SandiSplash

I usually prefer my Sundays to be quiet relaxing days indoors so when I don’t have any plans, I love cooking something that would generally take a long time to prepare – time that I don’t have on the weekdays. Dhall ghos is a classic example of something that needs a lot of time to prepare but is absolutely worth it. It’s an Indian dish made with soft melt-in-your-mouth pieces of meat in a spiced lentil sauce. It’s perfect for cold winter weather as the spices are warming and it has a soup like texture. 

You will need the following ingredients at minimum

1 tablespoon of oil

1 onion finely sliced

1 teaspoon of crushed ginger and garlic

1 tablespoon of turmeric powder

1 tablespoon of garam masala

1.5 tablespoons of chilli powder

3 tablespoons of salt

500 grams of lamb chopped into small pieces

Water as needed

1 cup of yellow split pea lentils

This is how to make it

1. Lentils require a lot of work. You need to first sift through it to make sure there aren’t any stones hiding in there and then you need to rinse it with water several times until the water runs clear. You should soak the lentils overnight so that it softens and speeds up the cooking process. Then you need to boil it for at least an hour until the lentils are soft enough to smash between your fingers.

If you have a pressure cooker, the cooking time is reduced to about 15 minutes. I don’t have a pressure cooker so I found another way to speed this process up. If the lentils still aren’t soft, you can drain out the water and blitz it with a hand-held blender.

2. Heat the oil in a separate pot. You should have enough oil to comfortably coat the bottom of the pot. Fry the onions until soft and add the ginger and garlic. At this stage, you can add other spices like bay leaves, cinnamon, etc. but if you don’t have them, the turmeric, garam masala and chilli powder will be enough. Let the spices fry for a few seconds and add in the meat. Allow it to brown on all sides for a few minutes. Add the salt and enough water to cover the meat.

3. If the lentils are ready, you can add it to the pot with the meat and let it cook for about an hour and a half until the meat is tender. Keep adding water if the curry becomes too thick and you can also add more spices or salt to taste.

It is best served with fresh white bread to soak up that gravy but I’m not a fan of bread so I generally like it with rice. Or you can have it the way my fiancé likes it –the first serving with a roll and the second serving with rice.

I’m thinking of making this a regular series so if you have any meal ideas to share or any suggestions on something you’d like me to try, please comment and share it with me.