Bengali red dal curry

Welcome to the Gourmet Indian Recipe Series. Today is the spicy dish that has eyes, your mouth and forehead watering and sweating with excitement, the Bengali Red Dal Curry.

Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups red lentils, 3 1/2 cups water, 6 serrano chilies (or 3 jalepeno) either whole or sliced in quarters, 1/4 tsp. turmeric to taste, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 4 tbsp. ghee butter or vegetable oil, 1 cup minced onions, 1 cup chopped tomatoes, 1 tbsp. grated fresh ginger, 2 tbsp. ghee or vegetable oil, 1 tbsp. panch phanon mix, 4 dried small red chilies, 1-3 cloves garlic

Method:
1. Rinse lentils well, add water, serrano chilies, turmeric and salt.
2. Bring carefully to boil and cook over low to medium heat, partially covered, for 25 minutes.
3. Cover and cook another 10 minutes. Adjust salt.
4. While lentils are cooking, cook onions in a frying pan in the oil until they are golden brown (approximately 10 minutes), stirring constantly.
5. Add tomatoes and ginger and continue cooking until the tomatoes decompose into a delicious and fragrant mush (approximately 8 minutes.)
6. Stir constantly so that tomato mixture doesn't stick. Turn heat to low if necessary.
7. Scrape out this mush into the lentils and stir it in. Let lentils sit while you make the spiced oil.
8. Do a quick rinse of the frying pan, without soap, and dry thoroughly.
9. Add the remaining 2 tbsp. oil and heat over medium high heat. When oil is hot add panch phanon mix and heat until the seeds begin to pop, about 15 seconds.
10. Add red chilies and fry for another 15 seconds, until they turn a little darker.
11. Turn off heat and add the crushed garlic and let sizzle for about 30 seconds. Stir this mixture into the lentil/tomato mixture and serve with rice. Adjust salt. BON APÉTIT.....

Chris Jacob is a connoisseur of fine foods and wine and believes that the world should have access to all the great flavours of the world and that is why he has revealed secrets at Gourmet Indian Recipes that no one else is willing to tell. (Gourmet Indian Recipes - Bengali Red Dal Curry)

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