Things are a little tight this month so I made a resolution to use up all (or a lot) of the food that I have in my pantry and freezer. Sure, I should always be doing this anyway but exciting recipes always seem to entice me into trying (and buying) new things.
Anyway, I have two huge bags of lentils (a.k.a. “dal”) sitting in my pantry that have been waiting for their day in the spot light. I saw this recipe for Dal Nirvana over on Steamy Kitchen and it looked so scrumptious that I had to try it. The best part is that the ingredient list is mostly items that I already have. Indian recipes are tricky because they usually include ingredients that I don’t have nor have I ever heard of! This recipe, on the other hand is different. It’s simple, it’s delicious, it’s super filling and I’d happily eat it every day.
I served the Dal with some simple, steamed jasmine rice and homemade naan (Indian flat bread). The recipe for the naan will be up in a couple of days… it turned out AMAZING!
Dal Nirvana
Dal Nirvana
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1 cup dry brown lentils ($0.31)
- 1 15oz. can crushed or diced tomatoes ($1.49)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.12)
- 1 inch fresh ginger ($0.07)
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.03)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.03)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.17)
- salt and pepper to taste ($0.05)
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk or cream ($0.75)
- 1/4 bunch fresh cilantro ($0.37)
Instructions
- Place the lentils in a pot and cover with a couple inches of water. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil until tender (about ten minutes). Drain the lentils in a colander.
- While the lentils are boiling, mince the garlic and peel and grate the ginger (use a small cheese grater). Return the drained lentils to the pot (medium heat) and add the butter, ginger, garlic, cayenne, cumin, salt and pepper.
- Add the can of tomatoes and one cup of water. Stir it all together, bring it to a simmer then reduce the heat to low. Put a lid on the pot and let it simmer for half an hour. The mixture should be soft and thick after a half hour. If it is not, continue to simmer, adding more water if it dries out. You want the end product to be thick, not watery.
- Stir in the evaporated milk or cream and garnish with fresh, chopped cilantro. Serve over rice or with naan bread for dipping!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
I have this huge bag of brown lentils so that is what I used. Black lentils were used in the Steamy Kitchen recipe so feel free to experiment.
Place the lentils in a pot and cover with two inches of water.
Bring the pot to a boil over high heat. Boil until the lentils are soft (about ten minutes).
While the lentils boil, mince the garlic, peel and grate the ginger.
Drain the lentils then return them to the pot (reduce heat to medium).
Add the butter, garlic, ginger, cayenne, cumin, salt and pepper. Stir it on up.
Add the can of crushed or diced tomatoes, one cup of water and stir it all together.
Simmer the mixture with a lid on until it is cooked down to a soft, thick mixture.
Add the evaporated milk or cream…
Stir it up, sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve it up!
NOTE: I’m sure you could make this recipe for less money than I did. I happened to be near a Whole Foods yesterday so I stopped there to pick up the few ingredients that I didn’t have (cilantro, ginger, cream and diced tomatoes). I may have paid a little more than usual but this recipe is so simple and inexpensive that it was still well worth it.
The Steamy Kitchen version says it serves four but I portioned out my lunches and got six servings out of the pot. Of course, I was serving the Dal with rice and naan which bulked up the meal as a whole.
This is a silly question but I’m a novice cook. The ‘cream’ used in the recipe. Is that heavy cream or whipping cream?
I made this Saturday after seeing it on Steamy Kitchen and it was pretty good and pretty easy. I did add some Curry as the recipe does not call for it and it added that much needed Indian-inspired pizzaz. My hubby agreed. It was good and nutritious. We made it with the same naan recipe you used as well. Yummo!!!! Too funny!
Any ideas for dairy-free substitutes for the cream? I’d try soy creamer, but I’m not sure if it’d be too sweet, or whatever.
How about Coconut milk?
I invited two friends over for dinner last night and we ate every bit of it. The whole pot is gone! Saikat, i like the idea of variations, and I also like to fry my spices before adding whatever I’m cooking. Thanks for the great tips!
Thanks for this recipe beth.
Being an Indian this is one of the food I like to cook if I have short time to cook. You could make it many ways. In India there is a tradition of frying the spices (and then onion garlic ginger etc) on oil for a minute or so and the then adding the dal. It enhances the flavor.
You could also use cumin (approx 1/2-1 teaspoon for each 100gms of dry dal) also in the beginning (and skip the garlic if you want) to get even more authentic Indian flavor.
If you like your recipes, you might like other variations too.
I’m so glad I found your blog, I’m going to be transforming back into a “starving student” again soon and I was looking for frugal cooking sites! I thought it would be really hard to transition since I’m used to having a heftier food budget, but your ideas are quite inspiring! Wonderful! I’m going to try this recipe for sure.
I am currently simmering a pot of this on my stove. No cream or cilantro yet, but so far it is delicious! Very simple recipe and easy to follow. My mother always made lentils and spaghetti for us growing up (one of my favorite childhood dinners) but this is the first time I personally have cooked lentils or Indian food! Thanks Beth!
This is too funny. I had marked and printed the exact same recipe for dal! I can’t wait to try it out.
Melly, I would try the red lentils! I’ve only used red in soup but I can’t imagine them being bad. I think they tend to be softer than other varieties which means the end result will be a bit more paste like… but I bet it will still taste divine!
Jennifer, thanks for the recipe!! I actually already made some naan with a different recipe (will be posted tomorrow) but it’s always good to have a variety of recipes to work with!
I used whole red lentils for this because they were in my cupboard. They were actually a little crunchy after 10 minutes of boiling, so I left them on for a few more. At the end, they weren’t mushy at all – like little pearls of deliciousness! This recipe is amazing!
Awesome!! I’m so glad it worked out well. :)
This looks divine. I love dal and you have pointed out one of it’s great benefit, it’s cheap! Did you make the naan yourself? Think how cheap that would be! (I have a recipe for ‘easy naan’ if you’re interested. http://www.womanvfood.com/2010/02/ridiculously-easy-naan.html
Oh, this looks wonderful! I accidentally ended up with a couple of bags of lentils, and I’ve never cooked Indian food before so I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with them. This looks fairly simple, tasty, and (obviously) cheap. I’m looking forward to seeing your naan recipe.
Keep the Indian recipes coming – I’m excited to try this out, not to mention homemade naan!
I always do salt, pepper and most spices as five cents because the quantities are too small to calculate and I’d have to weigh what I use to calculate it accurately. I don’t feel like weighing a quarter teaspoon of this and that so I just round up to five cents. I haven’t encountered anything else that I couldn’t quickly calculate the portion cost from what’s listed on the label.
to taste salt and pepper $0.05
that’s some expensive salt.
This is awesome! I have green and red lentils in my pantry. The green lentils I use in soup, I never know what to do with the red lentils. Could I use those in this recipe too?
Red lentils cook very quickly and will make you r dahl soup-like rather than stew-like. Personally, I would stick with the brown or green varieties for this recipe. If you want to use up your red lentils just type ‘Madhur Jaffrey dahl’ into your search engine. She has a great recipe for a red lentil dahl with ginger and lemon. I’m sure you would find it somewhere.