How to cook Indian dal. Dal - the main dish of Indian cuisine

03.05.2020

Description

Gave Is one of the most nutritious vegetarian dishes in Indian cuisine. This is a pureed bean soup with lots of spices. To prepare it, beans (usually beans, lentils, chickpeas or mung bean) are boiled until soft, and then mashed and seasoned with fried spices, the set of which is different for different housewives.

Despite the fact that he gave - the classic indian dish, which is extremely rare with us, you can easily prepare it at home, especially if you use our recipe with a photo.

The beans for the dal must first be soaked. Red lentils are soaked for at least an hour, green and our green pea- 4 hours, chickpeas and mung bean ("mouse peas") - 12 hours, or longer. After that, you need to cook them for at least half an hour, or rather, until the moment when the beans become so soft that you can knead them with your hands. As for the spices, they are fried about 5 minutes before the beans are ready, and ideally in ghee (ghee prepared in a special way), but if not, you can also use vegetable oil.

Now that all the directions have been given, let's start cooking!

Ingredients

Peas mung bean (mung bean)
(2 glasses)
(1 PC.)
(5 cm)
(2 tablespoons)
(1 tsp)
(1 tbsp)
(1 tablespoon seeds)
(1.5 tsp)
(2-3 tbsp.)

Cooking steps

We prepare the ingredients. Please note that the beans (in our case, this is mung bean, but you can take any others according to your taste) have already been soaked overnight, and we chopped the onion and ginger root with a knife.

Pour the beans with water in a ratio of 1: 3, respectively (that is, for 2 tablespoons of beans - 6 tablespoons of water). Put chopped onion and ginger in the same saucepan and simmer for at least half an hour. The beans must be boiled!

While the mung bean is being cooked, we process the spices that are different recipes gave - different. In general, the minimum set of spices for this soup consists of cumin (cumin) and hot pepper. But we will add more dill and coriander seeds to them to make the dal more tasty and aromatic.

Fry each of the spices, stirring constantly, over low heat in a dry frying pan, separately from the others, so as not to mix the flavors. At the same time, we carefully monitor that the spices do not burn, and if this happens (which is quite possible, since they burn out very quickly), we discard the spoiled ones without regret and begin to fry a new batch again. After that, grind the spices in a coffee grinder or in a mortar, pour in a saucer and season with salt and hot pepper chili (if you don't like spicy, the last ingredient can be omitted).

Fry this mixture in a pan in heated ghee or vegetable oil, again carefully watching so that nothing burns.

We send the heated and oiled spices to dal, mix well, and then puree everything together in a blender. True, not everyone likes mashed dal, so sometimes the blender stage is skipped and the beans are left as a whole, albeit in a semi-cooked state. But we blend all the same.

Ready Indian dal soup is served with boiled basmati rice or simply with bread, flatbread or lavash.

Bon Appetit!

The famous Indian Ayurveda is not just cooking, it is a mysterious country filled with magical symbols. The main dish in it is dal - a soup made from beans, vegetables and many other ingredients. Let's make a reservation right away that this dish is not for meat-eaters, you won't find any grains of meat in it, only vegetables and spices. He also has a second name - mung dal, indicating the fact that they prepare a soup from small peas, called mung in India.

Secrets of making soup gave

In the basic recipe for dhal soup, mung peas are indicated, but dal can also be cooked with other legumes: lentils, ordinary peas. The main thing is that the beans are boiled to the point where you can easily knead them with your fingers. The final step in cooking is to fry the spices in ghee oil. And here it is, a riddle. What is ghee oil?

We take the butter, melt it, remove the foam formed on the surface, in the remainder we get a transparent consistency, which is the very same ghee butter. We introduce it into the dal soup together with the spices fried in it. You will need a lot of spices, but the basis is garam masala (a classic Indian mixture of spices).

In some states of India, mung dal is prepared, but if you try this soup, you will not find any difference from the basic recipe. The only thing that can add subtle nuances to the flavoring bouquet of the dal soup is an arbitrary dosage of spices and seasonings by the hostess herself.

Spices in ghee oil are fried step by step, following a certain sequence of placing them in hot oil.

Basic version of dal soup

An impressive amount of ingredients included in basic recipe, impressive, and it seems that gave is complex dish... Let's not be intimidated, because in India dhal is cooked in many families just for dinner. So, here's what we'll take for this dish:

orange lentil- 400 grams;
Bulgarian pepper - 2 pieces;
cauliflower - 5-6 inflorescences;
onions - 2 large heads;
tomatoes - 3 pieces;
carrots - 1 piece;
garlic - 5 cloves;
dried ginger - 1 teaspoon;
turmeric, curry - 1 teaspoon each;
zira - ½ teaspoon;
salt to taste;
ghee oil for roasting spices;
basil, parsley, cilantro for sprinkling when serving.

