Ingredients
1 cup yellow split peas
2 1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt
1 pinch turmeric
1 1/4 tsp cumin, ground
2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/4 tsp coriander, ground
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 pinch garlic powder
1 pinch sugar
1/4 cup ghee
1 pinch cumin seeds
2 each red chiles
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
3/4 tsp ginger, grated
1 each bay leaf
2 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
1 pinch paprika
Directions
Wash peas & soak in water for 20 minutes. Drain, rinse & cover with
fresh water & bring to a boil. Add salt & turmeric & boil hard for 2
minutes removing any scum that forms in that time. Reduce heat, cover
& simmer until soft, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat & stir in
the cumin, lemon juice, coriander, cayeene, garlic & sugar.
Heat ghee in a large pot & fry the cumin seeds, chiles, ginger & bay
leaf for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add tomato paste. Add the
dal, stirring all the time. Sprinkle with the paprika & mix well.
Cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes & serve.
Pranati Sen Gupta, "The Art of Indian Cuisine"
Servings: 4 servings
Matar Dal (Yellow Split Pea Dal) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Indian
The History of Recipes
We can follow the history of meal recipes back into distant history, at least as far as the early Egyptians, and maybe further still. However, in the main part, these old records were just simple pictorial instructions for preparing meals.
In fact, the oldest recipe in existence, according to Professor Solomon Katz, are some ancient tablets in Sumerian which describe the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made drinkers feel `wonderful`. Later, there are two interesting books dating from the 14th Century : a recipe book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary titled `Curye on Inglish`. Surprisingly, they are unconnected to the indian curry that is popular today, but instead accounts of the types of meals served to the upper classes of that time. Later on in the 1400s, knights returning from the crusades brought us many spices and herbs from Arab cooking, including basil and rosemary. These new herbs and spices led to an eruption in books on cooking, many of which are now in private cookery archives. For the centuries that followed, the wealthy families of Wesstern Europe competed with each other to serve the most exotic banquets, and as a consequence, the best cooks and their collection of recipes were highly sought after. Nevertheless, it was during the 19th century that fine cooking and recipe collections rose to prominence. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and Fannie Farmer in the US, devoted much of their lives to collating, verifying, and writing down recipes to allow everyone to enjoy them. By the time we get to the 20th century, recipe publications are in high demand, mostly due to more people being able to read, people having more leisure time and being a little richer. The arrival of television brought us cooking programs and the accompanying recipe books. And that brings us to the present day and the invention of computers and the internet, allowing everybody to access massive numbers of recipes like those on our web site. |
We hope you enjoy this Matar Dal (Yellow Split Pea Dal) recipe.
