Serves 4-6 and total time about 75 minutes.
If you don’t have ghee, you can make brown butter and use that. See below. If you have mustard oil, which I use in other Indian dishes, you can also use that. It is golden in color and has a pleasant flavor but not as spicy as you might think.
For less heat in this dish, remove seeds and ribs in serrano pepper. Fresh curry leaves* add a wonderful aroma. Nice to add but not required. Yellow mustard seeds can take the place of brown seeds. Monitor the spices and aromatics while cooking so as not to burn/scorch the ingredients. Serve with warm naan and basmati or other long-grain rice. You can put a dollop of Greek yogurt on top of each serving to lessen the heat.
Ingredients
1.5 cups dried red lentils picked over and rinsed
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
.75 teaspoon ground turmeric
6 oz (6 cups) baby spinach
1/5 teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons ghee
1.5 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
1 large onion chopped (red or Spanish)
15 curry leaves roughly torn
6 garlic cloves sliced
4 dried arbol chilies**
1 serrano chile
1.5 teaspoons lemon juice, plus extra for seasoning
.5 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Preparation
Bring 4.5 cups water, lentils, ginger, and turmeric to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook about 18 minutes, stirring gently, occasionally, until lentils soften.
When cooking is finished, whisk lentils vigorously until coarsely pureed using an immersion blender (or remove from pan and ladle in a tabletop blender and then return to pan). Consistency should be like cooked oatmeal. Cook five more minutes. Add spinach and salt. Cook to wilt spinach about 1 more minute. Pull pan off heat and set aside.
Melt ghee in a separate skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat. Add mustard and cumin seeds, stirring constantly until they pop and sizzle for about 30 seconds. Add onion and cook for about 5 minutes. Add curry leaves, garlic, arborio, and serrano. Stir frequently until the onions and garlic are browned for about 3-4 minutes. Monitor the heat so you don’t scorch the herbs and fats/oil. Keep it hot but not too hot. When finished, remove the skillet from the heat. This technique is called Tadka. See below.
Add lemon juice to the lentils and stir in. If the lentils have thickened too much, add some water to loosen them. Add just a tablespoon at a time and stir in. Transfer the dal to a serving bowl and spoon the onion/herb mixture on top. Sprinkle cilantro on top of that.
*Curry leaves have no relation to curry powder, though they often end up in the same dish. The curry leaf tree is a member of the citrus family. You can find them in Indian and Asian grocery stores. Fresh leaves can be frozen for a month for use in other recipes.
**Chile de Arbol, also known as bird’s beak chile or rat’s tail chile, is a small, yet potent Mexican chili pepper of the species Capsicum annuum. With a heat level of 15,000 to 30,000 Scoville heat units, it is considered medium hot. Chile de Arbol are hotter than jalapeños, but not quite as hot as cayenne peppers. Their distinctive flavor, particularly when dried (how they are most often used), is slightly nutty and smoky, which adds depth to a variety of dishes.
Brown butter – make your own by melting 6 tablespoons of butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir constantly and swirl with a rubber/silicone spatula until golden brown and a nutty aroma appears. Cook for about 1-3 minutes longer . Slowly pour into a heatproof bowl and leave as much of the browned solids behind as possible. Use a paper towel to wipe the solids from the skillet and discard them.
Tadka – is a technique in Indian cooking that involves whole spices and other ingredients to extract aromas and fat-soluble flavors. Depending on the dish, various spices are used. Oil or ghee (clarified butter) is used to increase flavor. Whole spices, chilies, curry leaves, ginger, garlic, and onions provide flavor, heat, and depth. Enjoy the aromas while you prepare this, and it will fill your kitchen with pleasing aromas. The spices will sometimes change color and texture to make your dish more interesting.