On the packet of chana dahl, you might read that once you have washed them and picked out any foreign objects, you should soak them for 30 minutes and then boil them for 10 minutes and simmer for 40.
 |
Mustard seed, jeera
and fresh turmeric. |
In my experience, you should instead, soak them for 6 hours (during which time the 200g becomes 380-400g) and then boil them for 30-45 minutes.
The peas should not be brittle, or gritty but instead, be soft, just like tinned baked beans are. Once they have got to that stage, turn off the heat and replace the lid.
In a saucepan, put some oil and fry the jeera and the mustard seed so that they start popping - just making the noise, not puffing up like popcorn.
 |
Add chillies, onions,
garlic, ginger... |
Next, add the turmeric and coriander powder and fry until the coriander is cooked.
Add the chillies and fry for half a minute and then add the onions, garlic and ginger.
Fry for a few minutes and then add around 50mls of water, bring to the boil and then put the lid on and cook until the onion is soft.
 |
Then the cooked
Chana Dahl |
Add the salt, lemon juice and the cooked chana dahl.
Add some more water and boil the mixture, stirring every now and then.
Using the spurtle (or the back of a spoon), squash some of the chana dahl so as to thicken up the mixture.
When it is to your satisfaction, switch off and divide it up into three lunch boxes.
Looking at it, there doesn't appear to be a lot of this but you should really eat it with either some naan (or any other flatbread) or some rice.
 |
Eat with lunch-box-sized naan
bread or with rice instead. |