Name: Creamy-Tart Split Black Lentils with Coconut (Urad Kokum Chi Dal)
Yield: Makes 4 cups
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: 10 to 12 medium-size to large fresh curry leaves; 1½ teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt; 4 large cloves garlic, finely chopped; 8 to 10 fresh green Thai, cayenne, or serrano chiles, to taste, stems removed, thinly sliced crosswise (do not remove the seeds); ¼ cup shredded fresh coconut; or 2 tablespoons shredded dried unsweetened coconut, reconstituted (see Note); 1 large tomato, cored and finely chopped; 2 teaspoons cumin seeds; 1 cup skinned split black lentils (cream-colored in this form, urad dal), picked over for stones; ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric; 2 tablespoons Ghee or canola oil; 4 pieces dried black kokum (each roughly 2 inches long and 1 inch wide

Preparation info

Makes
4 cups

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

660 Curries

By Raghavan Iyer

Published 2008

About

You will find this dal curry is true to its title: The natural creaminess from the urad dal offers a mellow backdrop to the fiery chiles, while the tart flavor emerges from the kokum. One night I was bone-tired, so I warmed a stack of frozen homemade rotis to serve with this, making a light but truly satisfying dinner. For my son, of course, a bowl of store-bought mango pulp was compulsory.