Recipe: Dal (crock pot)

Dal (crock pot)
net.veg/ Harinder Singh (3/12/86)

My favorite way to use my crockpots (yes, two of them) is to cook dals in them. Dal is a generic term in India for legumes. There are many different types of dals, all of them available at Indian stores all over the US. Dals can be very delicious in addition to being nutritious. Each one has a unique taste even though the spicing is done similarly.

My recipe for cooking dals is as follows. I make no claims to its being the authentic taste.

Rinse 2 cups of uncooked dal in water. (Sometimes it helps to inspect the dal by spreading it on a plate while still dry, to look for any unedible little stones(?) that may have remained - I get one or two such in my mouth in a year, so I don't worry too much about them.)

Add 3 to 4 times as much water to the crockpot. Start with less water rather than more. You can always add more later on to get the consistency right. In fact you'll learn soon how much more to start with.

I add 1-2 pounds of chopped, frozen onions as well as the rinsed dal to the water at this point. Use fresh onions if you like; I go for the convenience and simultaneously conserve my tears for more deserving assaults on my sense of well-being.

Add some garlic chips, and spices as follows -

1-2 tsp salt
1-2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp ground or crushed red pepper (cayenne or equivalent of choice)
Fresh (or in my case canned, ground) ginger - optional
Also, please consult any good books on Indian cooking for more ideas on alternatives for spicing.

This is a fairly mild level of spicing and I always need to adjust it upwards towards the end of the cooking, by iterating on the taste. On your subsequent experiments try increasing the spices by a half- to one teaspoons.

Many dals benefit from the addition of chopped tomatoes as well (I always use canned tomatoes.) Also add a glug or two of your favorite cooking oil. I use safflower for no rigorous scientific reason.

How long will it take a dal to cook?? Depends on whether it is shelled or whole. Shelled dals can be done in 6-8 hours on the LOW setting.

Whole dals take from 24 to 48 hours, and the beauty of using a crock pot is that these will be ready to eat in about 24 hours but will continue to improve until 48 hours.

Thus you have a wide margin of time in which to attend to it. For starters, I would recommend a dal called Mah Sabit. It is a black bean kind of dal. Can mix it with some yellow chana dal too.

Of the quicker cooking ones you might try urid dhuli, or mah chilke-wali. You'll find more names in Indian cook-books. Overnight soaked kidney beans can also be used with excellent results.

If the dal starts to turn mushy you've overcooked it. Taste it when you think it is done and start iterating on the spicing. If you've used only one pound of onions at the beginning (or if you like onions then even if you've used two), you can enhance the taste of the dal before serving by frying some (1 lb) chopped onions in enough (a slight excess) of aforementioned favorite cooking oil until they brown slightly. Add more salt and red pepper if your tasting suggested a need. Add these fried onions to the crock pot and mix in. Add more salt and pepper if still too low on it.

Can be eaten with warmed whole wheat pita (buttered if you like), and yogurt. Yoplait, Mountain High or Pavel's low-fat are high on my list.

Can also be eaten with rice - cooked in a rice-cooker for convenience, of course. Yogurt recommended again.

I'm told by an aunt that vegetables can be cooked similarly, without adding water, but I haven't tried that yet. If in a rush, experiment with cooking the dals on a normal stove top in a pan. Will take between 20 minutes and a couple of hours, depending on the dal.