Recipe - Dal Curry With Habaneros

2 cup Yellow lentils (moong dal?)
1 teaspoon Ground turmeric
3 teaspoon Ground cumin
5 Habaneros; chopped finely,
seeds and placentas removed
2 Finely chopped shallots
4 Finely cut or sliced up shallots
5 Finely cut or sliced up cloves of
garlic
1 One half tablespoon Whole coriander seeds
2 tablespoon Ghee (vegetable oil is fine;
preferably flavorremoved
olive oil)
2 tablespoon Black mustard seeds
1 cn (28oz) crushed tomatoes
One fourth Bunch fresh cilantro
One half cn Coconut milk (optional)
Black pepper
Salt
Water

Adapted by Jeremy & Monette 2/18/94 from a recipe called "Mrs. K. M.
Mathew's Molaghashyam" in _A Taste of India_ by Madhur Jaffrey

Stage One: Pick over the lentils, removing ones that don't look right.
(There may be small rocksremove them too.) Wash the lentils in water,
then put them in a large pot with 7.5 cups of water and the turmeric. Place
on high heat until boiling, then cover (leaving lid slightly ajar) and
simmer on low for 45 minutes. Stir every once in a while.

Stir in the ground cumin, 1/3 of the habaneros, and the chopped shallots.
Cook for 15 minutes more. Add another 1/3 of the habaneros. Cook for
another 15 minutes, add a little salt, then leave on very low heat while
you begin the next stage.

Stage Two: In an ungreased pan, roast the coriander seeds until the aroma
changes. Grind the roasted seeds with mortar & pestle.

Heat the ghee or oil in a pan. When hot, add the mustard seeds. After they
start to pop, add the rest of the habaneros, the ground coriander, the
cut or sliced up shallots, and the garlic. Saute until the shallots & garlic start to
brown. (Stir the dal. If it's too solid, stir in up to 1 cup of water.)
Turn the heat on the pan down to low, then add the tomatoes carefullythey
may spatter. Turn up the heat until the mixture is bubbling a little,
stirring occasionally.

Rush to the sink to wash off the tomato bits that spattered on your shirt.
Dry your shirt with a hair dryer before Monette comes over.

Stage Three: Greet Monette at the door. Stir the tomatoes and the dal. Sit
on the couch and talk with Monette for a while. Remember the food cooking
on the stove. Stir the tomatoes, then mix in with the dal. Add the fresh
cilantro and the coconut milk. Salt to taste. Grind in black pepper to
taste.

ANALYSIS: The taste was milder than expected, which may be due to the long
amount of time that most of the habaneros were cooked, the fact that they
were frozen habaneros (which sometimes seem to lose heat in the freezer),
or the fact that given the absence of placentas & seeds there just weren't
enough of them. Even so, the habanero flavor (as opposed to the habanero
burn) did come through. THE RECIPE AS A CYCLE OF HAIKU . Two cups of
lentils Rinse them and take out the rocks And bad lentils too . In with the
lentils Pour seven and a half cups Of cold tap water . Add just a little
Bit of tu [transmission interrupted] "jeremy j. b. nguyen"
jeremy@taurus.apple.com (From the First Bay Area Chile Heads HotLuck)

CHILEHEADS ARCHIVES

From the ChileHeads recipe list. Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe
Archive, http://www.erols.com/hosey.