Dhal and rice - Mum's style

Name: Dhal and rice - Mum's style
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Cuisine: Asian, Indian
Ingredients: 250g Red lentils; 250g basmati rice; 1 medium onion (chopped); 2 cloves garlic (crushed); fresh ginger; 4 cherry tomatoes (halved); 1tbs vegetable oil; Salt; Half tsp Turmeric; 750ml Vegetable stock

4 steps

Prep:30minCook:45min

This may not be the way proper Indian cooks do it but this is special to me because it was Mum's way. we weren't 'proper Indians' but Anglo-Indians, so half Indian and half British. Anyway, this was a common way to cook this staple of Indian meals among the Anglo-Indian diaspora I grew up with in the UK 🇬🇧

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 12:09:10 GMT

Nutrition balance score

Great

Glycemic Index

Low

Glycemic Load

High

Nutrition per serving

Calories504.9 kcal (25%)

Total Fat4.8 g (7%)

Carbs95.1 g (37%)

Sugars3.9 g (4%)

Protein20.9 g (42%)

Sodium754 mg (38%)

Fiber8.2 g (29%)

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Ingredients

4 servings

250gred lentils

1 Tbsvegetable oil

salt

½ tspturmeric

750mlvegetable stock

Instructions

Step 1

Wash the rice several times to remove the starch until the water is no longer cloudy. Leave to soak for 15-20 mins for the grains to swell. Drain and slowly bring to the boil in fresh water unril the rice starts turning over. From that point taste the grains everyfew minutes until it is al dente. Drain and rinse once in cold water. Lay out in a flat dish, cover with dish cloth and allow to dry out via steam evaporation. Fluff up occassionally to release more steam.

Step 2

Chop the onion and fry in the oil until glassy. Add the halved tomatoes and stir in. Add the Turmeric powder and simmer. Smell the food when you add the turmeric. The spice smell will be 'raw'. As the turmeric cooks it will deepen in smell to a richness in about 2-3 mins. Then it is ready. Add the lentils and 750ml veg stock, plus the crushed garlic and sliced ginger. bring to the boil and simmer until the lentils change from orange to green with a consistency of porridge.

Step 3

The ginger: It depends how you like your ginger. Ginger adds a great kick to dal. You can grate it in during the simmering stage. or you can cut whole slices from a ginger root, say 1cm thick and just plant them in the simmering dal just as is. A curried ginger slice arriving on yours or a guests' plate can either be eaten or just laid aside. It is full of flavour and each slice can be sucked or chewed. As kids my brother and I would fight over who got the sliced ginger!

To serve

Step 4

This can be served just as they are as a vegetarian meal. I don't know enough about Veganism to know it it qualifies but Vegans will know how to adapt it. Dhal and rice is the classic accompaniment to a whole array of other meat and vegetable curry dishes.