Categorized | Bits and Bites, Vegetarian
Cooking dhal, I bet you didn’t know it was this easy!
Posted on 21 November 2009
Growing up in Trinidad, dhal meant salted meats like pig tails or beef and either curry chicken or tomato choka on the side with rice. My mom would put pieces of salted pig tails or beef into the dhal as it slow cooked that gave it a very unique taste. However, traditional split peas dhal is vegetarian and does not have sort of meat in it. These days when I do make dhal it’s more of a soup, as it’s very filling… with pieces of bread soaked into it. TIP: I usually make a big pot when I cook this and put a couple portions in the freezer for those nights when I feel like eating something hearty. All you do is pop it out of the freezer container and heat it in a pot on very low heat (covered). In less than 10 minutes you’ll have dhal that’s good as if it was fresh made.
Note: It seems that the recipe for dhal varies by person, region and country, as everyone has their own take on this.
You’ll Need…
2 cups Split Peas (yellow)
4 cloves garlic
salt to taste (about 3/4 teaspoon)
3/4 teaspoon Turmeric
7 cups of water
2-3 tablespoon oil
1/2 small onion sliced thin
1/4 hot pepper (optional) Habanero, scotch bonnet or whatever hot pepper you like
dash fresh ground black pepper
*TIP: Soak the dhal in water overnight or for a few hours before cooking to reduce the cooking time.
I not much of a prep person as I don’t usually plan my menu in advance, so it means my method take s a bit longer since I don’t pre-soak the split peas. I start by washing the split peas by pouring water into a bowl along with the split peas and massaging it a bt, between my fingers. I usually drain and rinse again. If you look at the pic below you’ll see all the grit like stuff that makes the water cloudy.
In the meantine bring the 7 cups of water to boil and prep the washed dhal for cooking. Drain the water you’ve rinsed the dhal with and put the hot pepper, slices of onions and 2 cloves of garlic (smash or pound it). As the water comes to a boil, pour in everything from the bowl and bring back to a boil. Then add the salt, black pepper and turmeric to the pot. Reduce to a very gentle simmer and place a lid on the pot (a bit ajar). Allow this to cook on very low for about 1.5 hrs or until the peas are tender and are melting away.
You may notice a bit of foamy stuff start to develop at the top of the pot (see image below) using your spoon, skim off and discard. Continue cooking on low.
After the peas are soft and start to melt or lose it’s shape, you now need to break them down to a thick soup like consistency. Using one of the following, whisk away.
After you’ve whisked the now cooked dhal, it’s time to “chunkay” (the process of adding heated oil infused with cooked garlic). In a small frying pan, put the oil and allow to heat, then add thin slices of the 2 remaining cloves of garlic. To get the true “chunkay” flavour, allow the garlic to go golden to dark brown. Then with caution, pour the infused oil on the cooked dhal (forgot to mention that you should have now turned off the heat under the cooked dhal) and stir to blend into the entire mixture.
Some tips…
1. When adding the heated oil to the pot with the dhal, stand a bit back to avoid any burns from splasing hot oil.
2. To cut back on cooking time, feel free to boil the dhal in a pressure cooker. It may take about 15 minutes or until the peas are tender and falling apart. Then chunkay as mentioned above.
3. If you started cooking on a large burner, feel free to move to a small burner where you can really get the heat low to allow the split peas to simmer and get tender without drying up all the liquid.
4. If you do like me and make a large batch to freeze. When you reheat, put a few tablespoons of water in the pot first to prevent it from going overly thick when it’s heat through.
Tonight we enjoyed the dhal with rice and curry stew chicken.
I encourage you to leave your comments and questions and do share you own way of making dhal with the community.
Happy Cooking!
Chris..
26 Responses to “Cooking dhal, I bet you didn’t know it was this easy!”
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I always mess up when cooking split peas, i love them but some how they end up under cooked and slightly hard
.-= peanutts´s last blog ..Kottu roshi =-.
I always make extra callaloo to freeze. You know I never thought to freeze dhal before. How long will it last in the freezer?
