Lentil Soup with Garam Masala and Tomatoes ~ Garam Masala ni Dal

As you can see, there have been some big changes to the blog. I’m happy to say that The Hathi Cooks finally has its own domain name! I’m extremely excited. To inaugurate the new design and the personal domain name, I’d like to share one of my absolute favorite dishes: garam masala ni dal. It’s made primarily on my dad’s side of the family with our family’s garam masala recipe which really makes the dal sing.

This recipe is so simple, but the flavor is much greater than the sum of its parts. It starts out with a very simple dal base made with toor dal. Toor dal in English is called split pigeon peas and can be easily found at any Indian grocery store and some well stocked supermarkets. It is sold both dry and oily, get the oily version if you don’t make dal all the time as it acts as a preservative. The dal is soaked for a few hours until the color changes from brights orange, to pale yellow, and then cooked in a pressure cooker. No pressure cooker? No problem! Just soak the dal for a bit longer and boil it until the individual lentils are compressible.

While the dal is cooking, the delicious tomato and spice blend is made. That way once the dal is fully cooked, the two can be combined and your dal is done. The tomatoes are chopped and cooked until they become a rich, flavorful base. They are spiced with crushed green chilis, ginger, garlic, chili powder, and a hint of turmeric. The smell of these cooking tomatoes is absolutely intoxicating!

Once the tomatoes and the dal are done, they are mixed together and garam masala is added. That’s it! The dal is done. I personally love to add lime juice to the dal. When I was a kid, my parents teased me because I often used up a whole lime for just one bowl of soup! Nowadays, I’m a little more refined with my lime usage, so you can typically find me with a scant half a lime per bowl! I also recently discovered that the dal is absolutely delicious with lime, avocado, and a fried egg on top. Serve it with rice or quinoa on the side and you have yourself an incredible meal. Enjoy!

Lentil Soup with Garam Masala and Tomatoes ~ Garam Masala ni Dal

From The Hathi Cooks at https://www.thehathicooks.com/lentil-soup-with-garam-masala-and-tomatoes-garam-masala-ni-dal/

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 30 minutes

Yield: serves 4

Total: 40 minutes

A rich, flavorful Indian lentil dal accented with tomatoes and homemade garam masala.

You'll Need...

• For the Dal Base:
• 200 g (1cup) toor dal
• 2.5 cups water
• 1 large pinch of salt
• 
  
• For the Garam Masala ni Dal:
• 1 Tbsp neutral flavored oil
• 4 plum tomatoes, chopped into 1 inch cubes
• 1 tsp finely minced jalapenos
• 1 tsp finely minced ginger
• 1 tsp finely minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2-1 tsp garam masala to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Lime juice, freshly squeezed, to taste
• Cilantro, for garnish

Directions

1. For the Dal Base:
2. Rinse the dal, and carefully check for small pebbles. Soak the dal and water for 1 hour to overnight. Place in a pressure cooker and cook at full pressure for 15 minutes. If you do not have a pressure cooker, soak the dal overnight and boil until tender.
3. For the Garam Masala ni Dal:
4. Heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. When the oil shimmers add the tomatoes, stir to coat and cook covered stirring occasionally. When the tomatoes are mostly broken down into a coarse puree, add the jalapeno, ginger, garlic, salt, turmeric, red chili powder and stir to combine. Cook covered for a few more minutes.When the tomatoes are almost entirely broken down, add the garam masala and turn off the heat.
5. Depending on the size of your saucepan, transfer the dal from the pressure cooker to the pan, or transfer the tomato mixture to the dal and adjust the consistency by adding water. Squeeze in some lime juice, and taste for salt content. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with additional lime wedges so people can add more lime as desired.

Additional Notes

Very delicious with plenty of lime, cubed avocado, and a fried egg. Excellent with quinoa or rice. Another wonderful garnish is sliced garlic poached in ghee.

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