Kharee Masoor Ke Dal (Red Lentils with Curry Leaves)

click and sniff

August 22, 2006: I made an adjustment with the curry leaves that is more efficient and just as flavorful: bolded in the recipe.

Kharee/Curry leaves can be confusing for newbies to Indian cuisine. First off, they are NOT the basis for curry powder. At least I knew this much. I would snort derisively at the person who inspired this passage on Kate’s Global Kitchen but I was only better educated by a frog’s hair.

Because I hadn’t done my research first, I expected the leaves to be dried, like bay leaves. So when I asked our Indian grocer where they were–he said in the fridge and I was flummoxed. Not just by the fact that they are refrigerated, but by not being able to find the fridge. The grocer was apparently having a bad day because he very huffily showed me the way, and when he saw me looking blankly at everything at once, he pointed at the leaves exasperatedly (the same way JL does when I get my baffled face, coming out of a shopping excursion into a parking lot full of cars.)

I took my little bouquet of fresh curry leaves home and thought I was soooo smart when I dried them in the oven so they would last. As Kate says, dried curry leaves lose their flavor. Maybe not all of it but they quickly lost the herbal fragrance that wafted over me, as I pulled them out of the stove. When they cooled, I had to crush them just to get a stale sagey scent. OK, actually they smelled like stale pot. (It’s been 25 years but that is not a smell someone forgets.)

So I did what any red-faced white girl would do about it. I sent PJ back to the Indian grocery for more curry leaves. And told him how to find the fridge without having to ask.

They smelled so wonderful as I cooked my dal that I did a premature happy dance. But then! I went and let them cook too long! Even if you are smart enough not to dry them, you cannot overcook curry leaves or they will still lose their flavor. I cooked them for about 45 minutes (because I am easily distracted) and consequently, the dal lost all spice flavors and basically tasted like chalk. But hey, it was fun sniffing it while it cooked! Now that I know it doesn’t take more than 15 minutes from start to finish, I will be less distractible.

This recipe came from the out-of-print book The Art of Indian Cuisine by Rokesh “Rocky” Mohan. But after my first exercise in the de-spicing of dal, I took a suggestion from Kate, which was to fry the leaves up separately and drizzle the flavored oil over the dal at the end of the process. In the process, I learned that the ghee or oil must be sizzling hot before dropping the leaves; otherwise, they lose their flavor before it infuses. Watch out, they will spit on contact with hot oil.

It was worth the trial and error because once I got it right, the resulting dal was FABulous.

Hint: to use up extra curry leaves, they add zing to a salad with a light sweet oniony flavor.

Kharee Masoor Ke Dal

1/2 cup masoor dal (red lentils)
1 cup water
1/2 cup ghee or oil
1 cup onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pinky sized finger ginger, minced
Optional: 1 tsp (or more) cayenne

2 curry stems
1 tsp lemon juice

Heat the ghee then add onions, garlic and ginger. Sautee until onions are clear. Then drop in the curry stems. Add lentils and water. Bring to a boil, then add salt and optional cayenne. Simmer 15-20 minutes or until lentils are tender and the ghee surfaces. Remove from heat immediately. Add a tsp of lemon juice. The curry leaves will have detached from their stems and you can pull the stems out of the dal, leaving the leaves behind which are quite tasty. Serve with rice, chapatis or idlis.

P.S. Here is an ode to curry leaves that I enjoyed by Kurma, of Australia. Kurma says it is best to have your own tree (I can only imagine the heavenly scent on a hot summer night) but he lives in a more hospitable climate for curry trees. He also mentions that you cannot overstrip a curry tree or it will not thrive, so it is not like a potted curry plant is going to produce enough leaves for cooking. I guess I will have to keep harvesting mine at the Indian grocery. At least I know where they are now.