.-= Wizzythestick´s last blog ..I wanted to love you, but sorry I only like you =-.
Peanuts, thx for your continued support. That was my problem when I first started as well. 2 Options.. use a pressure cooker and/or patience. Allow it to cook longer. You’ll soon be able to know the perfect time to cook it. Try this trick. After boiling for 1 1/2 hrs, take a few peas out and place it onto a side dish. Then squeeze with your fingers. If you feel and sort of “grainy” texture, you’ll then know it needs some more cooking.
Wizzythestick , using freezer type containers it usually last a couple months. The key is not to have space between the cooked dhal and the lid. This is where it can get freezer burn.
Happy Cooking
Chris
.-= Chris De La Rosa´s last blog ..Here comes Santa Claus Hamilton. =-.
There is no cumin (geera) in this recipe.
In T’dad dhall will not be made without geera.
(at least I don’t think so)
Praim, thanks for commenting. You'd be surprised at the many homes I've been too that did not put geera in their dhal. It comes down to personal preference and I personally don't like geera. Maybe that's why there isn't a geera pork recipe posted here yet
happy cooking
chris..
I (smiling) checked the recipe again and wondered why the geera was left out. I usually roast the garlic adding the geera during this process, then chunkay the dhal with them. Best flavour and taste…..yummy! Besides, I get the heath benefits from eating geera.
Chris, you’re right, cooking dhal is really easy. Just finished trying it for the first time and really impressed my wife. Didn’t have hot peppers so I used pimentos and still ended up with a great flavor.
I really like the simple step by step approach used in conjunction with the great photography in all the recipes.
Raymond, I happy to know that you were successful and thanks for the kind comments. Stick around and continue to comment.
happy cooking
chris..
Hello Chris:
You’re a really good cook I see. The dahl looked really good especially on this cold night; however, I must comment that in Guyana, we usually chop the garlic really fine and fry it up with gheera (aka cumin seed) then pour the hot mix into the dahl.
You’re doing a good job here fella, and thanks for the supermarket tour.
Joyce, thanks for your kind comments. I do recall my grandmother doing it as you mentioned. I don’t like the taste of cumin so I’ve never used it in my dhal. BTW.. that’s one of the reasons why Mexican food is not on the top of my list of favourite foods.
happy cooking
chris…
hiya chris, I love dhal and you make it look so easy, will be cooking some up definatly. thx chris, your a star
))))))
thx. let me know how it turns out.
what on earth is this meal
never heard of it before but it looks interesting
if you're based in North America.. it's similar to split peas soup.
have u ever made dhal using the pre-ground peas?
sorry never.. I guess it would cut back on cooking time drastically?
Hi Chris, love this with rice ,curried chicken and coconut chutney.
Thank you for the easy to follow recipe. The photographs and comments are very helpful. I'm from the USA but lived in Guyana 4 yrs. and never learned to cook dhal and roti. Now I am trying. I'll let you know how the dhal turns out.
i usually pressure cook my dhal it takes about 15 to 20 mins
“enter my name” in the competition
Chris,
I make my dhal just like yours but instead of slicing the Garlic I usually crush it fine. I know you said that you don't like Geera but the flavour it gives the Dhal is so good. Chris, I knew a few people who never liked Geera. I suggested to them if they wanted to try using the Geera to Chunkay the Dhal then take a strainer and scoop it out afterwards because the flavour would still be there. They all started doing it after my suggestion and continued to this day. But, if you really don't like something, you don't!
love dhal with rice and curry chicken.I have to try it.As i haven't had dhal for a long time.
Thanks again Chris.Another great recipe
I love the way Dhal is cooked in Trinidad, I do add geera to mine. Sometimes I also add a dash of curry powder, ground cumin and some chopped coriander. Still tastes great!!…Amanda
I love gheera!!! pero I was always left out of the meals w beef and pork, I do not consume either meat! any suggestions… I doh want to make everything chicken or turkey even fish as substitutes! I wld just leave it out… but Im tired of being plain.
Its really awesome recipe that you had prepared, thanks for sharing such a good recipe
Chris I love Dhal, being from Trinidad, I will make some today