Wedding Dhal

This is my Dhalicious Wedding Dhal recipe and without a doubt one of my favourite crowd pleasers. I used Pea dhal and braised it with small brinjals along with a special selection biryani spices. The combination of these spices is what gives this dhal it’s magic. Recipe as follow:

Ingredients

• A glug of oil
• 1 medium onion peeled and finely diced
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 1-2 Star anise
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 Sprig Curry leaves
• 2 Black cardamom pods
• 2 cloves
• ¼ tsp Mustard seeds
• ¼ tsp Cumin seeds
• A Pinch of Fenugreek seeds
• 3-5 Dry red chillies
• 3-5 Green chillies (you may split into halves for more heat intensity or leave whole for mild – med heat)
• 6-8 Cloves garlic peeled. (Slightly crush to release flavour) Powdered Spices
• 2 Tsp Cumin powder
• 2 Tsp Coriander powder
• 2 tsp Chilli Powder
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp hing
• 12-15 small brinjals washed. Lightly scrape stems and trim tip off. Slice the brinjals criss-cross halfway from bottom but still keep them intact.
• 1 small medium tomato diced
• Salt to Season Fresh coriander leaves to garnish

LET’S COOK

Heat the oil in a pot. Then toss in the onion, cinnamon stick, star anise, bay leaf, curry leaves, black cardamom pods, cloves mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, dry red chillies, green chillies and cloves. Cook until the onions are golden brown. Add the powdered spices – give it a quick mix. Throw in the brinjal – season with salt and give it another good mix to incorporate all the spices. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes (stirring from time to time) until the brinjals are cooked. Add the tomatoes and cook for 2 more minutes until the tomatoes melt. Then pour in the boiled dhal and stir to incorporate everything. Bring it to a boil then simmer on low heat for 8-10 minutes. Garnish with fresh coriander. Serve with biryani or plain rice.