This Needs to be Dal-ed Up | Endless Simmer

Granola bars. Chex mix. Water bottles. Single portion packets of Motrin. Tissues. Mini bottles of Jack and Bacardi. That was the contents of my friends Katie and Joe’s wedding gift bag. My gift bag, however, included two additional items: black mustard seeds and udad dal split matpe beans.

Just a few weeks ago Katie drove out to the‘burbs of Virginia or Maryland, I forget which one, and hit up an Indian grocery. She picked up extra goodies for me but in the craziness that is the weeks before a wedding we weren’t able to meet up. Brilliantly, she decided to drop it my gift bag. (Future brides take note!)

For a dinner my friend Raya hosted I decided to try out my newly received lentils.

Now I don’t usually pay for iPhone apps, but Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything is a gem. I googled around for dal recipes, even using its blog filter search, but I couldn’t find anything I wanted to try. I turned to Bittman. I trust him. And his laid-back, authoritative tone makes for good reading. Plus the app doesn’t require wireless to work.

Anyway, I used his“Simplest Dal”recipeas a guide.

And while I’m encouraged to play around with dal again, I haven’t masted how to up the flavor. It didn’t have a great zing to it and at times tasted of tannins. Here’s what I did but please tell me what I should have done.

First Draft Dal

In a large pot I threw in 2 cups ofudad dal split matpe beans, that have been washed and“picked through” or whatever that means, 2 tablespoons of mincedginger, 2 tablespoons ofblack mustard seeds, 2 tablespoons ofmethi seeds, 1 tablespoon ofturmeric, 1 tablespoon ofgarlic powder, 1.5 tablespoons ofcumin, 1 tablespoon ofcurry powderand 3chillies. I covered all of that with water, I think maybe 6 cups so that there is an inch of water over everything. Then I brought it to a boil and then lowered the heat, with the pot partially covered for almost 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. I tasted it. Bland. So Isalted it,peppered it, plus added more water so as Bittman said, it’d be“saucy but not soupy.” Before serving I dumped in almost 2 tablespoons ofbutter. I was pleased with the consistency, but was not in love with the flavor. It was just kinda blah.

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