A Curry A Day Keeps Your Taste Buds Awake!

Hello! It's been really a long while since my last post on recipes. Been buzzing around with work and studies and the internet was out of my reach for 5months or so. That's why...

Anyway, I woke up early in the morning today and my dad told me he needed to use the car. Hence, he accompanied me to work as I drove to my office. We stopped by a mamak stall nearby my office and had breakfast. I had a roti telur with dahl curry.

I wasn't quite happy with the curry. Liquid, too clear, can't taste a good dahl for sure. It was one of the worse dahl curries ever made out of the hands of the mamaks! I have known quite a few mamak stalls who actually cook good dahl curry. So, I thought why not share the curry recipe with everyone?

Here it goes, it's really simple:

• 1 cup skinned dahl or yellow split peas

• 1/8 tsp. ground tumeric

• 1 tbls. peeled and very finely chopped shallots

• 1 tsp. ground cumin seeds

• 3-4 whole fresh green chillies slit down their middle

• 4 tbls. vegetable oil or 2 tbls. coconut oil and 2 tbls. ghee

• 1/2 tsp. whole black mustard seeds

• 10-12 fresh or dried curry leaves

• 1-2 whole hot dried red chillies broken up into 2-4 pieces each

• 2 tbls. peeled and finely sliced shallots

• 2 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped

• 5 oz. (1 medium) sized tomato chopped

• 3/4 - 1 tsp. salt

• 1 1/4 cups tinned or fresh unsweetened coconut milk

Pick over the dahl and wash it in several changes of water and drain. Put in a pot and add 3 3/4 cups water as well as the tumeric. Stir to a boil. Turn the heat to low and cover, leaving the lid slightly ajar. Simmer the dahl for about 45 minutes.

Now put in the chopped shallots and ground cumin. Stir, cover in the same way as before and cook for another 15 minutes. Add the green chillies and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the dahl is tender. If the dahl seems too thick at any point, add up to 1/2 cup of boiling water.

The dal, at this stage should be like a thick paste-like soup. Leave on a very low heat as you complete the final step.

Heat the oil in a small frying pan over a medium flame. When hot put in the mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop. (this take a few seconds) put in the curry leaves and the red chillies. When the red chillies darken (this happens almost immediately) put in all the sliced shallots and garlic. Stir and fry until the shallots turn a reddish-brown color. Now add the tomato pieces. Stir and fry until they soften.

Pour the entire contents of the small frying pan into the dahl. Add the salt and mix. Add the coconut milk and stir it in. The dahl may be cooked several hours ahead of time and then reheated.

Hope you enjoy the recipe~