Yellow Split-Pea Dahl

Recipe from Sunflour Jane

Unfortunately, pictures of dahl do not do it justice. I know this looks like a pile of brownish-greenish mush on top of rice, but it is so flavorful, so delicious, and so good for you. The combination of spices and fresh ingredients in this recipe are perfect. I have never tried a different dahl recipe simply because I don't want to. This one is that good. Plus it makes a lot, so you can have dahl for days.

I don't have any alterations to the original recipe. However, I did discover that green split peas work just as well as yellow split peas. I've made this recipe using both (the pictures above and below are from a batch made with green split peas); the end result is the same either way. So, if you have any trouble finding yellow split peas in your local grocery store, go green!

Ingredients

3 tbs. vegetable oil + a dash for the split peas
9 cups water
1 lb. bag of yellow (or green) split peas
1 large onion or 2 medium onions - minced
3-6 cloves garlic -- I used about 5 because garlic is awesome
2 inches ginger - peeled and minced
15 oz. can of whole, peeled tomatoes -- I used all but 1 of the tomatoes in the can
2 tsp. salt
2 tbs. cumin
2 tbs. chili powder
2-3 tsp. turmeric
2 small green thai chiles -- I have made it with and without these; it's good both ways
garam masala to taste

Directions

1. In a large pot, combine the split peas, 9 cups of water, chili powder, turmeric, and a dash of oil. Boil until the split peas are very soft and have no bite. This takes about 45 minutes or so; just keep taste-testing your split peas to see if they are tender.
   
   Meanwhile.....
2. Mince the onion and set aside.  Chop the tomatoes and set aside (and again, I used most of the can but not all). Peel and mince the ginger and the garlic. Smash the garlic and ginger into a paste. I found that sprinkling some kosher salt over the garlic/ginger helped it become more of a paste while smashing.  Set this aside.
3. Heat the 3 tbs. oil over medium-low heat. Fry the cumin for about 30 seconds - just until it changes color and releases an aroma.
4. Add the minced onion and saute until translucent, stirring often.
5. Add the garlic/ginger paste and cook until fragrant.
6. Add the diced tomato and the green chiles (if applicable).
7. Simmer all of these together for about 5 minutes or so, stirring often. Once the oil separates from the tomato, you are good to go.
8. Transfer this mixture into a food processor and pulse a few times until mushy (I like to leave a little texture, but you could pulse it until smooth).
9. Once your split peas are soft, drain off any excess liquid. Because I didn't want to pour off all of the liquid and/or lose any precious peas, I did this by taking a liquid measuring cup, pressing down on the top of the peas until the cup filled with liquid, and discarding the excess liquid down the drain.
10. Once you have drained off some of the liquid from the peas, transfer the mixture from the food processor into the pot of peas. Stir/smash these together until you reach your desired consistency (I like to leave some texture from the split peas, so I don't smash it up very much).
11. Add garam masala to taste and serve over basmati rice