Oil-Free Dhal (vegan)

Cooking without oil has its benefits with the largest being on health.  Now that I have mastered the technique of the ABC’s of Indian oil free cooking I am super excited to share it with you.  I normally start my Indian cooking with 4 basic steps for building layers of flavour:

1.  popping my seeds to release flavour
2. adding curry leaves for an aromatic flavour and
3. then tossing in onion and braising it for another dimension of flavour and texture
4. followed by the magical blend of masalas (depending on what I’m cooking 

Now we can do all of the above oil-free. 

Recipe for my oil-free dhal

Preparation:  10 mins      Cooking time: 1 hour   Serves 3-4

• 1 cup (250ml) split pea dhal cleaned and rinsed
• 4-5 cup water (to boil dhal)
• ¼ tsp mustard seeds
• ¼ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 2-3 dry red chillies
• 3 fenugreek seeds
• 2 cloves
• 1/3 cup (80ml) water to braise onions
• ½ small onion finely sliced (approximately 1/3 cup or more)
• 1 tbsp (15ml) fresh garlic and ginger paste
• 1 tsp (5ml) turmeric powder
• ½ tsp (2.5ml) cumin powder
• 1 small tomato finely diced
• 1 tsp (5ml) salt
• ¼ cup (60 ml) fresh coriander leaves finely chopped

Let’s Cook 🙂 

1. Boil dhal with water until soft.  The dhal should be smooth and with a thick but pourable consistency – once cooked keep aside
2. Heat a pot over medium to hot heat.
3. Toss in the mustard seeds, curry leaves, cumin seeds, red chillies, fenugreek seeds and cloves.
4. After the mustard seeds pop immediately pour in the water (1/4 cup). 
5. Quickly add the onions –  cook the onions until they are nice and soft.  Should the water dry out, add a little more until the onions are soft. 
6. Spoon in the garlic and ginger paste – cook along with water and onions for 30 seconds
7. Toss in the turmeric powder and cumin powder – give it a quick stir. 
8. Add the tomato and salt – cook for 5 minutes
9. Pour in the boiled dhal – bring to a boil and let it simmer for 5-minutes then turn off the heat.
10. Test taste for salt and adjust accordingly
11. Toss in chopped coriander
12. Best served with biryani, plain white rice, roti or any other semi dry curries.