Basic Yellow Split Pea Daal

Back to the food – this daal was created as a sort-of mash-up of several daal recipes I found on the web. Everyday yellow daal on smitten kitchen was a source of inspiration, as was Route79. Really though I know so little about Indian cooking and there are so many types of daal out there that I was sort of winging it. To be honest, my daal didn’t even come out yellow. And it tastes exactly nothing like the daal at The Refectory – it’s much meatier, for lack of a better descriptor. But it’s still delicious and warming and comforting and the highlight of my day is no longer cleaning the refrigerator because I am on my second plate of dinner, drinking my first glass of wine in a month, and watching a sappy old person love movie.* So here’s the deets:

Basic Yellow Split Pea Daal

• 1 c. yellow split peas
• 1 T canola oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 T cumin
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 3/4 c. diced tomatoes (approx. 1/4 28 oz. can)
• 2 carrots, grated or finely chopped
• 2 T butter
• 1/2 c chopped cilantro
• 2 tsp kosher salt

1. Soak the split peas in cold water for half an hour.  Drain, and rinse 2 or 3 times until water is fairly clear.
2. Cover the split peas with water and bring to a boil.
3. Meanwhile, sautee onion with cumin in olive oil in medium heat for 5-7 minutes.
4. Add onion, tomatoes, carrots and spices to split peas.  Simmer on medium heat, half-covered, for a full hour and a half, stirring occasionally.  Add water as needed to keep covered.
5. When split peas are soft and begin to break down, add butter, cilantro, and salt.  Simmer for another 10 minutes.
6. Serve on basmati rice or hot toast with a cucumber-dill raita glopped on top.**

*Old people love movies are movies where people that I consider old have a surprising amount of sex.  The prime example of this genre is Something’s Gotta Give.

** Cucumber raita: Take a spoon, a tub of yogurt, half a cucumber (diced), lemon juice, black pepper, kosher salt, cilantro and dill.  Mix ingredients, tasting after each addition, until you like it.  Personally, I use vanilla yogurt because I like the extra flavor and greek yogurt kind of freaks me out, but most people recommend plain greek yogurt.  Also, I used dill in a tube – yeah, I was skeptical too, but there wasn’t any dill in the grocery store and this stuff tastes great!  And you don’t have to chop anything!  So I approve of that too.