Preparation:

Sort the lentils and soak for 2-3 hours. Dhal can be made from any kind of lentil. In our recipe, we used orange, which cooks faster.
Pour the soaked lentils into a saucepan, pour 2 liters of water, wait for the water to boil, reduce the intensity of the fire, cook for about half an hour.
Let's move on to processing vegetables. Peel the onion and garlic, bell pepper we remove the grains, wash all the vegetables.
Bell pepper cut into rings, finely chop the onion and carrots, cut the tomatoes into small cubes.
Cut the garlic cloves into large pieces.
Boil the cauliflower inflorescences. We do not pour out the broth, we will need it for the soup.
We get the ghee oil (see description above). Pour the transparent mass into a frying pan, heat it up. We fall asleep carrots. Fry for 2-3 minutes.
Add cumin, turmeric, curry to the pan in turn. Stir, let fry for 3-4 minutes.
Pour into another pan vegetable oil, fry the onion in it until golden brown. Add ginger and garlic to it, heat it up a little, and send it to another pan with carrots and spices. We don't turn off the fire.
We add tomato cubes and bell pepper half rings to the languishing mass. Introduce cauliflower... Close with a lid and simmer for another 3-4 minutes.
Add the prepared vegetables to the lentils in a saucepan. Add broth. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Simmer for one minute. Turn off. We are waiting for 5 minutes for the soup to infuse.
Pour Indian dal soup into bowls and sprinkle with herbs.

Mung Dal recipe

We have already said that dal is a national dish of Indian cuisine, but, as is often the case in cooking, there are a lot of recipes for preparing the dish. We suggest you cook one of them. For this you need to take:

mixture different varieties lentils - 1 glass;
large head of onions;
tomatoes - 4-6 pieces;
garlic - 4-5 cloves;
turmeric - 1 teaspoon;
ginger of your choice;
vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons;
butter (for dressing) - 3 tablespoons;
zira - half a teaspoon;
mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon;
dill or cilantro - 1 bunch;
chili pepper - 1-2 pieces;
vegetable broth - 3 cups;
pepper and salt to taste.

Preparation:

The mixture of lentils must be thoroughly sorted out and washed, soaked for 2-3 hours.
Pour vegetable oil into a saucepan, bring to a boil.
Chop the garlic, ginger and onion. Put in a saucepan in this order: garlic, onion after 2-3 minutes, ginger after 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, cut into cubes, and simmer until all ingredients soften.
We shift everything into a saucepan, add lentils, dilute with vegetable broth, cook until cooked.
While the base is boiling, let's make the dressing.
Heat the butter in a frying pan, remove the foam, add cumin, mustard seeds, chili pepper. Fry until the mustard seeds start to "jump out" of the pan, exploding from heating. We shift the contents of the pan to the ingredients in the pan, simmer for one minute, turn off.

Decorate the dal fry with finely chopped cilantro or dill.

Varieties of dal soup and their features

Most of the dal components are identical, only the bean base changes. For example, dal makhani is cooked on black peas, but for Russian cuisine, dal can be made from ordinary peas. If you come across a recipe for dal tadka in Ayurveda, then do not be surprised, just look at our recipe for dali fry, and you will understand what kind of dish it is.

Food is one of the things that no person on earth can live without. Many people make up a diet and maintain it for a certain period of time, but there comes a time when you want something new. Dishes from other countries will help to diversify food. For example, Indian food is quite interesting in taste and easy to prepare. Many are interested in what gave. In fact, this is one of the most popular and savory dishes eastern country. This is a traditional spicy creamy soup based on boiled legumes.

Origin of the dish

Dal soup is the national dish of India, which is very simple to prepare, and you can enjoy the taste as long as you like. In addition, it contains many beneficial substances and vitamins. For example, soup contains a lot of protein and can be combined with different ingredients. Often tomatoes, garlic, lemon juice, curry and more are added to it.

In order to understand what he gave, it is enough just to decipher the name of the dish. It means beans. Thus, getting down to cooking, they choose their favorite variety of this plant and make a real culinary masterpiece out of it. Most often, puree soup can be found in places such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Naples, and this is a mistake of our time, because you need to cook an amazing dish in every country. It is healthy, simple and delicious. Hot soup can be prepared different ways, you just need to choose the most suitable one.

The essence of the soup gave

Together with the question of what gave it, another one arises. How to cook it? The bottom line is that the beans with vegetables must be boiled enough to be able to mix everything in the puree. Naturally, you need to add spices to the dish - this is an integral ingredient. Thus, cooked beans will replace any meat (in terms of vitamin content) and feed everyone around you. India is a country where everyone adheres to the principles of vegetarianism, so people spent a lot of time creating dal soup.

