Use whatever lentils it's easy for you to get hold of.
Useful substitutes if you haven't got a particular item:
amchur powder - lemon juice
asafoetida powder - a clove or 2 of finely minced garlic
Dried red chillies - just leave out or add a bit more of the chilli powder
The other ingredients should be available in pretty much any shop.
Serves: 4
Cost per person: 0.75 zl (14 UK pence)
Ingredients:
- a mix of 4 different lentils (I used chana dal, toor dal, urad dal and mung dal - 2 tablespoons of each)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp of grated ginger
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tsp amchur powder (dried mango - substitute with lemon juice if you like)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
- 1-2 dried red chillies
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
- a dab of yoghurt (optional)
Okey dokey let's get down to it!
1. Get the dal ready
2. Soak for a few hours in cold water
3. The starch in the lentils makes the water cloudy. You want to rinse them in a few changes of water till it's fairly clear. The water should be around 2 cm above the lentils.
4. Boil up the lentils (they'll take around an hour to cook). Meanwhile prep the spices
5. Add the coriander, turmeric and ginger. Cover and simmer.
6. Prep the next bunch of spices (garam masala, amchur and salt) to go in towards the end.
7. Spices in
8. Prep the spices for the "tempering" - dried red chilli, chilli powder, cumin seeds, asafoetida powder. The dried red chillies are optional. If you haven't got asafoetida, just fry up some garlic instead.
9. Temper the spices in some medium hot oil or butter for around 1 minute to impart the flavour.
10. Add the tempering to the dal
11. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Check that the dal is cooked (soft) and enjoy!
12. I served it with a dash of yoghurt, some vegetable pakora and a sourdough bread roll.
Cost:
- lentils: 2 zl
- the rest: 1 zl (if that)
Total cost: 3 zl
Serves: 4
Per person: 0.75 zl
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