Chana dal is not the same as yellow split peas, despite my misleading title.Yes, split peas are very similar and they're a fine substitution, but no, they're not the same. Rube's, in St. Lawrence Market, did not have Chana Dal. I could have asked where else to find it, I could have hunted it down, but it really didn't seem worth it since Rube is such a nice guy, his prices are amazing, and nobody who was going to eat the dal would either notice the difference or care.
Dal is also one of the easiest meals to throw together, and makes a great dinner with just a bit of rice and some yogurt or milk. Apparently you need a grain (rice or bread) and dairy (yogurt) to turn the lentils into a complete protein. So traditionally in India it would be eaten with naan or rice, and a glass of buttermilk. Also, traditionally, it would be cooked with a spice that aids digestion - turmeric, ginger or asafetida - to avoid the similar effects of chili on Superbowl Sunday. Dals are denser than soup, with a thick puréed texture, but without the excess work of puréeing. It has a nutty flavour and a chewy texture that depends on the lentil used. The word 'dal' refers to different kinds of split lentils, and the dal recipes in Madhur Jaffrey's cookbook Indian Cooking are included in the section called 'pulses'. Whole peas or beans (chickpeas, kidney beans) are also pulses, but only split peas and split lentils (the kinds of legumes you don't need to pre-soak overnight) are considered to be dals.
Enough history. The point is that this is delicious because Rube gave me great yellow split peas.
I took 3 cups of yellow split peas, rinsed them in a colander, and picked out any that didn't look good. Rube saved me a lot of trouble here, since they were pre-picked-over. Then I brought the split peas to a boil with 10 cups of water. A layer of scum rises to the surface, and it's important to skim it off before adding a teaspoon of turmeric and 4 slices of unpeeled ginger. The size of the slices don't matter too much, as the spices certainly won't overwhelm the dal. Then I reduced the heat to low and simmered the split peas for an hour. The recipe says an hour and a half but they were turning into mush, and I'm a firm believer that there should be no mush. It's like over-cooked pasta - al dente would have been better. Oh, and I had to remember to stir during the last half hour to prevent any sticking of the dal to the bottom of the pot. As much as I don't like mush dal, I also don't like burnt dal. Then I took it off the heat and added 1 1/2 tsp of salt (there's not a whole lot of sharp flavour in the dish, so salt is essential. You could go as high as 2 tsp...) and 1/2 tsp garam masala (again, err on the side of excess). Then I took out of the ginger slices. No point having them sitting around in there waiting to not get eaten.
The nice thing about this dish is it's basically done. The last step can wait until just before you're ready to serve. It's also a very cool presentation for guests. To finish the dal, heat 2 tbsp of oil (or ghee or butter. Some people disagree on the use of butter here, but I'm not 100% convinced it's not fine. Ghee is just clarified butter. I'll save you the rant on clarified butter and its traditional reason for use...as well as why I think it's a little ridiculous that it's still used. Leave a comment/question below if you're curious) on medium in a frying pan. When it's hot put in a tsp of whole cumin seeds, and 4 cloves of chopped garlic a few seconds later. The only reason I can see to do these two additions separately is to ensure that the cumin seed gets coated in oil, but there's more than enough oil, so it seems ridiculous. Sorry, Ms. Jaffrey. In fact, the recipe says to use 6 tbsp of oil, and since there's no fat in the rest of the dish, this wouldn't be absolutely awful, but I was serving it with a high-fat chicken dish, and I wanted to keep the rest of the fat content down.
Once the garlic browned I added a teaspoon of chili flakes. I always think I could add more heat in these dishes, but it's up to you. I garnished the dish with fresh hot green chilis, so if I wanted more heat myself, I could just munch on those. The second the red chili flakes touched the pan I removed the skillet from the heat and poured the whole contents into the dal pot (If the flakes start cooking they'll take over the air of the kitchen and you won't be able to breathe. Coughing on chili flakes is not so fun...). Then you just stir. So the whole spice mixture in the frying pan is a quick seasoning for the simply-boiled dal. The oil and spices get distributed throughout the whole pot, giving flavour where there was little. Other recipes in the 'pulse' section of the cookbook follow similar formulas, with results that taste a whole lot like traditional Canadian lentil soup or stew, with a few extra spices or some heat, but this recipe is my favourite because of the flavour of the split peas. They were nutty, a little sweet, a little spicy, and went really well with the rice and yogurt. Funny, that...
Again, brilliant, practical and delicious Indian food traditions.
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