By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- About 1 hour 30 minutes
- Rating
- 4(505)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This lentil dish is inspired by Mark Bittman’s revelatory article and dal recipes that ran in The New York Times Magazine on Dec. 2, 2012. I didn’t have a fresh green chile in the fridge so I used a little cayenne instead to spice it up. I wanted to introduce some color so I added half of a red bell pepper that was in my refrigerator to the mix. I am making the cilantro optional because I didn’t have any even though normally I would have used it; the dish was fine without it.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- ¾cup regular blond quinoa
- ¼cup red quinoa
- 1¼cups water
- ½ to ¾teaspoon salt, to taste
- 1cup brown or split yellow lentils (toor dal), rinsed
- 1teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 1½teaspoons turmeric
- ½medium onion (intact), peeled
- Salt to taste
- 1½tablespoons fresh lime juice or ¼ cup tamarind water (made from soaking 1 tablespoon tamarind paste in warm water for 10 minutes; optional)
- 2tablespoons grape seed oil, canola oil, safflower oil or sunflower oil
- ½cup finely minced red bell pepper
- 1plump garlic clove, minced
- 1teaspoon cumin seeds
- Cayenne pepper to taste
- 3tablespoons chopped cilantro
For the Quinoa
For the Dal
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
270 calories; 7 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 41 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 12 grams protein; 330 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Rinse the quinoa thoroughly and combine with the water and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until the white quinoa displays a little white spiral. Turn off the heat, remove the lid and place a dish towel over the top of the pot. Return the lid and let sit for 15 minutes. The quinoa will now be fluffy. Keep warm.
Step
2
Meanwhile, combine the lentils, ginger, turmeric and onion half (don’t chop it) with 1 quart water and salt to taste (about 1 to 1½ teaspoons) and bring to a gentle boil. Stir only once to make sure there are no lentils sticking to the bottom of the pot. Reduce the heat to medium – the lentils should simmer briskly – and cook uncovered until the lentils are tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Stir in the lime juice or tamarind concentrate and add another ½ cup water. Stir together and simmer for another minute. Turn off the heat and using an immersion blender, an Indian mathani (a wooden tool used for mashing dal) or a wooden Mexican hot chocolate mixer, partially pureé the dal. It should be thick but not like a pureed soup.
Step
3
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a small saucepan or small frying pan (such as an 8-inch omelet pan). Add the cumin seeds and allow to sizzle, stirring, for 10 seconds. Add the garlic and cook until lightly colored, about 15 seconds. Add the red pepper and cook until slightly softened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and pour over the lentils. Add the cayenne pepper and 1 tablespoon of the cilantro and stir gently. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Step
4
Serve the quinoa with the dal spooned on top. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.
Tip
- Advance preparation: The cooked quinoa and the cooked lentils will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator. Wait until you reheat before blending the lentils or they will become too solid.
Ratings
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out of 5
505
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Cooking Notes
Alex
One thing that wasn't clear was whether we should puree the onion with the dal. I didn't, and it turned out great, lending a subtle onion flavor (just in case anybody else was confused!). Even omitted the lime juice/turmeric out of sheer laziness. I'd recommend crisping the garlic till golden.
SRB
What mint?? I don't see any mint in the recipe - perhaps this comment is for a different dish?
Suzanne
The first time I made this dish, I found it was fine but missing something(s). Second time, I added garam masala and amchoor powder to the lentils and a minced green chili to the cumin and garlic (I like the color but not the flavor of red bell pepper in this dish, so I skipped it the second time), no cayenne. That did the trick.
Aitona
I used a minced serrano pepper instead of the cayenne and it turned out fine. Will make again.
helga gomes
Dal is a lentil so its redundant - I think you have had about 50 c0mments on the same.
John
Don't see mint in the ingredients list.
