Kali aur Hari Mirch Urad Dal (Black and Green Pepper Split Black Lentils)

This dal smells amazing while cooking! The scent of garlic completely suffused the kitchen. It's a fairly simple dish, but the garlic, chilies, and black peppercorns give it a reasonably assertive flavour despite the short ingredient list. I would happily eat this one again.

Iyer calls for a hefty 6-8 chilies for this recipe. Since I know how sensitive the Kidlet's palate can be, I scaled that back to just three. The Kidlet still found it spicy, but not overly so. I found it had a nice mellow heat to it. And TF couldn't detect any hint of the chilies at all! I've specified a very wide range for the chilies here. Stick to the lower end if you're looking for robust flavour without much heat. Or pile those chilies on if you're after something with a little more fire in it. (Iyer insists that, even with the higher number of chilies, it's still not overly spicy due to the lentil's ability to protect the tongue.) If you want to cut the spice even more -- and also add a nice acidic tang -- try squeezing a bit of fresh lime juice over the dal just before serving. This will add another layer of flavour as well as reducing the perceived potency of the chilies.

Dal (top right), pictured with simla mirch fry (top left) and Kashmiri mirchi waale murghi (bottom left).

Kali aur Hari Mirch Urad Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. skinned split black lentils/mapte beans (urad dal)
• 3 c. water
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns
• 3-8 fresh green Thai chilies, coarsely chopped
• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. sugar

Directions

1. Rinse well and place in pot along with water.
2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Skim any foam from surface of water, stir in turmeric, and reduce heat to medium-low.
4. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, add peppercorns and chilies to a mortar and pound until a somewhat chunky paste forms.
6. Heat ghee over medium-high heat.
7. Add mustard seeds, cover, and cook until seeds stop popping (30-60 seconds).
8. Add garlic and cook until golden (30-60 seconds).
9. Add pounded pepper mixture and cook for another minute or so.
10. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro, salt, and sugar. Set aside until lentils are done.
11. Once lentils are tender, stir in the garlicky pepper mixture.
12. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until desired consistency (10-20 minutes depending on how thick you like your dal).