Urad Dal

This delicious Punjabi dish, similar to a Dal Makhani, can easily be made vegan. It’s not difficult but you need to start early. A good ‘working from home’ cook.

quickie

• Serves 4-6
• Soak dal overnight
• Cook in liquid on stovetop 4-6 hours
• Add onions, spices, garlic and junk
• Garnish with some other junk
• “Mow Down” - Westside Connection, 1996

Serves:

• 4+ depending on what you serve it with. This makes a lot.. if you've never tried it and you're not sure you’ll be into it, try half! But it freezes well and this way won’t leave you with half a can of coconut milk.

Level of difficulty: 

• Mediumish. It takes a long time but is mostly hands off.

Nutritional information: 

• Real damned healthy! Congratulations!

Serves well with: 

• Naan or rice or both but definitely not neither. I once served this with neither and my friend Rajpreet laughed at me and said "I can't wait to tell my mom" and I felt shame. 
• Roast cauliflower.

Grocery List:

• 1.5 cups urad dal (these have many A.K.A's: matpe, vigna mungo, black gram, and more)
• 2 cups vegetable broth  
• A few tbsp coconut oil (any oil will do)
• 1 can coconut milk
• A large thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, split (half grated and half cut into matchsticks)
• 15-20 cloves minced garlic
• 5-6 medium yellow onions or equivalent.. 3 giant fellas will work
• 400 ml can of diced tomatoes (or 2-3 fresh tomatoes if in season)
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1-2 tsp chili powder (optional, depending on your heat appreciation)
• 4 red chillies, thinly sliced
• Small handful chopped cilantro
• A few lime slices
• 4-5 shallots

HISTORY:

This is similar to a Dal Makhani, which also uses rajma (kidney beans) and is made creamy and rich with butter and cream. Dal Makhani is a Punjabi dish made famous at Moti Mahal in Delhi, along with butter chicken, and both are now staples of Indian cuisine. There is some dispute as to which partner at Moti Mahal invented the dishes, Kundan Lal Jaggi or Kundan Lal Gujral; read more on both of their interesting lives here.

LESS quickie

Below is the vegan version. If you, like me, are trying to eat more veg meals but aren't a hardcore vegan, you could make this richer by substituting chicken broth for the vegetable broth, heavy cream for the coconut milk, and butter for the coconut oil. That said, the vegan version is delicious, full flavoured, and it allows you to go up to a stranger on the street and yell at them that you made a vegan meal and legally they have to give you one item from their pocket. 

Process:

Thoroughly rinse the urad dal, and soak in 4 cups of water, overnight if possible but for a minimum of 6 hours. 

Pour the dal, complete with soaking water, into a heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven. Add a few heavy pinches of salt and the vegetable broth. If you have any carrots or celery you need to use up you can chunk em up and throw em in.. they're not vital but do add some nice flavour.  

Bring to a boil uncovered, and then turn down to simmer and cover. As this simmers over the next few hours check it periodically to see if you need to top it up with hot water or more broth; make sure the dal are always covered in liquid. They are like a pet fish that will die if you let the water get below it's head. Only they are nothing like a pet fish and you should definitely disregard this analogy. They will cook for anywhere from 4-6 hours depending on how soft you like them.

At some point while the dal cook, between scrolling to infinity or checking your hockey pool, spend a half hour preparing the rest of the ingredients: 

Thinly slice the onions and sauté in 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, on medium high, until nicely golden. Toss a few heavy pinches of salt in there as they cook. Add the minced garlic and continue sautéing for 2-3 minutes, adding more coconut oil if it starts to stick. Set aside. 

Measure out the cumin, garam masala, paprika, turmeric, and chili powder into a bowl. Heat a few tablespoons of coconut oil in a pan on medium-low. Add the grated ginger (not the matchstick'd ginger) and stir constantly. After a minute add the spices. Sauté for a minute or two until the smells are blasting out of the pan, while constantly scraping the mixture from the bottom so it doesn't burn. Remove from heat. 

When the dal are at the texture you want (I like mine with a bit of chew still, some prefer softer), spoon out any excess liquid if it hasn't all absorbed. If you want a creamier texture you can blend up or mash some of the dal with the back of a spoon. Add the onions/garlic, tomatoes, and spice mixture. Shake the can of coconut milk well, and add most of the can, saving a small amount for garnishing. Taste for salt and add as necessary. I do this a number of times over the next half hour, adding a small amount at a time until it's just right. Continue to simmer on low for another 30-60 minutes while you make the garnish: 

Make crispy shallots! Slice the shallots into very thin rings, and place in your smallest pan. Add just enough vegetable or canola oil to cover, and heat on medium high. Once they start to sizzle turn down to medium low and fry for around 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until nicely golden but not too brown. Pour through a mesh strainer, saving the oil to use again.. it will have a lovely shallot flavour.. then spread the shallots out on a paper towel and lightly salt them while they're still hot.  

Heat a tbsp of oil on medium high and lightly sauté the chillies and matchstick'd ginger for around 3 minutes. Hot tip: use the shallot oil and feel an enormous sense of pride. 

Garnish with a swoopy swirly thing of coconut milk, the chillies/ginger, shallots, cilantro, and squeeze of lime. Enjoy the urad dal over rice, with naan, roasted cauliflower, or throw it all out and go get a big mac. Either way, you tried something new and I respect you.