Indian dahl

We once asked an Indian customer what he thought of our dahl and he answered ‘Not bad’. What applies to the masala herb-mix also applies to dahl: every chef has its own recipe. Dahl is among the favourites, as well as behind as in front of the counter and with this Indian approval, we dare to give you the recipe.

Serves 4 people

• 40 ml sunflower oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 cm ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• ⅓ Spanish red chili, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 10 cardamom pods
• 2 lime peels (cut with a potato peeler)
• 1 tsp. coriander seed, ground
• ½ tsp. cumin seed, ground
• ½ tsp. yellow mustard seed
• 1½ tsp. curcuma
• 1,5 l water
• 8 lime leaves
• 1 stem lemongrass, sliced lengthwise
• 300 g yellow split lentils
• 100 ml coconut cream
• 1 lime, juice
• 100 g green peas
• 1½ tsp. sea salt
• —
• coriander, finely chopped
• yoghurt

Heat the sunflower oil in a large pan and fry the onion, ginger root, Spanish red chili and garlic with a pinch of sea salt. Crush the cardamom pods, remove the seeds and grind them. When the onion looks glazy, add the lemon peels, coriander, cumin, mustard seed, the ground cardamom and the curcuma and fry briefly. Then add the water, lime leave and lemongrass and bring to a boil.

Add the yellow split lentils and boil the soup again. Lower the heat and simmer the soup until the lentils are soft and fall apart. Add the coconut cream and most of the lime juice. Turn of the heat and stir in the green peas. Season with lime juice and sea salt. Serve the soup with coriander and yoghurt. If you want to blend the soup, do not forget to remove the lemongrass and lime leaves.