Masoor Dhaal

Red spilt lentils

I opened my cupboard after a long day and peered through the tinned soup and tubs of spices.  As I stood on the tips of my toes, aimlessly letting my hand float around the cupboard. My hand sank into something seedy. The lentils nestled themselves between my fingers and I scoped them in my hands.

The last time I made dhaal was when I was about 12 years old. It was Mother's day and I thought it would be nice to make food for a change. After some real effort, I carried an overflowing bowl to the table, and set up my little banquet: some flowers, a glass of water and the bowl of dhaal. The dhaal I made was completely tasteless, just boiled lentils with some honorary green chillies chucked in, needless to say my mother didn't eat more than necessary! In hindsight, I probably should have added the all important tadka. But I was ready for a second go at it.

Dhaal is a simple dish but great if made well. My father makes really good dhaal but I know that mine will not be as creamy because I don't have enough time or patience. I phone my mother anyway and hastily scribble down her prompts.

Notes to prompt me

The dhaal I prepared

Success! I served the Masoor Dhaal with rice and gave myself a pat on the back!












Instead of giving you a recipe for this Masoor Dhaal, I came across a video by Madur Jaffery from 1982 in which she shows an unfamiliar audience how to make Masoor Dhaal.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMOBTTgpLas
Skip to 6:07 to see how Jaffrey cooks the dhaal.

I happened to watch this video after making my own dhaal and was pleasantly surprised to find that I made it in the same way. There are small differences, of course, but it even looked similar to Jaffrey's dish. Maybe there is hope for me after all.

Masoor Dhaal a la Indu

Jaffrey makes an excellent ambassador for Indian cookery: she is instructional, informative and descriptive too. In this series of cooking show, she emphasises the difference between Indian cooking in India and Indian cooking away from India, a trait which runs throughout her food programmes. Jaffrey assumes an interest in Indian cooking but starts at the basics and even though this video series is somewhat dated, the recipe remains successful, for me, at least!