It's Never Dull With Everyday Daal

Packed with unique spices, Indian cuisine is a mesmerising blend of flavours and aromas. But to some of us home-chefs out there, this might seem daunting and complicated.

Enter Indian Spicebox’s founder, Namita, with her nifty Spicebox creation that will change our minds about Indian cooking. As the name implies, the Spicebox is a neat package of organic spices like Red Chili, Garam Masala, Cumin Seeds and Turmeric, all packed in a steel box.

The best part of all? Every Spicebox comes with a selection of easy-to-follow recipes for the quintessential Indian meals like Aloo Tikki (spiced potato patties) and Pakoras (onion fritters) — it’s the perfect starter kit for anyone new to Indian cooking.

As a taster, here’s Namita’s simple and wholesome lentil curry recipe.

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Prep time: 40 minutes
Serves 4

What you’ll need:
1 cup (200 g) lentils (any kind)
4-6 cups (1 to 1.5 litres) water
1 teaspoon salt
0.5 teaspoon turmeric
1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 whole black cardamon pod (also known as badi elaichi)
1 green chili, finely sliced or used whole

For the tadka
1 tablespoon (15ml) ghee
(if you don’t have ghee, use any other oil that can withstand high heat)
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
0.5 teaspoon red chili powder

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Rinse the lentils in a bowl of water (drain and repeat) or put the lentils in a large sieve and rinse thoroughly under running water.

Put the lentils, 4 cups of water, salt, turmeric, ginger, black cardamon, and green chili into a pressure cooker, and cook for two whistles (or follow manufacturer’s recommendations for cooking lentils and other fried legumes). If you don’t have a pressure cooker, boil the above ingredients in 6 cups of water and stir occasionally for 25 minutes, or until the lentils are soft to the touch.

If using a pressure cooker, turn off the heat once you’ve heard two whistles and let the cooker cool down for 10 minutes, or until you can remove the lid easily.

Continue simmering over low heat, stirring so that the lentils don’t stick to the bottom and burn.

You may add a little water if the daal is too thick, and adjust salt to taste. Namita’s top tip? Mash the lentils a little with the back of a wooden spoon.

While the daal continues to simmer, prepare the tadka – a popular cooking technique  where the spices are fried to enhance their flavour. In a small saucepan or frying pan, add ghee, and heat for 20 to 30 seconds on a high flame. Add cumin seeds and chili powder.

Let the cumin seeds sizzle and brown for 5 to 10 seconds (you should be able to smell the cumin) then turn off the heat. Be sure to take the pan off the heat as soon as they brown, as the seeds easily burn.

Immediately, add the tadka to the lentils. Bring the daal to a final boil, then turn off the heat.

Stir well, and enjoy it with a bowl of steamed rice.