My Awesome Dhall Curry

Blowing my own trumpet again, eh? heh..heh....I finally cooked a nice dhall curry that I could share on this blog. In fact, this dhall curry was cooked half way the week before and completed last weekend. Why on earth did it take two days?

You see, I tend to overachieve on Sundays. I want to cook so many things and I end up slaving in the kitchen until late afternoon.

During such times I become distressed (by my own doing) and I am overcome by some sort of anxiety attack. Then a wave of depression hits me. I know this sounds weird.

All the mess and unwashed pots and pans become a source of disturbance.

And I feel out of sorts and troubled. 

Doing what I love can sometimes drive me mad. So the important thing for me to remember is not to do too much. If I am cooking say, four dishes, two must be something easy to  to prepare (like roasting) in order to balance out the workload. Or I cook some on Saturday (if I am not working) and some on Sunday.

That was why I chucked my half cooked dhall curry into the freezer to finish cooking the following week. I just couldn't cope. Then I collected myself and cleaned up. One thing at a time madam, one thing at a time....

Now back to my dhall curry. My mum loves it and she thinks my dhall curry is awesome. There is nothing mysterious to this dhall curry.

It is only dhall, bone broth (or can use water) and turmeric powder. The magic comes from the tempering of cumin seeds, sliced onions and curry leaves in hot ghee.

That is what gives the dhall curry that fantastic taste and aroma. I find the smell of ghee overpowering, so I mix it with olive oil. You don't have to do that.

I love eating this dhall curry with toast. It is also wonderful with rice.

The recipe below is based on my own trial and error and guided by some recipes I found in my collection of cookbooks. It may not be the conventional way of cooking dhall curry but it works for me. So to my Indian friends, please bear with me.

Dhall Curry

Recipe source : Phong Hong

Ingredients :

- 300g dhall, washed and rinsed a few time and soaked for at least an hour

- 1 tsp turmeric powder

- 1 liter bone broth (or can use water)

- 2 tbsp olive oil (or just use all ghee)

- 1 tbsp ghee

- 1 tsp cumin seeds

- 1 big onion, thinly sliced

- 2 sprigs curry leaves, use leaves only

- a pinch of garam masala (optional, I added just because I has some in the fridge)

- 1 tsp sea salt or to taste

Method :

1. Put dhall, bone broth and turmeric powder into a pot. Stir to mix.

2. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook until the dhall becomes soft.

3. When the dhall is almost done, heat olive oil and ghee in a pan.

4. Add cumin seeds and when they start to sputter, add sliced onions.

5. Fry the onions and when almost browned, add the curry leaves.

6. When onions are browned, pour the whole lot into the pot of dhall.

7. Add garam masala and stir. Cook for another 5 minutes and season with salt to taste.