A Different Kind of Comfort Food for an Italian Chef

This also works beautifully with yellow split peas, though cook down takes a bit longer. We like it spicy and always add a dried chili pepper flakes or cayenne. Cinnamon adds depth. Parsley works in a pinch, and a squeeze of lemon or lime makes it sing.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil? Why? How about using ghee or just clarifying some butter? Save that oil for a salad or something from the Mediterranean.

I am not sure where this so-called Italian came from, but lentils are a staple in Italian cooking. Nothing better than lentils in Italian Wedding soup and no, they do not have to be all white beans; and, of course, just simple delicious lentil soup. I think as the world changes and current history is challenged, one will see that Asia has had an influence on Greece and Italy and then Europe via the Middle East.

Thank you for this piece. Hot fresh dal and rice are a slice of heaven for me. After returning from a cruise or a vacation of some kind, and after enjoying all kinds of rich food, I set the pot at home for some hearty, earthy deliciousness!

Try this recipe - Put Tur dal in a pressure cooker ( mix equal quantities of water and Tur dal in the container in addition to the water at the base of the cooker) and steam it for 3 whistles. When finished, pour the dal over hot rice and add salt, ghee and a dash of fresh lime. We call it "Varan bhaat" in Maharashtra.. This qualifies as soul food in those parts :-)

One of the best global recipes from the NYTimes. Please read the comments...add some roasted mustard seeds, ginger and garlic,mmmmmm! Chedraui Merida Mexico...please, we need these lentils. Thank you ancient Canadian who lived for many years in India

Trader Joe's sells the lentil. For some reason, it cooks faster than other brands.

An admirable effort, but this is just too complicated/ hipster for daal, a basic (and sometimes, staple) dish for millions of people daily across India and the greater subcontinent. -Simplest version: Step 1: Take lentils of any kind, add turmeric, water, and cook in a pressure cooker (or Instant Pot), until spoon soft. Proportions are not important- adjust water to desired consistency. It can be also added after the pressure cooking is done to make daal thinner if so desired. Step 2: Most daals are not complete without a "tadka". Temper the daal (i.e. give "tadka") with cumin or mustard seeds gently sauteed/ in ghee or oil, and gently thrown onto the daal as a finishing agent (careful about adding hot oil/ fat to a water based "soup"- it will sputter and splash violently for a few seconds) Step 3: Serve hot on rice or which chapatis/ rotis/ other breads of choice. Everything else is fluff. FYI: Daal varietes: toor/ tuvar; moong, channa- these would be the most common. There are many others, too numerous to list, and sometimes combined into varieties of daals Also: Indian cooks usually "eyeball" ingredients. It is an imprecise "science" called "andaaz" or "estimation". Precise measurements with cups, tsps, tbsps are a dead giveaway of the western cook trying to cook "Indian" and then complaining of being paralyzed by its "complexity". (Tongue firmly in cheek) Respectfully

No final tempering? Hmm. Yogurt and dollop of Indian pickle will mask all the sins.

If you have a tabletop rice cooker with a steam setting for vegetables, you can temper the garlic, onions, ground turmeric, whole brown mustard seed, whole cumin seed, black cumin (kala jeera) right in the pot with no risk of scorching. Add oil to clean empty pot, then whole seed and turmeric powder. For 3/4 C de-hulled lentils, use 2 cloves garlic, 1tsp turmeric and however much seeds you feel comfortable eating. I vary the seeds with each batch to change the flavor but we make this 3 times each week. Hit steam on your rice cooker and it will heat up to 210 F and hold that temp so no scorching of garlic and spices. After 10-20 minutes, hit off and remove pot to cool. Add lentils and 3 cups boiling water from an electric tea pot and hit rice setting. 45 mniutes later, add salt to taste and serve. If you want fresh rice too, you need a second rice cooker or reheat your rice from yesterday. Or make khichuri, lentils and rice in same pot.

Please stop using the term Kaffir. The word is a highly offensive slang Afrikaans term referring to black people. The better term these days is Makrut limes.

It’s time for the NYT and just about everyone to stop calling these limes Kaffir Limes and switch to the more appropriate, Makrut Limes. The etymology of kaffir is uncertain but kafir in Arabic means unbeliever and the word Kafir is an ethnic slur for black Africans. Yes. It’s true. Other than that, the dal looks delish.

Also try popping mustard seeds in the oil before adding the lentils and add a dash of cayenne or green chilies and asafoetida (hing: a mineral salt to aid digesting the lentils). The pickle can be omitted or served on the side. Dal/ daal, cooked any way you like, is an excellent food and vegetarian protein source. And really satisfying. I’ve been cooking it for my partner based on remembered recipes from childhood as well. It often substitutes for meat dishes. If more of us ate it regularly, we might be able to lower our carbon footprints.

A close second for me. My favorite is Khichuri, where I add an equal amount of uncooked basmati rice in the lentil. Then I essentially follow the steps in this recipe. This is from my childhood in Kolkata, India. My mother made Khichuri and Onion Bhaji when it rained heavily in the summer time. I still do.

