1 cup masoor dal
1 onion
1 ginger, fresh, 1
3 1/2 cup ; water
1 pinch turmeric
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp butter
Directions
Wash the dal well and drain. Boil the water and add the dal, salt,
pepper, turmeric, finely chopped ginger, and garlic. Cover the pot
and simmer for 20 minutes.
When done, heat the ghi add the cumin. Fry till golden brown and 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.
Rajeev Krishnamoorthy, rajeev@twain.EE.CORNELL.EDU
Servings: 4 servings
Masoor Dal Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Indian
The History of Recipes
Written recipes as a concept can be observed way back into ancient history, in fact as far into history as the early Egyptians, and possibly even further. Interesting though that maybe, generally, these old recipes were just very simple pictorial instructions for preparing food.
In an interesting twist, the most ancient recipe discovered, according to Professor Solomon Katz, are a few ancient tablets in the Sumerian language which describe 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, wonderful and blissful`. Much later, in Roman times a man called Apicius created a collection of scripts showing how to cook the recipes cooked by wealthy Romans. In his publication, he describes how the meals were separated into hors d`oeuvres, main meal and afters, a style of dining still practiced today. Additionally, he describes how the early Romans made use of many different aromatic flavours, including some that we all recognise for example bay, rue and dill. Later on, in the 15th century, knights returning from the crusades brought us a variety of spices and herbs from the holy land, such as rosemary and coriander. These new spices and herbs created an explosion in cookery books, many of which are now in private collections. When we get to the twentieth century, cooking publications are greatly in demand mostly due to better eduction, more spare time and being a little richer. The TV revolution brought us TV chefs and the accompanying recipe books. Which pretty much brings us up to date and the internet revolution, permitting everybody to search through massive numbers of recipes like those on sites such as the one you are reading now. |
We hope you enjoy this Masoor Dal recipe.
