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 Moong dal

 

This is a quick to make, slow to cook dal, that is so much more than an 'ordinary ' dal. These are the quantities for a large batch, use half quantities for one family sized meal, (or you could do a full batch and freeze the rest for a rainy day).
You may need to go to an Indian shop to get the moong dal.

Ingredients
4x 250ml cups moong dal
2,500 ml water
1 teaspoon tumeric
2 teaspooons salt (Maybe less??)
6 dried red chillies
6 whole cloves
2 teaspoon toasted coriander seeds,
1 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 cup oil
2 red onions, peeled and chopped finely
3 bunches of English spinach, chopped roughly


The first cook is for 5-6 hours on a low setting, or 3-4 hours on a high setting on the slow cooker

 Pre-warm the slow cooker, then put the dal, water, tumeric and salt into the pre-warmed cooker, cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours until the dal is mushy.

Then,
To toast the coriander and cumin seeds use a dry frying pan and keep the seeds moving or turning: it will not take long. The change in smell will tell you when it is done.

Into a spice mill or a coffee mill, put the chillies, cloves, coriander and cumin seeds, the cinnamon stick, cardamom seeds, and peppercorns. Grind it all until it is fine.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onion on a moderately high heat until it is well browned. Add the ground spices into the frying pan and toss quickly until the mixture is very fragrant. Do not overcook, orthe mixture will burn an give the dal a bitter flavour. Remove the pan from the heat.

Shake any excess water from the spinach and tear the leaves away from any coarse stems. Stir the spinach leaves, onion and spice mix into the dal. Cover and cook for 30 minutes on the high slow cooker setting.

What next?
Dal is just one part of an Indian meal, it can go with an Indian bread, or pappadums or many other Indian dishes. ou can mix yogurt with mint and/or cucumber an parsley, or you could squeeze lemon or lime juice. IUf you want the dal a bit thinner, you can stir in hot water to achieve the consistency you want.




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