Nice! I love the idea of adding kaffir lime. Never have added that to this dish. I will try it.

I would suggest that you also try the southern Indian stew using Tuar dal called Sambhar (made Palghat style - no garlic but with a coconut base & red chillies) or Rasam (with garlic). These are main staples in a southern Indian home that can be mixed with rice and a side vegetable dish. The Sambhar made with small pearl onions mixed with rice and a potato mishmash (aka podimash with sautéed ginger, mustard seeds, turmeric & asafetida ) as a side dish is one to relish.

I know this is her version but dal generally tastes a bit off without tempering. Heat a little ghee with 1 tsp black mustard sees, 1 tsp sliced shallot, 1-2 whole dried chile and some whole cumin seeds ( 1 tsp or so) and 3-5 curry leaves. Add at the end.

Until he'd had Indian food, my NJ-born partner never imagined one could feel satisfied without meat on the table. Now we regularly eat all vegetarian Indian meals which are tasty, imaginative and terrifically satisfying not to mention healthier and more environmentally sustainable. I am happy to see NYT's food section catching showing this wonderful side of cuisine at last.

This is a good and wholesome masala dal recipe, though by no means exceptional with respect to ingredients. The use of kaffir lime leaf (borrowed from Thai and Malay curries) is a nice touch, though I'm not sure EVOO would be superior to the neutral vegetable oil that folks in India use. (The strong spices would camouflage the distinctive EVOO flavor completely.) In the Chennai area, cilantro and scallions (actually pearl onions) are incorporated into the recipe; pearl onions toward the middle of cooking and cilantro at the end. The yoghurt served on the side is from regular bovine milk and is often homemade. Some masala dal variants also use a light touch of souring agent: tomato, tamarind or lemon/lime. Patak's pickles are greatly overrated. Several Gujarati brands out of New Jersey (Swad, Deep), widely available in Indian groceries, are better. considerably cheaper and with many more varieties: the unripe mango may be in chunks or finely shredded, and the base varies from the common hot-and-sour to hot-and-sweet to plain sweet - the last is minimalist with sugar, cinnamon, cardamom and a little saffron or turmeric.

It's not surprising that her mother would experiment with lentils in India– they're also a basic ingredient in a thrifty Italian kitchen. I grew up eating brown lentils, but these days one of my favorite comfort foods is red lentils with cumin, garlic, chopped tomatoes and preserved lemon. Vaguely Moroccan, and delicious.

Thank you for this recipe! Sounds perfect, and simple, too - I will be trying it. I find a creamy dal and fluffy rice to be nice and comforting, also, but mine usually comes carryout from a local Indian restaurant! I would love to be able to "whip up" a dish of dal.

Thank you! I thought I was all alone eating red lentil, (dhal) and rice as comfort food. Any way you cook, dhal is a delicious and nourishing dish. Mine is very simple. One cup of Red Lentil cook with enough water and few pieces of sliced Onions, a pinch or two of turmeric powder. Add salt in the midway of cooking. Don't let it dry. Add water to keep it soft. About 15 minutes While cooking, in a separate pan fry sliced onion in any cooking oil (till it turn light brown) small piece of red chilli and, curry leaves if you have. Mix well with the dahl. I like it with any white rice. Jasmine, preferred. Ah!!!!

Technically, Sheeps milk yogurt if we're going by that photograph.

Sounds like a delicious version. The photo shows sheep's milk yogurt, fyi. It's milder and richer than goat's. I suppose you could use either, I would go with sheep's. Wondering which the chef intended. Thanks.

I am definitely making this TONIGHT!!!! This is so good for you. This is so good for the environment. I am not a vegetarian.

This the comfort food for most Indians, there are subtle variations of this, always think that people who have never tried this miss such a great simple food

Most East Indians have some version of this red lentil and rice combo which they eat when they are not feeling well. It is typically called "kichdee" and the variations are plenty. I am sure Nina's version is very good. Just looking at the ingredients used, it sounds great. The yogurt and pickle are also something which goes along with this combination. I am so glad that this simple but delicious recipe got printed in NYT. Thanks!

Wow! Small world. I grew up in Chennai and the dal (we call it sambhar in the south), rice, yoghurt and pickle was always my favorite as a kid. Nina, try adding papadum (or papad for crunchiness) and substituting Mother's pickle.

You mention goat yogurt as I just skimmed this recipe, but you show Old Chatham Farm yogurt with the cute black ewe on the top with the ingredient collection. Old Chatham Sheephearding Co is about the sheep milk, not goat milk yogurt. I would encourage people to drive around the Hudson valley and get whatever farmhouse yogurt they can. However, wait for the warm weather . BTW I have no relationship with Old Chatham or the sheep.

You could always make the dal separate and serve it with rice as Nina suggests. Alternatively, for a more delicious, hearty and authentic experience from Chennai try Pongal which is dal/rice cooked together with ginger and spices. Pongal is the specialty for Tamil New Year on Jan 14th. You can find great recipes online. Under 10 mins of work with Instant Pot - satisfaction guaranteed!