Friday 19 October 2018

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.

32 comments:

  1. I love dhall curry a lot. I can just take like this without any other carbs.

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    Replies
    1. I sometimes just eat it like that too.

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  2. Terliur tengok roti yang bertenggek kat mangkok dhall tu lah PH

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    1. hah..hah.. roti bakar pulak yang menarik perhatian Kak Noor :)

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  3. I really love your dhall curry with the crackers to dip. I want to start experimenting this with various vegetables.

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    Replies
    1. Please do and blog about it hee..hee...

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  4. Aaaaww. An awesome looking dhall. Mum must be proud of you.

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  5. I love dhall curry that is thick and rich! Gotta try cooking it one of these days.

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  6. Homemade dhal is the best! I love it when my hubby cooks it at home too.

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  7. I suspect other than the ghee, part of the magic is in your bone broth. I like to eat dhall on its own if it is not too salty and yours look perfect! :) Another recipe to include in your to-be-published cookbook.

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    Replies
    1. You are right, the bone broth gave it a lot of flavor.

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  8. I now understand why you say this is not a conventional dhall...coz you used bone broth! That also explains why your dhall has a deeper colour. I love brightly yellow-coloured dhall with roti canai...and, if cooked conventionally, I think the secret ingredient is hairy gourd (mao gua or jit kwa in Chinese?) which gives the dhall its sweetness.

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    1. Oh, I didn't know that hairy gourd is cooked with dhall. There was this Indian lady who used to run a stall at one of the coffee shops and her dhall curry was really fantastic. I spotted some slices of daikon in her dhall curry.

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    2. I'm not 100% sure it's hairy gourd...it was definitely some kind of melon I spotted as it's soft. Like you, I've also spotted daikon in some dhall versions. These give the dhall its sweetness and that's probably why they were included.

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    3. Perhaps in my future dhall, I should add some daikon :)

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  9. No harm in blowing your own trumpet if you don't mind friends inviting themselves over for dinner ;-)

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    Replies
    1. LOL! Oh yes, they would be more than happy to answer the clarion call!

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  10. Ah Hong Chee, will there be a open house where you cook for your blogger friends? Wink wink...

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  11. Hi Phong Hong,
    I don't overachieve my weekends for ages ... hee..hee! Going slow nowadays. The bowl of Dhall curry must be yummy with toast bread. Have a great weekend!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Karen! Good for you. Don't be silly like me. LOL!

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  12. I couldn't help chuckling over you stressing about your over-achieving, PH.
    So cute lah.

    Those sure look like very yummy dhall!

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  13. Not sure if i had eaten dhall curry before, yours look delicious

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    Replies
    1. I am sure you have eaten with roti canai.

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  14. I do that, too! Cook way too much, make a mess, then want to take photos of it all! But you eventually got this amazing curry finished, so that's all that counts :)

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    Replies
    1. So I see that I am not alone! I find that taking photos of more than 2 dishes wear me out and the pics don't turn out well.

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  15. Yes, the dhall curry looks good and delicious! I love dhall curry and would very much like to cook this but hubby not a fan of dhall curry.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! Well, you'll have to enjoy the dhall curry at the shop then hee..hee...

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