1 cup dal (moong - yellow, or
1 masur - pink)
3 1/2 cup water
1 to taste salt
1 to taste pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
1 small onion
1 ghee
1 tsp cumin seed
Directions
1. Wash the dal and drain it. 2. Boil water and add the dal, salt,
pepper, turmeric, finely chopped ginger, and garlic. Cover the pot
and simmer for 20 minutes. 3. When done, heat the ghee, add the cumin
and fry till golden brown. Add thinly sliced onions. Fry till crisp
and brown.
May add paprika and finely chopped tomatoes to the above for color--
Pour over the dal and serve.
Recipe By : Somesh Rao
Servings: 1 servings
Masur Dal (Lentils) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bean; Indian; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
Food historians have traced the existence of recipes way back into the far past, at least as far back as early Egypt, and maybe further still. Interesting though that is, these, old cook books were just simple hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for preparing meals.
Fascinatingly, the oldest recipe discovered, according to academics is a collection of stone tablets in Sumerian which recount the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made anyone who drank it feel exhilarated and blissful. As we move into The time of the roman empire 25BC a roman called Apicius assembled a collection of documents detailing recipes cooked by wealthy Romans. In his works, Apicius recounts how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into starters, main meal and dessert, a style of dining still practiced today. This early Roman chef recounts how the Roman chefs were skilled in the use of many spices and herbs, including a few that will be familiar to modern cooks such as thyme, rue and asafoetida. As our culinary historical trip moves on a few more years we have two recipe books which appeared in the 14th Century - a cookery book entitled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary named `Curye on Inglish`. Despite their titles, they are unconnected to the curry that is popular today, but instead descriptions of the types of food prepared by the cooks of the rich people of the time. In the fifteenth century, knights returning from the crusades brought back many foods and herbs from the holy land, including coriander, parsley, and rosemary. The introduction of these new culinary ideas was responsible for an eruption in publications on food, many of which are kept safe in academic collections. Over the following few hundred years, the upper-class families of Europe competed to serve up the most extravagent meals, and consequentially the best cooks and their recipes were much in demand. However, it was during the 19th century that formal cookery and recipe collections reached a high level of popularity. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, devoted much of their lives to collating, testing, and publishing popular recipes of the day. By the arrival of the 20th century, cooking books are in great demand, mostly as a result of better eduction, people having more leisure time and having more disposable income. The introduction of television brings us TV cookery programs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. Which brings us neatly up to date and the internet revolution, allowing us all to access massive numbers of recipes like the ones you can find on this recipe site. |
We hope you enjoy this Masur Dal (Lentils) recipe.
