©Ashy Macbean 2004. All rights reserved.
I had a coconut lying around the kitchen for a while. I bought it on impulse when I saw a large pile at a vegetable stall in the centre of town, where there had been none the previous day. I've learned through experience that the best time to buy coconuts is when a new delivery has just been made. If you buy one which has been kicking around for a while there's a good chance it will have turned sour, though you won't know that until you've taken it home and smashed it open.
So, there was this coconut, sitting on top of the fridge and
I was wondering what I should do with it, when an email arrived with the question,
'Do you know anything about making coconut dhal?' 'Not much,' I thought, 'but
I will soon.' and I realised that I had just gained insight into the larger
pattern of which my buying a coconut, seemingly on impulse, had been but a small
part.
Ingredients
2 cups of red lentils
2 green peppers
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
A small piece of root ginger, peeled and chopped
2 or 3 cups of coconut milk and
4 or 5 cups of water (7 cups of liquid all together)
A Half teaspoon each of whole cumin, coriander and mustard seed
A third of a teaspoon each of red chilli and turmeric powder
A little lemon juice
Green coriander
Oil
Salt
Heat oil in a frying pan and when hot, add whole mustard seeds and lightly crushed cumin and coriander seeds. After a few seconds, add chopped onion and ginger and fry until the onion is transparent. Add green pepper cut into large pieces, lentils, chopped garlic, chilli powder and turmeric. Stir for a couple of minutes then add coconut milk and water. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and cover ther pan.
Simmer until the lentils are soft, adding more water if necessary, and season with salt near the end of cooking time. When the dhal is ready, remove from the heat and add lemon juice and chopped green coriander.