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Yellow Dahl

Picture is coming soon How it should look like - Now do it better!

We've learnt this recipe in Rishikesh, India. We stayed at a guest house and asked the owner if he could recommend any place to do a cookery class in the area. He didn't have any, but he said his wife could do it for us. So she did it! It was actually a great idea because doing it at their house felt more informal and authentic. She was a very good cook as well - at least we thought so!

We discovered Asafoedita (Hing) which is the base of all Indian Dahls - and differently from other spices, it's not known in the Western world at all! It has got a pungent smell, far more than garlic. it is extracted from the dried gum resin of the Ferula Asafoedita's roots.

Ingredients (2 people)#

  • Yellow lentils: 150-200 gr
  • Onions: 3
  • Garlic: 10 slices (although I use a bit less than that usually)
  • Tomatos: 1 large or 2 small
  • Green chilli: 1 (I never use this, too spicy for me!)
  • Fresh ginger: 1 cm cube
  • Fresh coriandler: 5-6 branches
  • Spices: Asafoedita powder, Cumin seeds, Grounded tumeric, Grounded coriandler, Kashmiri chilli powder (the latter is to give colour, not flavour)
  • Mustard oil (this is as per original recipe, but if you don't have it, use another oil)
  • Pink salt

Method#

1) Prepare the Yellow lentils#

  • Wash them three times
  • Soak them in water for 5 mins

2) Prepare a masala#

Take all of the following ingreients and blend them all together. Then leave them apart for later. - 1 onion - 10 slices of garlic - 1 cm of fresh ginger - 1 green chilli - A few branches of fresh coriandler - 1 tsp of pink salt

3) Cook the Yellow lentils#

  • Put the lentils into a pressure cooker, with double the amount of water vs the grams of lentils (i.e. for 200 gr of lentils, use 400-450 gr of water)
  • Add 1 tsp of pink salt, 1 tsp of grounded tumeric, 1 tbsp of mustard oil

4) Prepare the Tarka and add Masala to it#

  • TARKA: Put 2 tbsp of mustard oil in a pan, and add 1 tsp of asafoedita and 1 tsp of cumin seeds, and saute
  • Then before the cumin seeds get burned, put the masala mix inside the pan and cook
  • Blend 1 large tomato (or 2 small ones) briefly
  • Add 2 chopped onions, the blended tomato(s) and a pinch of salt to the pan. Then cook until tomatos are mashed
  • Once cooked, add a very tiny bit of kashmiri chilli powder, and 2 tsp of coriandler powder

5) Merge everything together#

  • Once the lentils are cooked, pour the tarka & masala compost into the pressure cooker
  • Bring to boil on low flame, without the lid
  • Once it boils, take out of the flame and leave it there for 15 mins, so that it thickens. Then it's ready!

Tips#

I'd suggest eating it with basmati rice or pita bread.