Phil and Sarah
In true Sarah form I looked at two different recipes and then didn’t do what either of them said.
Here are the two that I didn’t follow:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/my-dal-recipe.html
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dal-recipe.html
I’m not even going to try and describe all of the things I didn’t do or did wrong because, well, it was almost everything.
One major thing: These recipes call for roasting whole seeds, etc, and then grinding them in a food processor, spice grinder, etc. I did not want to buy that many packages of whole seeds and had many of the things in powder form already, so… I used powder. I’m sure it would taste much better had I done the roasting and grinding, but… C’est la vie.
Had to pick some things up at the Sunset Super
The other stuff from the cabinet that went into it
Coconut Milk and Spices
The Final Product!
How was it?
Honestly I’m not sure what it’s supposed to be like. I don’t think I’ve eaten much Dal in my life. It’s spicy. Spicier than I thought it would be. But maybe it’s supposed to be? The consistency seemed pretty solid – I think. I have a ton more so if anyone else want to come over and try it…. 🙂
Also, repurposed Dal.
Galen and Chloe
Fall is a time for Dal because it will make us grow strong and tall!
Albin and Jocie
Albin and I used a couple of recipes, which I will add to the recipe index. We made Dal, of course, Palak Raita (a spinach-yogurt side dish) and Chana Pulao (the rice dish).
Here is what we started with…
Wait, wait! Here is what we really started with…
Here are all the spices we picked up from the Bulk section at City Market.
Getting things started.
We also didn’t follow the recipes exactly, especially for the Chana Pulao. It called for soaking the garbanzo beans, using Basmati rice, and cooking in a pressure cooker. We just used canned garbanzo beans and regular white rice. We made the rice on the stove, cooked up the spices, tomatoes, and onions, and mixed it altogether. I thought it still came out great.
Making Chana Pulao
The lentil beans are ready to be mashed and fried up with the spices.
Oh man, this is delicious!
Jocie! Take a picture!
The Final Dish
This was a really fun meal. I never thought that I could cook something like this in my own house. It was a bit tricky keeping track of the three different parts, especially because I have no intuition with cooking this type of food. The end result was quite rewarding though. The Chana Pulao (the rice) added a nice spicy flavor. The Palak Raiti (the yogurt) was served chilled and added good balance to the spicy rice and the warm Dal. And every part of the this meal called for Mint! That is the garnish you see in this picture.
So what do you do when you have extra mint in the house?
Make Mojitos!!
I also had another cooking project I had to make this night for a Halloween Potluck at work. If you ever need an easy crowd pleasing dish to bring to a potluck, I highly recommend these!
Post-dinner cooking.
Bacon Wrapped Dates!
The Weekly Cook-Off 