Parippu

"A dish that includes lentils of some sort is a must as part of any Indian meal." A line from the most amazing Indian cookbook I have ever seen. You can link to it via Amazon at left by clicking on the photo.

I woke up this morning and thought "Tandoori Chicken", but I needed a dish other than just Biryani and this dish hit my eyeballs as I was leafing though the marvelous book at left.

Parippu- is a South Indian flavored dish. "I think" because of the coconut milk and the chiles, but someone correct me if I am wrong. There are dozens upon dozens of wonderful Indian food blogs on the internet, and every single one of them has food that just reaches out and grabs you and screams MAKE ME !

I had every every single ingredient for this dish in my pantry except the coconut milk, I will have to remember to start stocking that.

• Masoor dal (red lentils) is actually a beautiful orange colored lentil that is just delicious to the taste, you can get it at Many Lands Food store here in Provo.
• A "tarka" is a final mixture of various seasonings that many Indian dishes use, It is very necessary to include it when asked for in a recipe because it just adds to the complex depth of the dish. In this case the tarka is cumin seeds and black mustard seeds that were toasted in oil until they popped, and then sauted with finely chopped onion.

Parippu-serves 4
1 cup masoor dal (red lenils)
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 ripe tomato, roughly chopped
250 ml coconut milk
2 green chilies chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
tarka- heat one tablespoon of oil add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds toast until they pop. Stir in one finely chopped onion saute until translucent.

Put the lentils in a heavy-bottomed saucepan with 2 cups water. Add the roughly chopped onion, tomato, coconut milk, green chile, turmeric, ground cumin and coriander, and bring to a boil. Simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until the lentis are cooked to a soft mush (masoor dal does not hold its shape when it cooks). About 25 minutes. Add water if necessary.5 minutes before end of cooking, make the tarka and add it to the Dahl, cook 5 more minutes.

I couldn't stop eating this. I prefer eating my Indian food as soon as it is cooked. I don't like left- overs, so this is a good recipe because it makes 8 side servings or 4 main servings, just right.