An Indian Summer cool morning then bright sunny hot day with a breeze, ahhhh. “Another trip around the sun”. The changing season and the ripe peppers and chard in my garden told me it was time to revisit making spicy yellow split pea dal– I started in my garden and moved to my kitchen sink.
Then I looked for a prior recipe post with this as a lead in:
“One of the many great things about yellow split pea dal is that dried split peas don’t require soaking before cooking, and they cook in 30 minutes, a much shorter time required than for dried beans. They’re high in protein and dietary fiber, satisfying and healthy; I did the math and calculated this recipe has 310 calories per cup served over a cup of rainbow chard. I made a large pot of the dal, and served it on a bed of rainbow chard leaves cut into ribbons topped with 1/4 cup of Bhutanese Red Rice for an easy “one bowl” meal. Leftovers taste great, and it freezes well.”
Then I considered, how would I like to make this today? I tweaked the spices and used coconut milk given how hot and dry the weather has been– following is my revised recipe today.
ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup yellow split peas
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- large jewel yam, chopped
- 1 yellow pepper, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 1 medium red Nardello pepper, diced (these are sweeter savory)
- 1 small Lemon Drop hot pepper, diced with seeds
- 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
- 1 t black mustard seeds
- 1/4 in fresh ginger root, minced
- 3/4 t cardamom
- 3/4 t coriander
- 1 1/2 t cumin
- 1 t turmeric
- 1/4 t salt, black pepper to taste
- 1 6oz can Thai coconut milk
- 1 lemon, juice and pulp
- 1 bunch rainbow chard
instructions:
Cull through then rinse split peas well, cover with 4 cups fresh water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer covered for about 25 minutes, until quite soft. Drain then set aside.
Cut thick stems out of rainbow chard. Chop the stems and set aside. Cut the chard leaves into thin ribbons and set aside.
In a large soup pot with 1-2 T olive oil over medium heat, add the mustard seeds and allow them to heat up til they just start to pop. Add onions, garlic, and all spices, and stir until onions just begin to turn translucent. Add the chopped yam, stir to coat well with spices, add severak tablespoons of water, reduce heat and cover to simmer until softened, about 4 minutes. Add coconut milk, yellow pepper, celery, and chopped chard stems, cover and simmer another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat. When split peas are soft, drain their water into a measuring cup to use later. Add split peas to large pot of spiced vegetables, stir to mix all together well, then add the cooking fluid from the split peas to obtain your desired consistency of dal. Serve over rainbow chard ribbons, dress with fresh squeezed lemon. Serve in a bowl with Bhutanese red rice for a more substantial meal.
Jill's vegetarian recipes & musings 