Dal-ightful!

(Toor Dal - sorry for the steamy photo)

I feel like the white rabbit...I am late, I am late, I am late. Truth be told - I am actually painfully early - to work that is. However, I have loads of photos that I have been meaning to post and have failed terribly at getting around to it.

Last night's dinner was an experiment gone RIGHT! Often my first attempts at everything (recipes, relationships, sewing) are more than a little off. But, last night, I cheated fate and ended up serving a fantastic meal that I had never attempted before.

We have all made curry, a can of coconut milk here, some tofu there. I have made enough curry to need months away from the taste in order to reconsider it as 'yummy' rather than 'oh, no, not another curry'. Never though have I wadded into the waters of any other Indian/Bangladesh/Pakistan cuisine, unless of course you count the success of my Jessy-inspired Nan Bread (oh so good). Last night, while cooking up the week's buffet of goodness and super excited about now being able to compost again for the first time since moving from my Toronto digs, I stumbled upon a packet of Toor Dal that I had picked up on a whim one day while pillaging (I did actually pay) the pan-Asian grocery shop in Brussels.

I did a little googliegooglie and found out that Toor Dal are split pigeon peas and super duper high in protein (my baby is doing hammer curls this morning), and chocked full of amino acids. So, I found myself with the inevitable challenge of making a dal from my little bag o'goodness.
It was actually super, duper, fantastic, yummy, nummy in my belly! I served it over oven roasted potatoes that I sprinkled with oil, lemon and some dry curry spices. I also (OF COURSE) had on the table (and then in my belly) Lime Pickle.

Dilly Dal-ly Sunday Dinner

1 cup of Toor Dal
5 cups of water
4 green onions - diced
1 clove of garlic - diced
2 fresh tomatoes (you could use canned as well)
1/2 cup of coconut milk = 5 tbsp of water
mustard seed
coriander
cumin
turmeric
curry leaves

You boil the dal for about 30 minutes in a separate pan. I drained off the scummy suds it made, and then put it aside. In a cast iron pan I added a little oil and mustard seeds. When the mustard began breaking open, I added my onion and garlic -letting it sizzle for a few minutes. I added the tomatoes and the dry spices and finally threw the dal back in. I added the coconut milk about 5 minutes later and then let the whole dish simmer/cook down for about 20 minutes. Service with roasted potatoes, nann bread or rice! Yummy!

A great din-din to end off a super cool weekend: picked out our nappies (organic Tot Bots), bought the dress I am getting married in (IN LESS THAN THREE WEEKS......) and went to the British Childbirth Trust Nearly New Sale and walked out with Loadssssss of super-duper cute clothes for Aidan.

I also need to post, without a long treatise on their recipes - some photos of some nummy treats. Coconut Fudgesicles (my best invention yet!), mini Chocolate Cupcakes using my new mini silicon muffin buddies (and the killer chocolate recipe from VCTOTW), Strawberry and Apple Morning WakeUp Call, Garlic Hummus, and Chickpea Ratatouille. Nummmers.


I wish everyone a spectacular week!