of thing that becomes a meal staple also because the sum total of all the ingredients in this stew probably equaled $0.78. We ate the stew in wide bowls for lunch along with - wait for it - homemade chapatti. Homemade by me! A high point of the weekend, for sure, because I am a dork and the dough arts fascinate me.

Oh, you want to see one of those chapattis? But then I'm going to have to tell you all about how to make them and how cool they are and how easy, too, and like I said, I'm falling asleep, but okay, here you go:

Two Lentil Stew
Serves 4

Dal:
3/4 cup chana dal
1/2 cup red lentils
5 cups of water
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Spice blend:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped (about 2 large cloves)
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 large tomatoes, chopped, or 3/4 can diced tomatoes
3/4 teaspoon salt, or more to taste

1. Rinse the dal.

2. In a large pot, bring the water to a boil. Add the dal and lentils, stir, and bring back to a boil. Then remove from the heat, cover, and let sit for 2 hours.

3. Add the turmeric and cayenne to the legumes and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer until tender, approximately 35 minutes.

4. 15 minutes before the dal is ready, begin cooking the spice mixture: heat the oil in a heavy skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat. When hot, add onion and garlic and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add cumin and garam masala and cook another minute. Add the tomatoes and salt, and cook until the tomatoes have been reduced, approximately 10 minutes.

5. Add the tomato mixture to the dal, stir well and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more to blend the flavors. Taste for salt and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Serve hot in one large bowl or in individual-sized bowls with chapatti.

Comments

[jenny]

well, dorks unite, because the dough arts also fascinate me. as does any food of an indian nature, like this amazing-sounding recipe. if I weren't going out of town in 24 hours I would be making this tomorrow.

instead, I now have something to look forward to when I come home. YUM.

[Sangeetha]

If you ever try your hand at making paneer (which is the simplest thing in the world!), save the whey from the cheese. The whey mixed with flour makes the softest chapattis ever.

[lobstersquad]

I´m reading that book! That very same one. Aren´t they amazing? I´m debating wether to try the Georgian cheese breads this weekend, but maybe I´m too ambitious.
Had dal for dinner yesterday too.
And as for the grey hair, never mind. I was born with one, which makes for easier acceptance.

[Gemma]

This looks amazing, I could happily eat a big bowl of it right now. Oh and don't worry about the white hair, I've been finding odd ones for about a year now and I'm only 29, pulling them out works for me so far!

[Robin]

Oh this looks SO good. An option for lunch today, perhaps!?

[maggie]

What a great recipe to use pantry staples! I actually have never cooked lentils but this looks like a winner. And I got good garam masala at Sahadi's that should totally be put into something.

[maggie]

also get yourself some rest this weekend! we all need a break.

[Adrienne]

I know exactly what you mean about the overwhelming exhaustion... I fell asleep at 9:30 on Wednesday night! Alas, I did not have a delicious lentil stew to revive me. This one looks wonderful.

[Jeanne]

I'm glad it's not just me who is feeling the strain after just one week of NaBloPoMo! How come last year seemed so easy? Last night I was up until all hours posting as I really am not planning to give up but DAMN I was tired. It's going to be a long, sleep-deprived month... Well done on finishing the first week :)

I love lentils & have been eating a lot of them now that the weather has turned chilly - this is definitely going in my recipe folder!

[EB]

Congrats on not slacking on NaBloPoMo! Awesome!

[Marie]

Ooooh, I can NOT wait to try this recipe!
And let me just say that I love NaBloPoMo! And I'm VERY impressed, because I just assumed you would throw a bunch of non-recipe-containing posts up, but instead you must be cooking your little heart out, AND blogging daily on top of that... very, VERY impressive. :)

[Shari]

I always enjoy your lovely blog. Question about the original recipe -- do you mind sharing the various lentils called for and in what amount? Thanks!

[Luisa]

Shari - the original recipe calls for 1/4 cup each of channa dal, urad dal, masur dal, toovar dal, and mung dal.

[Sarah]

This looks delicious! I'm definitely saving it for a night soon.

Unfortunately, at 25, I've had grey hairs for a few years now...definitely not something I wanted to inherit from my mom...

[Zarah Maria]

I need to make this. And let me just applaud you for making something with only two types of dal, instead of spurting out and getting the other three kinds, as I would no doubt have done. Wow on the chapatis! :)

[Jude]

Gotta love lentils... I barely need half a bowl and yet it's always satisfying. Perfect diet food :)

[ann]

Oh! Isaac's sister gave that cookbook to their mother for fake Christmas this past weekend and I was incredibly jealous! For the past many months it keeps popping up in my Amazon "recommended" list, but it just sounded so blah, so I never bought it, but now that I've seen it, and this recipe you made from it, I must have it!! Its such a lovely book.

[Kim]

I love lentils! I've made this twice and both times its been very watery. Am I supposed to drain the lentils before adding the spice/tomato mixture? I've only ever used them in soup which then I wouldn't drain... but this stew looks really good, I want to get it right.

[Luisa]

Kim - you're not supposed to drain the lentils. Hmm. I wonder about the watery consistency - mine was definitely just stewy. You could try simmering the stew at the very end for more than 2 to 3 minutes - maybe 5 to 10, with the lid off. The water will evaporate.