Smoky dal

Recipes, Cooking tips and maybe some 'Home Made' secrets !
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fabindia
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Smoky dal

Post by fabindia »

Wendy decided to meet up with a friend she hasn't seen since we got back from Thailand. They met at a local park to conform to the social distancing rules.

So, while she was out, I decided to experiment and make some dal with a bit of twist. Dal (spilt lentils) is a staple of Indian food and we eat it quite a lot. There are literally dozens, probably hundreds, of local variations of it in India.

The twist in this case was to make it smoky. So, I made some dal, not much different to what we would normally eat, just a basic toor (sometimes called split pigeon pea) dal. I then transferred the cooked dal to a large saucepan that has a fairly tight fitting lid. Next, I inverted a small bowl and placed it in the bottom of the saucepan. Finally, I light a small piece of charcoal got it really hot, and the placed it in a small metal bowl on top of the inverted bowl in the saucepan and left it for 15 minutes just to smoke away.

End result - beautifully smoky dal.
Michael
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Re: Smoky dal

Post by Gwenoakes »

That was very ingenious of you and 11/10 for effort and outcome. )t'
Did Wendy like it?
fabindia
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Re: Smoky dal

Post by fabindia »

Yes - Wendy loves any Indian food!

Just been chatting to friends in India about making chapatis :-D
Michael
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Re: Smoky dal

Post by Freeranger »

Can I ask what you use to make your chapatis and flatbreads?
I don't have a cast iron pan or a gas hob. I did it in normal frying pans but they don't stay up to temperature for long - the electric hob rings were glowing bright red and I'm worried about burning out the elements.
fabindia
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Re: Smoky dal

Post by fabindia »

Freeranger wrote:Can I ask what you use to make your chapatis and flatbreads?
I don't have a cast iron pan or a gas hob. I did it in normal frying pans but they don't stay up to temperature for long - the electric hob rings were glowing bright red and I'm worried about burning out the elements.


Could be tricky I think. You need a hot pan and then be able to really turn the heat up.

We make chapatis by rolling the dough out thin, then cooking one side on a dry hot flat pan (called a tawa in India). Once it is browned on the back, you take it off the pan with a pair of tongs, remove the pan from the heat and turn the gas up high, drop the chapati on and flame it. Then it should balloon up.

You really need to roll the dough to a perfect circle to get a good ballooning up. Getting them right takes a lot of practice, Indian girls learn from their mothers and grandmothers. I wrote a blog - In Search of the Perfect Chapati - https://gone4goodnow.wordpress.com/2017/03/07/in-search-of-the-perfect-chapati/

Here's a picture of one I actually cooked in our kitchen in Gujarat, India. One of the better ones I might add.
Image
Michael
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Re: Smoky dal

Post by Freeranger »

That's an interesting idea - I'll try par-cooking then dropping them on the ring directly. What could go wrong.....
Freeranger
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Re: Smoky dal

Post by Freeranger »

We've just had a new hob, so didn't think it was a good idea to try it out on there and instead googled to see what others do.
An Israeli bloke just put a metal tray in his oven, which he turned up to max. When it was to temperature, he put the breads directly onto the tray and left them for 5 minutes. His worked perfectly.
I tried this, and can report it does work if you are careful to keep the tray up to temperature.
Might be useful for anyone else without a gas hob.
fabindia
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Re: Smoky dal

Post by fabindia »

Can you post a link to what you saw?

There are lots of different ways of making flat breads so would be interested.
Michael
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Re: Smoky dal

Post by Freeranger »

It was this one, Michael
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzNv-MjLc-w

If you're making a batch, you really do need to let the tray heat back up again before you do each lot.
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