I’m so glad I’ve introduced this Dal Recipe to my kids. On our meat-free days my boys are content with a bowl of steaming rice and dal.
What is Dal?
The Dal we eat is cooked with yellow split peas. It is boiled until soft with some turmeric. We then temper our spices and add it to the dal. In South Africa our dal is more soup like. The consistency of the dal really depends on individual preference.
Tempering Spices
The tempering of the spices is what takes the dal to a whole new level. Everyone has their own method of cooking this dish. I remember my mum spending hours tempering her spices and creating a delicious blend to add to her dal. I do know how to make that blend, which is now sold in spice shops, called a braising spice. Will post a recipe for that soon.
Yellow Dal
We call it yellow dal due to the fact that turmeric is added to it, this is what gives this Dal Recipe a beautiful golden hue. I find my dried beans and peas takes much longer to boil in Johannesburg, due to the high altitude. If you didn’t know this “low air pressure causes boiling water to evaporate more quickly in high altitude”. Now you should understand why our dried beans and peas take longer to cook. It’s why I have invested in a pressure cooker, makes life so much more simple. My favourite way to serve this dish is with rice but you can have it with your favourite bread too. My hubby is North Indian so he eats every curry with Roti. I never ate dal with roti until I married him…Lol! The kids will eat Dal with rice but my hubby will never just eat Dal, so I have to cook other vegetarian dishes with it. Any vegetable curry goes well with Dal but give me plain Dal and I am happy. Some of us are not as fussy as others.
This recipe makes a great dish for vegetarians and you can make it ahead and freeze. My fussy family will never eat food that’s pre-cooked and frozen but I have frozen cooked dal in the past, heated and served it to them. They didn’t know the difference. As I said in some of my posts I never freeze things but this is an exception. I guess because it’s soup like freezing doesn’t alter the texture or the taste much.If you do try my recipe please leave a comment and a star rating, it is always appreciated. More Vegetarian Recipes to try: Yellow Potato Curry with Cumin Chickpea Butternut Curry with Coconut Milk Palak Paneer If you loved this, please share!
