Gala Hua Dal (cooked Lentils, Peas, And Beans

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

This is the basic recipe for cooking lentils or beans. Many southern
and southwestern regional recipes call for cooked lentils or beans to
be stirred gently into a dish near the end of cooking. Therefore, it
may be a good idea ot make them a day ahead and have them ready when
you begin the actual cooking.  Makes 4-1/2 Cups Thick Lentil or Bean
Puree  1-1/2 cups yellow lentils (arhar dal) or, red lentils (masar
dal),  yellow split peas (supermarket variety), or yellow mung beans
(moong  dal)  1/4 teaspoon tumeric 4-1/2 cups water  Pick lentils,
peas, or beans clean and wash thoroughly in several  changes of water.
Put the lentils, peas, or beans in a deep pot along  with the tumeric
and 4-1/2 cups water; bring to a boil. (Be careful,  they foam a lot.)
Stir often to make sure they do not lump together.  Cook over medium
heat, partially covered, for 40 minutes (25 minutes  for red lentils
and mung beans).  Cover, reduce heat, and continue  cooking for an
additional 20 to 25 minutes (10 minutes for red  lentils and mung
beans) or until soft. Turn off heat and measure the  puree.  There
should be 4-1/2 cups puree; if not, add enough water to  bring to that
quanity. For a more ground puree, beat lentils, peas,  or beans with a
whisk for 3 to 5 minutes. Cooked dal can be kept for  3 days,
refrigerated. Cooked lentils and beans thicken considerably  and become
gelatinous with keeping.  They also reduce in volume  considerably.
Therefore remember to make allowance for such  evaporation.  My Note:
I always end up beating them with a whisk as it velvetizes  the soup.
There is no need to use something like a food processor  .... I think
it would end up making the ingredients too fine and  would ruin the
texture of the soup.  Also, I refrigerated them for  both 1 day and
then later 2 days and found that indeed, it did  thicken .... I simply
put them in a pot and added a cup or two of  water and simmered until I
got the consistency I wanted .... thick  but with some liquid as this
is not meant to be a soup in which a  spoon will stand up  Recipe By  
: Pat Gold <plgold@IX.NETCOM.COM>  From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster
collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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