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No Indian meal is complete without dal or rice. Bengali's use a variety of different lentils cooked with many different spices. Feel free to experiment.
1. Soak the lentils in water for 2-12 hours. Then drain and rinse well.
2. Fill water to twice the height of the lentil. Add salt & pepper. Bring to a boil and then simmer over low heat for 60 minutes.
3. Cut tomatoes into wedges and add.
4. Fry onions in 2 tbsp sunflower oil. Add garlic at the end because it burns quickly.
5. Mix into daal.
6. In a separate frying pan, make a paste with the spices and fry in the remaining oil. Add to lentils.
7. Cook, keeping at a simmer adding some water every now and then. The lentils are done when they have completely melted and the soup is smooth, blended and watery. This typically takes 60 minutes of simmering. Garnish with lime and fresh cilantro.
How Can This Ayurvedic Recipe Make You Feel Great?
AYURVEDIC ANALYSIS
'Red Lentil Dal' is one of those meals - no matter how many times you cook it, it always tastes a little different. But that is the beauty of this recipe. It is a wonderful base for each individual to make their own mark on it. The use of simple ingredients and carefully selected spices in this meal encapsulates the wisdom of Ayurvedic cooking, while making it accessible to even the most novice chef. No matter how bad your day or long the week, a steaming bowl of warm, comforting dal will keep you grounded and content.
Proper Preparation
Lentils can be difficult to digest, but with the proper preparation (soaking and rinsing thoroughly beforehand) and combining with digestive spices, they become a nourishing fuel and a staple in Ayurvedic cooking. The spices used in this recipe are carminative in nature which means they minimize the gas forming properties often associated with lentils. Carminative herbs and spices, like cardamom, garlic and ginger, also stoke your digestive fire and assist in the elimination of digestive toxins.
One Pot Wonder
When all the ingredients are cooked together, they become well combined and easy to digest. This type of 'one pot wonder' meal is exactly what the digestive system loves to receive. Over time, eating these light, soft and easy to digest meals will increase energy and improve digestive strength. 'Red Lentil Dal' can be enjoyed at any occasion, but is particularly useful when when you are feeling under the weather or recovering from an illness.
WHAT IS RED LENTIL DAL?
When I first discovered daal, I ate it every meal for a week in a row. Then I was so sick of daal I didn't eat it again for several months. Now we have a more stable relationship and I enjoy daal once a week.
WHY EAT AN AYURVEDIC DIET?
Eating Ayurvedically makes you feel nourished and energized. An Ayurvedic diet is
tailored to your individual body type and the specific imbalances you are working with
at any given time. Ayurveda shows you your specific body type’s needs and what
should be favored in your Ayurvedic menu. Watch as you eat less but feel more satisfied because what you
are eating truly nourishes you. Since Ayurveda believes all disease begins in the digestive
tract, food is your first medicine. By eating a healthy diet that’s ideal for your body, you
experience optimal health.
Find out by taking this free, easy quiz.
You'll learn your body type, and whether Red Lentil Dal is a good fit for you. Time to complete: approximately 1 minute.
Functional Ayurveda helps you assess imbalances through 20 main biocharacteristics
(gunas).
Aggravating these characteristics weakens your body and causes imbalance.
By knowing which characteristics are habitually imbalanced in your body, you will be able to identify and correct imbalances before you get sick.
Every characteristic has an opposite which balances it (i.e. hot balances cold).
You restore balance by favoring diet and lifestyle choices that increase the opposite characteristic.
Taste is used to sense the most basic properties and effects of food.
Each taste has a specific medicinal effect on your body.
Cravings for food with certain tastes indicate your body is craving specific medicinal results from food.
Taste is experienced on the tongue and represents your body's reaction to foods.
Sweet taste causes physical satisfaction and attraction whereas bitter taste causes discomfort and aversion.
Kapha should use less sweet taste while Vata and Pitta would benefit from using more sweet taste.
One of the first signs of illness is that your taste and appetite for food changes.
The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent.
Do you crave foods with any of the tastes below?
According to the biocharacteristic theory of medicine,
people tend to get sick, over and over again, due to habitual causes and imbalances that are unique to the person.
Your body type summarizes this tendency, showing you the 'type' of conditions and imbalances that frequently challenge your health & wellness.
Using body type, you can also identify remedies likely to improve your strength and resiliency.
Your body type identifies physical and mental characteristics as well as your personal strengths and weaknesses.
The calculation of your body type is based on your medical history.
The 3 functional body types
(doshas),
are Catabolic (Vata), Metabolic (Pitta), and Anabolic (Kapha).
Catabolic individuals tend to break down body mass into energy.
Metabolic individuals tend to burn or use energy.
Anabolic individuals tend to store energy as body mass.