It is also interesting that there are a lot of varieties of beans, but they prefer red varieties, followed by green and black fruits. It is most useful to eat dal soup in summer, when it is really hot outside. The dish perfectly saturates, in winter it also allows you to warm up.

Basic cooking rule

There are certain rules and principles that should be followed. The first is preparing the beans. The fruit must be soaked before cooking. You should also make ghee butter (from butter). Finally, chefs and locals alike roast before adding to the beans. As for vegetables, you can add carrots, onions, garlic, chili peppers, tomatoes, coriander, cauliflower and more to the soup. In fact, there are no certain restrictions, the culinary specialist himself has the right to choose the ingredients for his dish.

The secret of India's national dish

Indians know that spices are the main ingredient in dal soup. The recipe is very simple and some ingredients can be changed. But everything related to spices is non-negotiable - this is the main element that is indispensable in the cooking process. After roasting them, they should stand for a while. You can add spices only at the end of cooking. V classic soup put ginger, turmeric, salt, asafoetida and cumin. You can also add curry leaves, black and white peppers, coriander, nutmeg, dry garlic, mustard seeds, chili powder, and Malabar cinnamon leaves.

You will need butter to make ghee butter. It is heated, the foam is removed and the spices are fried on it. In this case, a certain sequence should be observed. First, cumin is fried, then ginger, garlic, coriander and the mixture. Stir the contents constantly, the cooking time should not exceed 1.5 minutes. Without adhering to basic rules, the cook can end up with burnt spices.

Recipe

When it became clear what dal was, let's talk about the recipes for making puree soup. As ingredients, you need to take 200 g of beans of any kind, 2 liters of water, salt, 5-7 tbsp. spoons of Guy oil, spices. To prepare the dish, you will need 3 tsp. turmeric, 2 tbsp. l. garam masala, 1 coconut. If not, you can add coriander, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper.

So, first you need to rinse the beans well and sort out the dirt. Then you should boil the water and, after adding salt, cook them for about 30 minutes. After completing this stage, you need to fry all the spices in ghee oil (observing the sequence). You also need to add vegetables there and wait until the mass turns into a sauce. Add the resulting mixture to the beans and cook with coconut milk until tender. It is recommended to let the soup steep for five to ten minutes. Now it is obvious how to cook dal. Everything is very simple! Try to cook it, especially since the right products not too hard to find. You will definitely like it.

From travels, along with souvenirs, I bring my favorite recipes. And I cook using them at home. I leave some recipes intact. And I change some, adapting to our tastes and realities. Here is the recipe for lentil soup Dal I brought from India, where I laid eyes on it. Dal turned out to be nothing more than a soup or thick sauce, which in India is prepared from lentils, chickpeas and any other legumes, with the addition of tomatoes and spices. In Dala, all the spices have long been known to us - chili, cumin, coriander, mustard seeds, curry, ginger, garlic and onions. Nothing scary.

Depending on the eaters at the table, I cook Dal of different intensity, varying the amount of chili, ginger and mustard. Dal has a rich, spicy taste with tomato sweetness. In India, Dal is eaten with tortillas or rice. I enjoy dala with tortillas. I also love the Dala version with mashed potatoes.
Since there are vegetarians in the house, I cook Dal often, and mostly with lentils. It does not need to be soaked and cooked quickly, from 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the variety. For me, Dal has become a universal soup and sauce. Vegetarians pour rice over with Dal, and someone eats it with smoked sausages. Delicious for everyone!
Time: 40 - 60 minutes
Complexity: simple
Ingredients: for 4-6 servings

Lentils - 1 glass
Water - 2 glasses
Onion- 1 PC
Fresh chili peppers - 0.25-1pc or 0.5 teaspoon of powder
Garlic - 1 clove
Tomato Kuban sauce or tomatoes in own juice- 1 glass
Turmeric or curry - 1 tsp
Zira - 0.5 tsp
Coriander - 0.5 tsp
Mustard seeds - 0.5 tsp
Ginger - 0.25 tsp / li>
Vegetable oil - 4-5 tbsp. spoons
Salt to taste

See further:

Finely chop the onion and chili.
Rinse lentils.
Place lentils in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Put onion and pepper there, add turmeric.
Pour in 2 glasses cold water and put the pan on high heat.
Do not interfere.
After boiling, reduce power to a minimum, close the lid and leave to cook until tender.
While the lentils are cooking, grind the spices in a mortar and chop the garlic.
Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over low heat.
Pour in the garlic and spices and let them open for about a minute. Turn off the fire. Do not overcook.
Pour the Kuban sauce into a saucepan with ready-made lentils and mix.
Lightly mash the lentils with a crush directly in the saucepan.
Add the fried spices and let Dal simmer over the lowest heat for about 10 minutes.
Dal or Indian Lentil Stew is ready!

