This recipe for Butter Dal is an alchemy of needs. To serve spoon piping hot butter dal into bowls and top with lime juice or wedges, yoghurt, chopped coriander and the homemade fried shallots. You will need plenty of hot, fluffy naan for dipping and mopping up that butter dal.
Butter Dal Recipe
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
250 g (9 oz/1 cup) red lentils, rinsed well and drained
1 teaspoon ghee
1 French shallot, sliced
2 tablespoons panch phoron mix
Butter Sauce
1 tablespoon ghee
1 red onion, diced
2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons each sweet smoked paprika, ground cumin and ground turmeric
1 teaspoon each fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds and coriander seeds, toasted and ground
1 ½ tablespoons garam masala
1 tablespoon tomato paste (concentrated purée)
400 g (14 oz) tinned crushed tomatoes
150 ml (5 fl oz) vegetable stock
400 ml (13 ½ fl oz) pouring (single) cream or coconut cream
1 cinnamon stick
125 g (4 ½ oz) salted butter
To serve
Juice of 1 lime or lime wedges
Yoghurt
Hot, fluffy naan
Chopped coriander
Method:
To make the butter sauce, place a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the ghee and, once hot, fry the onion until soft and translucent. Add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant before adding the spices and tomato paste. Cook until you can really smell those spices and the tomato paste appears to have come away from the pan and is sticking to your onion mix like glue while being slightly darkened in colour. Add the tomatoes and stock and bring to a simmer, cooking for about 15 minutes so your ingredients become friends.
Remove from the heat and stir through the cream. Allow to cool before transferring to a blender and blitzing to a smooth sauce. Pour that back into the pan and add your cinnamon stick and the butter. Simmer for 10 minutes before adding the washed lentils, then simmer again on a low heat for 20 minutes or until your lentils are cooked to your liking.
While the lentils are simmering, place a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add the teaspoon of ghee and fry the sliced French shallot until crisp and delightful. Transfer to a bowl and immediately add the panch phoron mix to the pan and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until you see the brown mustard seeds start to pop. Scrape onto the French shallots and stir to combine.
Spoon the dal into bowls and top with lime juice or wedges, some yoghurt, chopped coriander and the fried shallots mixture. Serve piping hot with naan.
Smart Tip:
If you don’t have panch phoron mix, you can easily and far more cheaply make your own by combining 1 teaspoon each of cumin, brown mustard, fenugreek, nigella and fennel seeds.
This is an edited extract from Kitchen Keepers by Katrina Meynink published by Hardie Grant Books. Out May 2025, RRP: NZ $45 / AU $40. Photography: Katrina Meynink.
