Really complicated dahl soup

I made a really complicated dahl recipe by from the Guardian by Urvesh Parvais (me neither) when some friends came round for lunch on New Year's Day. As usual, I had tons left over, and as usual I turned the leftover dahl into soup.

Really complicated dahl soup

As I said, this dahl was really complicated. To give you an idea how complicated, here's the list of ingredients:

Complicated dahl ingredients

• red lentils 250g
• sunflower oil 3 tbsp 
• dry chilli 1 
• cumin seeds 1 heaped tsp 
• asafoetida ¼ tsp 
• garlic ½ small bulb, sliced 1mm 
• onion ½, finely sliced
• turmeric ½ level tsp 
• salt 2 level tsp (then add to taste) 
• ginger finely chopped 1½ heaped tbsp 
• green chilli 2, finely chopped (adjust to your taste) 
• dhana jeru (2 parts coriander seed, 1 part cumin seed) 3 heaped tsp 
• fresh coriander ½ bunch (reserve a little for garnish), roughly chopped 
• tomatoes 100g, roughly chopped 
• jaggery (or sugar) 1½ level tsp (add less to begin with then adjust to taste) 
• garam masalo ½ level tsp

I could go on to explain the extremely complicated method for making this dahl, but my guess is you're not going to bother making it, so I'm not going to bother writing it. If you fancy giving it a shot, go to the Guardian website.  

My friends did say that it was lovely dahl, though it was a little too thick for my liking. However, when I turned it into soup and had some at work it was way too garlicky. When I first read the recipe I wasn't sure if it really meant 1/2 bulb garlic, or if this was a typo and was meant to read 1/2 clove garlic. Deciding a clove was too little and a bulb too much, I think I settled on about 4 cloves. The garlic is sliced, not crushed, and half of it is added in the last 5-10 minutes' cooking time. It was these slices that I picked out of my soup, though admittedly they were slightly larger than the recommended 1mm thickness. Guiltily, I threw away the remaining portion of soup.

Lentil and pumpkin soup

The delicious dahl and pumpkin soup

It's winter and work is busy so I want a good selection of soups in the freezer for easy (and free) lunches. If you make just one type of soup you'll soon get bored and and be put off eating soup for months. Having a variety of soups in the freezer (frozen, of course, in individual tupperware-shaped portions) will stop your heart from sinking when you contemplate a homemade lunch.

Last Sunday I made three different types of soup, giving me about 10 portions in total. I used instant vegetable stock as the base for all of them. I use reduced salt Swiss bouiIllon stock and add my own salt, as I find the normal stuff too salty.
I adapted this dahl-type soup from one in the New Covent Garden Soup and Beyond book.  

There's a long list of ingredients, but they're pretty standard spice rack staples. You can of course use fresh chillies - the recipe suggests 1 red and 1 green one, but I hate getting chilli juice on my fingers, or worse, in my eye, so use Lazy Chilli or  chilli paste from a jar.

Dahl and pumpkin soup ingredients

• 1 small pumpkin
• 1 medium onion
• About 125g red lentils
• About 1 litre vegetable stock
• 1 thumb root ginger, grated
• 2 teaspoons lazy chilli
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground tumeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
• lime juice, to finish, to taste 

Method for making dahl and pumpkin soup

1. Heat about 1 desert spoon of vegetable oil in a pan.
2. Add the onions and fry over a medium heat till a little browned at the edges.
3. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli, tumeric, coriander and cumin; fry for about 1 minute.
4. Add the vegetable stock, lentils and pumpkin and bring to the boil.
5. Simmer till the pumpkin is tender and the lentils are cooked. 
6. Mash to your liking with a potato masher. You can liquidise if you prefer, but I like a little texture in my soup. It makes it seem more like a meal and lesslike baby food.
7. Add the coconut milk and tamarind and warm for a minute or two.
8. Add the lime juice after you have removed from the heat and are just about to serve.

I actually wish I had made more of this soup as it is so tasty, and it feels like a real treat having 'curry' for lunch at work. For free.

Dahl

Dahl

The only red dahl recipes I could find included ingredients I didn't have so I made this one up. A couple of tomatoes would have been a good addition.

Dahl ingredients

• 1 teaspoon whole cumin
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• red lentils, rinsed – somewhere between 100 and 150g. No need to be precise here, we’re not making a cake
• ½ thumb’s worth of ginger (mine not Jamie’s), finely chopped
• 3 small garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 large onion, half chopped finely and half sliced thinly

How to make dahl

1. Dry roast the cumin seeds for a few minutes till fragrant, then remove from the pan and crush is a pestle and mortar.
2. Add a little flavourless oil such as groundnut or vegetable and warm before adding the mustard seeds. Fry for about a minute or until they start to pop.
3. Add the chopped onion and fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the spices (including the roast cumin seeds), garlic and ginger and fry for about a minute.
5. Add the lentils and stir to coat them, then add enough water to cover.
6. Bring to the boil then simmer until the lentils are cooked and the dahl is the consistency you like it, stirring occasionally. If it becomes too dry add more water.
7. While the lentils are cooking fry the sliced onion in a little oil till crispy.
8. Top the dahl with the crispy onion slices to serve. 

I like a little dahl as an accompaniment to another curry, but it makes a great lunch too and freezes well so its worth making in a large batch.  For lunch, you only need a toasted pitta bread and maybe a squeeze of lemon or lime juice to make a tasty, filling, healthy and incredibly cheap lunch. Lunch for free at its best.