If you think about it, Indian Dal is very similar to our pea soup mashed potatoes. Only Dal has a very intense spicy taste. And if you don't want to cook pea soup often, then Dal never gets bored at all.
Still, sharp and tart Dal has an amazing property. It warms in winter and cools in summer. Checked on myself.

How I cook Dal: Details and with Photos ...

Finely chop the onion and chili. The pungency of dal can be regulated by the amount of the latter. I rinse the lentils under running water.

I put it in a saucepan with a thick bottom. I also send onions and peppers there, add turmeric.

I pour 2 cups of cold water and put the pot over high heat. I do not interfere. After boiling, reduce the power to a minimum, close the pan with a lid and leave to cook. Cooking time depends on the type of lentil. Therefore, I always read the instructions. Cook lentils until tender. Visually, it begins to creep and becomes soft.

While the lentils are being prepared, I grind the cumin, coriander, mustard in a mortar, and chop the garlic.

I heat vegetable oil in a frying pan. I pour in the garlic, cumin, coriander, mustard, ginger and let them open over low heat for about a minute. Do not let the spices overcook. Otherwise, the aroma will go away, and they will become bitter. Turning off the fire.

Without fanaticism, lightly knead the lentils with a crush right in the pan.

Pour the Kuban sauce into a saucepan with ready-made lentils and mix.

I add the fried spices and let it simmer over the lowest heat for about 10 minutes.

I pour hot dal into bowls or serve with rice.

Bon Appetit! If you have any questions, ask, I will definitely help.

I was taught to cook by a woman who inspired the art of culinary art in general. Before that, I still loved to bake, but no one could force me to cook everyday meals. She just asked to help her with cooking in the kitchen (cut, clean something). And here is her “spice selection dance” magic and inspiration to cook for the most expensive dishes more deliciously entered my heart, and for several years now they have not kicked me out of the kitchen.

Dal (Dhal)- Indian or other legumes. This is one of the first courses that I began to cook and still cook with pleasure.

Composition:

for 2 liters of soup

5-6 st. l. masha
2-3 medium carrots
2-3 medium tomatoes (or 2 tablespoons with a heap of tomato paste)
1 small bunch of cilantro
2-3 st. l. ghee or vegetable oil

Spices:

5 cm cinnamon sticks
5-6 whole carnations
1.5-2 tsp grated fresh ginger
0.5-1 pod of red pepper (depending on the hotness of the pepper and your taste)
2-3 tsp kalindzha seeds
1.5-2 tsp
2 tsp turmeric
0.5 tbsp. l. salt

Dal (dhal) - recipe:

First of all, we sort out the mung bean from pebbles, debris and boil. To make this happen faster, fill the mung bean with cold water so that it covers it slightly. And while it is boiling, pour cold water from time to time so that it covers a maximum of 1 cm, or even less, of the beans. This method is also suitable for boiling other legumes and vegetables. They are “scared” of cold water and boil faster.
While the mung bean is cooking, we grate the carrots on a coarse grater, ginger on a fine grater, finely chop the pepper.
Heat oil in a frying pan. You can check if it has a sufficient temperature by throwing one grain of Kalindzhi. If it immediately hisses and rises up, the temperature is what you need. First, put cinnamon in a frying pan for 5-10 seconds, then cloves, kalindzhi, followed by ginger and pepper, and after a few seconds - turmeric with asafoetida.
Fry spices
Fry the spices for a few seconds and then put the carrots in the pan. We simmer it with spices until it becomes transparent.
Then add the tomatoes or tomato paste(in the case of the latter, you need to add a few more tablespoons of water so that it is not thick), stir, keep on fire for several minutes, until the tomatoes are steamed or the paste gives a tomato smell. I used thick tomato juice with pulp, so no water was added.
We drain the water from the finished mung bean - we do this so that the broth is transparent (usually, when boiled, mung bean gives a brownish turbid hue). Fill with cold water (about 1.5 liters), bring to a boil.
Fill the mung bean with new water
Put the carrots fried with spices and tomatoes in the soup, mix, let it boil and turn it off immediately. If the dal turns out to be too thick, add a little boiling water.
Add the stewed carrots
Add salt.
Our Indian Dal soup is ready. Before serving, add cilantro (it is ideal for this dish, but if it is not in the house, you can use other herbs - I took a little dill this time), or do not stir before serving, otherwise it will turn yellow.

Putting greens

If the dal turned out to be too spicy for you, you can safely add sour cream to it, it will soften the spicy taste

Bon Appetit!

Natasha Mironishina recipe author