Catabolic people tend to be easily stimulated, hyperactive, underweight and dry.
Metabolic people tend to be rosy-cheeked, easily irritated, focused, driven, and easily inflamed.
Anabolic people are heavy, stable and grounded, but if they store too much energy, they could gain weight easily and have congestion.
Prana is the Sanskrit word for vital life energy, similar to Qi in Chinese Medicine. Many herbs stimulate your energy, or improve the flow of prana through your body. Generally, prana needs to be increased in spring after a sleepy winter.
Sattvic foods promote awareness and a refreshed mind by nourishing the body without taxing digestion. Sattvic foods do not stimulate desire or nervous energy. They create clarity instead of drowsiness or heaviness.
Herbs that increase tejas improve metabolism & brightness by stimulating the fire element at a cellular level. Destroys toxicity, excess fluids, & improves digestion. Also helps with mental function such as poor memory, lack of inspiration & depression.
A member of the plant family Solanaceae. Members of this family have a tendency to irritate the liver and arthritic conditions. Tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and bell peppers.
Experiences vary according to the person and constitution. Individual results may vary.
The list of herbal-actions below has not be approved by the FDA and should not be used to treat a medical condition.
A vasodilator is an herb that widens the blood vessels by the relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, thereby increasing circulation systemically or to a local area.
Literally, an herb that restores the proper function of the body. In practice, alteratives are usually blood cleansers and blood chemistry balancers. They were traditionally used to revitalize and detoxify after a long winter.
An agent that kills microorganisms or inhibits their growth. Antimicrobial is an umbrella term that can be broken down into specific categories of target microorganism, such as anti-bacterials, fungals, and virals.
Herbs that promote urine formation, thereby flushing the kidneys and urinary tract while eliminating any excess water retention. As diuretics reduce water retention, they are often used to reduce blood pressure.
Herbs which stimulate blood flow in the pelvic area and uterus. They are used to increase scanty menstruation, relieve menstrual pain, and other functions.
An herb that softens stool that is hard and difficult to pass. They are the safest and most gentle type of laxative. Some foods are even stool softeners, such as warm milk with ghee.
John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly, teaches people how to have a
healthy diet and lifestyle with Ayurveda.
His approach to Ayurveda exudes a certain ease, which many find enjoyable and insightful.
John also directs Joyful Belly's School of Ayurveda
, which specializes in digestive tract pathology & Ayurvedic nutrition.
John and his wife Natalie recently published Explore Your Hunger: A Guide to Hunger, Appetite & Food.
John's interest in Ayurveda and digestive tract pathology was inspired by a complex digestive disorder acquired from years of international travel, including his public service work in South Asia.
John's commitment to the detailed study of digestive disorders reflects his zeal to get down to the roots of the problem. His hope and belief in the capacity of each & every client to improve their quality of life is nothing short of a personal passion.
John's creativity in the kitchen and delight in cooking for others comes from his family oriented upbringing.
In addition to his certification in Ayurveda, John holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University.
John enjoys sharing Ayurveda within the context of his Catholic roots,
and finds Ayurveda gives him an opportunity to participate in the healing mission of the Church.
Jesus expressed God's love by feeding and healing the sick.
That kindness is the fundamental ministry of Ayurveda as well.
If using Hingvastak Churna do we simply add it to this recipe or substitute it for some of the spices listed? I'd appreciate a detailed dal recipe using the hingvastak churna -- I bought it a while ago but haven't used it yet. Thanks!
Janet - you can definitely use hingvashtak in places of the spices in this recipe...1/4-1/2 tsp per serving to start. Spices are generally flexible, so just make it appeal to your taste buds and you should be good!
To improve the recipe's clarity:Specificity of cook times and temperatures would be great, for starters. The blurb below the recipe mentions soaking, but that's nowhere to be found in the recipe. A small complaint, but it'd be nice to have the ingredients listed in the order that we'll use them in, as most recipes do. Is the cilantro the fresh leafy part? Does it go on top at the end, as the lime does (also not mentioned)? I ended up googling another dal recipe to get ideas about soak time and cook time. So I ended up with this, which tasted lovely:Soak lentils 30 min, rinseBring to boil with 2x water, skinAdd ginger, garlic, and tomatoSimmer 30 min, then do the spice oil. Add finishing ingredients (I did cilantro and fresh red onion here rather than yellow onions earlier).Cheers!
I've updated the instructions to include soaking and simmering time along with when to add the cilantro and lime. Our ingredients list always appears in alphabetical order. The leaves and stems of fresh cilantro can be used. Thank you for your feedback!
- Kimberly Kubicke, Asbury park, NJ, 07-24-18 (Reply)
So delicious! I added chili pepper instead of cayenne by mistake and it still turned out great. I will definitely be making this again,
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
The information and products on this website are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
disease.
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