Dee
I liked this but felt the mint could have been left out. Mine was a bit overpowering. I used tricolor quinoa and petit puys lentils.
julia
suggest adding less water to lentils; too this to put over quinoa until they were boiled down a lot.
susan s
Not bad! Modified a fair bit to up the flavor, and will modify more in future. Chicken stock instead of water, maybe even cook the quinoa in it. Garam masala, added at the beginning. Along with the cumin seeds, toasted coriander seeds and black mustard seeds, and added some leftover kale to the pan. Would maybe use sliced shallots instead of garlic, too. So many things to vary and try!
Laura S
The flavor of this is very nice. If you are going to blend in the half onion (some commenters did, some didn't, I did) chop it into 3 or 4 pieces. I also added spinach.
Emily
I didn’t like this very much. The cumin was too strong and not enough other flavors. I blended in about half the onion. Also I wish recipes included some minimal salt recommendation.
Eliyana
I was surprised by the amount of flavor the lentils had, but didn’t think the dish was particularly balanced. I added 1 tsp garam masala to the oil, and topped the final dish with more fresh lime juice and a spoonful of whole fat Greek yoghurt. That helped a lot!
Dallas
Yes I was wondering what the fate of the onion was as well! Perhaps the recipe author can share thoughts?
Emily H
Loved this! Especially with 1 tsp garam masala as others recommended. Also added toasted walnuts and air-fried kale on top for color and texture. This will be a new staple.
mt
Used chicken stock instead of water. Used ground ginger and garlic. Added ground cumin and pinch of curry powder. Used juice of whole lemon and sautéed one diced onion first. Loved it.
KC
Perhaps my lentils were a bit old, but they were still quite hard after 40 minutes. I omitted the red pepper and found this to be a little bland, but adding mango pickle as a garnish did the trick.
Chisailor79
This is the worst dish I've made in years. I must have screwed up somehow. Does moong dal vs toor dal change the prep? It was tasteless, had a mealy texture and looked like baby food.
susan s
Not bad! Modified a fair bit to up the flavor, and will modify more in future. Chicken stock instead of water, maybe even cook the quinoa in it. Garam masala, added at the beginning. Along with the cumin seeds, toasted coriander seeds and black mustard seeds, and added some leftover kale to the pan. Would maybe use sliced shallots instead of garlic, too. So many things to vary and try!
Joe
Not bad! Modified a fair bit to up the flavor, and will modify more in future. Chicken stock instead of water, maybe even cook the quinoa in it. Garam masala, added at the beginning. Along with the cumin seeds, toasted coriander seeds and black mustard seeds, and added some leftover kale to the pan. Would maybe use sliced shallots instead of garlic, too. So many things to vary and try!
Laura
I puréed the onion and left it a little chunky. I also cooked the lentils down a little longer as they seemed too soupy for me. I didn’t add the extra water with the lime juice either. Satisfying little bowl! I’m wanting a piece of grilled catch of the day or a smoky chicken thigh to accompany.
Alyssa
Thought the lentils tastes great before I added additional water and blended them lightly in the food processor (since I don’t own the other suggested tools). I would skip the additional water next time because I felt the lentils were a little too runny after. Additionally, I may add some fresh hot peppers next time to help bump up the flavor a bit more.
Dan
This was really good. I used red lentils and a bit of chana dal because that is what I had. I added fresh lime juice as recommended. Squeezing further lime juice over each bowl upon serving really made the flavors pop.
Rachel D
Used yellow lentils and it was mushy without adding extra water or using any kind of mechanical device. Would probably cut back on liquid if I used yellow lentils again. Agree with some other subscribers that it was bland-though it may taste better today. Would recommend using stock instead of water, adding more ginger, cumin, cilantro, etc. And would consider dicing onion and sauteeing with ginger before simmering lentils.
Fei & Jake
Definitely keep the onion in when you blend it. We thought it was plenty tasty and we stayed pretty close to the recipe. One big change was preparing the quinoa in vegetable stock instead of water. Enjoy!
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