2 cup green or brown lentils
1 each cinnamon stick, 3
1 each bay leaf
3 medium garlic cloves, peeled, whole
2 slice ginger root, 1 thick
1 tsp turmeric
3/4 each lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne
3 tbsp ghee
1 pinch asafetida
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
Directions
Wash lentils & drain. Combine with 6 cups water, cinnamon stick, bay
leaf, garlic cloves, ginger slices & turmeric. Bring to a boil, lower
heat & simmer for 40 minutes, till lentils are tender & the water has
been reduced significantly.
Slice lemon thinly & add to the pot with salt, black pepper & cayenne.
Simmer for a further 5 minutes.
Just before serving, heat ghee till hot, add asafetida & cumin seeds &
saute till the seeds begin to colour. Pour over top of dahl & serve
over rice.
Madhur Jaffrey, "An Invitation to Indian Cooking"
Servings: 1 servings
Lentil Dahl Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bean; Indian; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
Written recipes as a concept can be found back into history, in truth as far back as the Egyptians, and possibly even further than that. Interesting though that is, mostly, these ancient records were just basic pictorial instructions for meal preparation.
In an interesting twist, the most ancient recipe in existence, according to food historians are some tablets in Sumerian describing the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making people feel exhilarated and blissful. During the time of the Romans a man called Apicius compiled a few scripts which described recipes cooked by the Romans. In his scrolls, he describes how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into hors d`oeuvres, main meal and dessert, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Additionally, he recounts how the early Romans were skilled in the use of a good variety of spices and herbs, including a few that will be familiar to modern cooks for example basil, mint and parsley. Moving our culinary historical trip onwards, there are two books from the 14th Century ; a book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary titled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are somewhat misleading tho`, these books are unconnected to the indian food that is served today, but instead accounts of the types of meals enjoyed by the rich people of the period. Later on, in the 15th century, knights returning from the crusades brought us many new foods, spices and herbs from Arab cooking, such as rosemary and coriander. These new foods and tastes created an eruption in recipe manuscripts, the majority of which are kept safe in private cookery archives. When we get to the 20th century, recipe publications are starting to become popular due to more people being able to read, people having more free time and having more money to spend. The arrival of TV brought us celebrity TV chefs and the spin-off recipe books. Which brings us neatly to the present day and the internet revolution, permitting everybody to access massive numbers of recipes such as those found on this recipe site. |
We hope you enjoy this Lentil Dahl recipe.
