A friend asked me for this recipe as she was craving for roti canai & dhal which you can commonly get in Malaysia. Obviously I agreed to share because I love cooking this dhal! Its so simple to make, delicious and healthy! What’s not to love about it!?
This is a simple lentils/dhal dish which can be enjoyed anytime of the day. Just make sure to make loads so you can freeze some, because its perfect for busy days.
Here’s what you need:
- 1 cup red lentils/dhal – boiled in 3 cups of water, medium to slow heat for about 40 minutes till mashed. Keep removing the scum that rises to the surface as you boil, and add 1/4 cup of water to further boil (if needed)
- You can use a hand blender to make the lentils creamier. I sometimes do this, but for this recipe, I left it a little chunky.
- You can also use a pressure cooker to cook the lentils.
You will also need:
- 3 tbsp of ghee (use vegetable oil if you want it vegan)
- 1 medium onion/shallots – diced
- 3 cloves of garlic – diced
- 2 dried chillies (add more if you like it spicy)
- thumb size ginger – thinly diced
- 1 lemongrass – bruised
- handful of curry leaves or bay leaves
- 1 tsp panch pooran
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp tamarind paste
- 200ml coconut milk (more if you like it creamier)
- 1 large potato – diced
- 1 large carrot – diced
- 1 small tomatoes – diced
- salt & pepper to taste
- Handful of coriander leaves
In a separate pan:
- Heat up the ghee, add onions, garlic, ginger, lemon grass, dried chillies and curry leaves. Fry this in a medium heat till the onions go brown.
- Add the panch pooran seeds to this and cook for about 30 seconds. Then add the turmeric powder, cumin powder and coriander powder for about 15 seconds.
- Add this to the pot of boiling lentils/dhal and stir well.
- Then add the coconut milk, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, half of the coriander leaves, tamarind paste, salt and pepper and leave this to cook for about 30 to 45 minutes on a slow heat.
- Stir every 10 minutes or so.
- Add some water if you think its getting too thick. Play with the seasoning a little to suit your taste,
- Finally add the balance coriander leaves to finish.
You can serve this with roti canai/prata, chapati, rice or anything really. Spicy sambals go well as a side too. Hope you enjoy this!