RECIPE: Masoor Dal Cooked With Coconut Milk

This recipe originates in Kerala, in the southern part of India.  I found it searching for recipes using MASOOR DAL, my favorite dal, and it sounded delicious!  Thankfully, it was as good as I thought it would be, so I am sharing it here.  The original recipe was written for 1 cup of dal and meant to serve 4.  Although there were only 3 of us, I doubled the recipe and was glad I did - there was precious little left! My recipe is written for 2 cups of dal and will serve 6-8.

Masoor dal is a reddish-orange split lentil.  I buy 24 Mantra Organic Masoor Dal  

The dal is cooked first in water and coconut milk, then spices are fried in fat and stirred in before serving.  The fried spices stirred in at the end are called TARKA.

Original recipe:Keralan Masoor Dhal with Coconut Milk

Masoor Dal Cooked With Coconut Milk

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups masoor dal, rinsed until the water runs clear (I used a sieve)
• 10-12 fresh curry leaf STEMS, if you have them
  
• 1 t. turmeric
• 2 t. Kashmiri chili powder (optional, but I used it)
• 1 can thick coconut milk (I use Native Forest SIMPLE Unsweetened Coconut Milk)
• For the Tarka:
• 4 T. coconut oil or ghee (I've made it both ways, and we prefer ghee)
• 2 t. black mustard seeds
• 2 t. cumin seeds
• 20 fresh curry leaves
• 3 dried Kashmiri chilies, broken into pieces
• 1 medium red onion, minced (about 1 cupful)
• 5-10 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (10 cloves is very garlicky!)
• 3 fresh green chilies (I used jalapeno)
• For Serving:
• Salt to taste
• 6 T. finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
  

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Rinse the masoor lentils, drain them, then transfer to a sauce pan and cover with fresh water.  Add the curry leaf stems if you have them.
   
2. Cook uncovered, over medium-high heat, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Skim off any foam that rises to the surface.
3. Add the turmeric, chili powder and coconut milk and simmer, uncovered, until the lentils are tender, another 10 minutes.  
4. While the dal is cooking, make the tarka: heat the coconut oil/ghee in a small saute pan on medium high.  When visibly hot, add the mustard seeds.  When they begin to pop, stir in the cumin seeds, curry leaves, and dried Kashmiri chili pieces.  Allow this to sizzle for 30 seconds then stir in the onion.  
5. Fry the onion until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium, add the garlic and green chilies.  Cook until the garlic is softened, but be careful not to burn it!  
6. When the dal is cooked, pour the tarka mixture, including all the fat, onto the dal and stir it in. Season to taste with salt and serve with chopped coriander.

TARKA, sizzling in a small fry pan

NOTE: we enjoyed this so much I made it again two days later!  It keeps well, but the author recommends storing the tarka separately and adding it just before serving. (I don't do that, I stir it in and refrigerate whatever we don't eat.  We reheat it in the small toaster oven.)