food: recipes

last updated 1 May 2007, sophy

Simple Chana Dal

for each 1 cup chana dal use the following:

1 cup chana dal or split peas, washed thoroughly and picked over for stones (no need to soak chana dal)

4 cups of water for cooking

1 large onion

1-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil, preferably canola, the more you use, the more moist it is

½ to 1 tablespoon of garam masala

salt to taste

2-3 tablespoons of your favorite sambhar mix for spice and flavor

1. boil the water in a medium to large pot (depending on your amount)
2. add the sambhar mix
3. wash and pick over the dal/peas carefully
4. put the dal into the water
5. add the garam masala and other spices
6. chop the onion into 3-5 cm pieces
7. heat up a tablespoon of oil in a separate pan or pot, and fry the onions with salt till nicely cooked and fragrant but not burnt
8. add the onions to the pot of dal/peas
9. simmer 30 minutes
10. add the remaining oil
11. simmer till the mix gets to the consistency that you like
12. Karibu chakula!

Sambhar (sophy’s version)

1 box of sambhar mix (you can buy it at Ukwala)

4-5 cups of water (4 cups for a thicker sambhar, up to 6 cups for a more soupy, stewy sambhar)

1 large onion

3-4 cups of chopped tomatoes (i.e 6 roma tomatoes)

the rest is totally up to you:

-vegetable sambhar: green beans, (already cooked) chickpeas and/or green peas, carrots

-meaty sambhar: add chopped pieces of your meat of choice towards the end of the stewing process; it may be better to cook red meat separately with oil and onion before adding it to the sambhar

1. add the sambhar mix to the water
2. boil the mix
3. add the onion and tomatoes
4. simmer for 10-15 minutes
5. add the vegetables
6. stew until you get the consistency you want
7. add any of the meats you want to the stew