RECIPE FOURTEEN: Wednesday July 19 - punjabi-style black lentils

BACK STORY:
I saw this on the Smitten Kitchen website and had all the ingredients on hand, so it was an easy dinner decision.

NOTES:
While time consuming to cook the lentils and rice, this was very very good. If you have all the spices on hand it is really quite a simple dish. I used a can of tomatoes instead of fresh. At the end I didn't melt any butter in, and poured a generous amount of cream into my dish as well as the leftovers to steep in. I ate the first meal hot over rice, but the rest of it cold straight from the fridge. Delicious on hot summer days!

STARS: 
5 out of 5. Good hot or cold, and is excellent as a side dish or main meal.

RECIPE:
https://smittenkitchen.com/2017/03/black-lentil-dal/

Punjabi-Style Black Lentils

• SERVINGS: 4
• TIME: 1 HOUR

Black lentils, if you haven’t bought them before, are wonderful: tiny, pretty and they stay perfectly intact when you cook them, meaning they also scatter well over salads. Also called beluga lentils, I like to think of them as luxurious as caviar without the price. [Note: This dish was previously named “Black Lentil Dal.”]

BASE

• 2 tablespoons oil, butter (regular or ghee)
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1-inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala (optional but traditional)
• Ground chile powder, to taste (I started with a 1/2 teaspoon, but I have to keep things weak for kids)
• 1 cup finely chopped or pureed tomatoes, fresh or from a can
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
• 1 cup dried black lentils
• 4 1/2 cups water, plus more to taste

TO FINISH

• 4 teaspoons butter (salted is lovely here)
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• Handful chopped fresh cilantro

Make the dal: Heat oil (or oil and butter) over medium. Once hot, add onion and cumin seeds and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion browned in spots. Add garlic and ginger, cook for 1 minute more, then the rest of the spices and tomato and cook for 3 minutes more, scraping up any stuck bits. Add water and salt, then lentils. Bring to simmer, then reduce to low and cover and cook until lentils are tender, between 35 and 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. For a looser dal, you can add more water. Adjust spices and seasonings to taste.

To finish as shown: Ladle into four bowls. Place a 1-teaspoon pat of butter in the center of each, letting it begin to melt before swirling in 1 1/2 teaspoons cream and finishing with cilantro.