78 GOURMET TRAVELLER
Tempered dhal
D
hal is a thing of beauty. It’s
delicious and healthy, and
can be eaten at any time
of the day as part of a meal,
or simply by itself. Tempering is a
technique used in South Asian cooking
to add extra flavour: spices and other
ingredients, such as chilli, onion and
curry leaves, are dry-roasted or fried
at the start of cooking, or are cooked
separately and added to a dish at the
end. The traditional method is to cook
the lentils with minimal ingredients and
then temper; tempering first, however,
is less fuss, and only one pan is needed.
For a more luxurious version, temper
twice, as we’ve done for this recipe.O TAMA CAREY, OF LANKAN FILLING STATION, EXPLAINS HOW
TO ADD LAYERS OF FLAVOUR TO THIS SOUTH ASIAN STAPLE.