TARKA DAL

One of my favourite dals, I love the depth of flavour you get from adding the crispy nutty ghee fried garlic and fresh coriander with garam masala tarka at the end of the cooking, it really does make all the difference from a plain dal to a sumptuous dish.  I like to scoop this dal up with ghee loaded parathas, they are basically a chapati that has been folded with ghee several times which renders them flaky and buttery just perfect with this rich dal.

Prep Time 10 minutes / Cooking Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

The Dal

1 cup of red lentils soaked

3 cups of water

1 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp coriander stalks finely chopped

The Tarka

8 fat cloves garlic sliced

1 small onion finely diced

1 tbsp ghee

1 small bunch coriander roughly chopped

1 tsp garam masala 

1 red chilli finely diced optional

Sea salt to taste if needed

1.  Drain the lentils and place in a deep saucepan with the water and sea salt, bring to a simmer, pop on a lid and turn down to a low simmer and leave to cook for around 30 minutes, the lentils may need as much as 40 minutes, you are looking for a thick soft texture where all the lentils have cooked down and created a lovely dal.

2.  In a frying pan heat the ghee and gently fry the garlic until nutty brown, remove from the ghee and leave to one side while you next add the onion and fry until softened, add the garam masala mix well and add to the garlic along with the chilli if using.

3.  Add the tarka to the dal and stir in along with the fresh coriander and serve with some parathas for dipping scooping and stuffing.

Parathas

Ingredients

(makes 8)

250g chapati flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

150g melted ghee

130ml water

1.  Place the chapati flour, sea salt and melted ghee in a bowl, using your fingers in a bird like pecking action peck the ghee in to the flour, just a French way or rubbing in but less rub equals more lift in the puff of the pastry/bread.

2.  Add some of the water and a little more if needed until you have a soft not sticky dough, knead for a couple of minutes and then cover and leave for 10-15 minutes.

3.  Divide the dough in to 8 balls and then roll out to a nice thin circle, brush with melted ghee and fold in half, brush with melted ghee again and fold in half again, you now have a triangle, brush this with ghee and fold in half again then tuck the sides under and form back in to a rough ball, roll out to a 5-6 inch circle.

4.  Heat a skillet to a high hot heat and brush the paratha with butter and place in the pan, cook for a couple of minutes, brush the top of the paratha with melted ghee and turn over cook for a further 1-2 minutes, wrap in a warm tea towel until needed.