A bowl filled with khatti dhal with a spoon on the side

Khatti dhal

Name: Khatti dhal
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 430g toor dhal or red split lentils; ½ tsp turmeric; 2 large tomatoes chopped (better if you remove the skin but not essential); 5cm piece ginger peeled and grated; 2 garlic cloves crushed or grated; 2 green chillies chopped (deseeded if you don’t like it very hot); 2 tbsp tamarind paste; 1 tsp hot chilli powder; 2 tsp ground coriander; 2 tbsp oil or ghee (or a mixture of oil and unsalted butter); ½ tsp cumin seeds; 8 garlic cloves sliced; 3 dried chillies (I use Kashmiri), roughly broken; 12 curry leaves fresh or frozen (optional)

Diana Henry

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Serves 4 - 6

Easy

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 1 hr and 15 mins - 1 hr and 30 mins

plus soaking

A star rating of 4.5 out of 5.36 ratingsRate

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Serve this tasty, healthy dhal as a vegetarian main meal or side dish. Adding tamarind to the lentils delivers fabulous sweet and sour flavour

Freezable

Gluten-free

Healthy

High-protein

Vegetarian

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Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

For the dhal

430g toor dhal or red split lentils
½ tsp turmeric
2 large tomatoes

chopped (better if you remove the skin but not essential)
5cm piece ginger

peeled and grated
2 garlic cloves

crushed or grated
2 green chillies

chopped (deseeded if you don’t like it very hot)
2 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tsp hot chilli powder
2 tsp ground coriander

For the tempering

2 tbsp oil or ghee

(or a mixture of oil and unsalted butter)
½ tsp cumin seeds
8 garlic cloves

sliced
3 dried chillies

(I use Kashmiri), roughly broken
12 curry leaves

fresh or frozen (optional)

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Nutrition: Per serving

kcal457
fat9g

low
saturates4g
carbs68g
sugars6g
fibre3g
protein25g

high
salt0.3g

Method

step 1

Soak the toor dhal for about 40 mins, then rinse well. Put it in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan with the turmeric, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and chillies. Add 1.7 litres of water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down low and cook until you have a thick purée, adding water if it gets too dry. Dhal can be quite soupy or quite thick, depending on how you like it. Simply reduce it to thicken it, or add water to thin it. Season to taste.
step 2

When the dhal is at a thickness you like, add the tamarind, chilli powder (unless it’s already hot enough), and the ground coriander and check the seasoning.
step 3

Tempering is the last phase for a dhal. Heat the oil or ghee in a frying pan and add the cumin seeds. Cook over a medium heat for about 30 secs, then add the garlic and cook for about 10 secs (the garlic should eventually become golden but not brown so don’t overdo it at this point), then add the dried chillies and the curry leaves, if using. Fry until the dried chillies have changed colour slightly and the curry leaves are crisp. Pour this over the dhal and stir. Cover and leave to sit for a few mins before serving.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, August 2017

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A star rating of 4.5 out of 5.36 ratings

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