There are two popular types of yellow dal–the heavily-spiced, tomato-y Indian version and the subtle, lemon-y Middle Eastern variety. At home, we tend toward making the Middle Eastern version–especially since our favorite Middle Eastern place Al Noor went out of business.

With the soup in mind, I need something else to round the meal out. Traditionally, this would be falafel or hummus & pita, but I’d just made hummus two nights ago and require substantial motivation to bust out the falafel. I was hankering, instead, for something more like pakora. I didn’t have any chickpea flour on hand, though, so I had to rethink things a bit. I came up with lightly breaded spinach-potato dumplings–to be eaten in the dal. Traditional? Nope. Delicious? Indubitably.

Middle Eastern Yellow Dal

• 1 large white onion, diced
• 4 – 6 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 cups yellow lentils OR yellow split peas (not quite the same, but either will work; yellow lentils can be tough to find)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander seed
• juice from 1/2 lemon (or more, to taste)
• 9 cups of water
• olive oil
• salt & pepper, to taste

As you can see from the ingredients, this is a pretty simple recipe. I’ve of the school that a dal should generally be simple, letting the flavor of lentils or split peas really come through.  All you want to do is accent this flavor, not cook on top of it.

In a large pot, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. When the onions are soft, add in the lentils/peas, stirring well. Let the lentils/peas cook for a few minutes, then add in the water. I like to add the water piecemeal–just enough to cover everything–and cover. This allows you to control exactly how thick or thin your dal is, but also requires a little babysitting. You can probably just add all of the water, cover, and occupy yourself with something else for a good 2 hours. Lentils/split peas take a while to cook.

When the lentils/peas finally get soft and are breaking apart, add in the spices and lemon. Cook for another 15 minutes or so.

Breaded Spinach-Potato Dumplings

• 3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
• 1/2 lb spinach
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 tbsp cornmeal/corn flour
• 2 tbsp almond meal
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander seed
• safflower oil
• salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a medium-sized saucepan, boil the potatoes until they are soft–almost as soft as if you were making mashed potatoes. If you are using fresh spinach, steam it until it’s soft, then cut it into shreds. If you’re using frozen, you can boil it for a few minutes in the same water you used for the potatoes. I used frozen, but almost always prefer fresh. In a large bowl, mash up the potatoes with the spinach. Stir in the flour. You want the mixture to be thick enough to form balls. Add more flour if needed.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining dry ingredients. Form spinach-potato mixture into balls, roll in the oil, roll in the breading, then place on a baking sheet. This should make around 18 – 20 dumplings.

Bake 20 minutes to a side, or until nicely browned and somewhat crisp.

Serve in the soup:

Because I derive such great joy from the bastardization of both the Indian language and cuisine–I present another in my series of madeup Indian dishes: Aloo Dal Makhani. It’s an attempt at a “standard” Dal (lentil) Makhani, but with Aloo (potatoes). It’s very rich and a little sweet.

I’m not sure what possessed me to base this on Vegan Dad’s Tofu Makhani recipe instead of something more authentic. Well, nix that. I am sure. I saw the picture on his site and almost gave myself a concussion from salivating too hard. I didn’t use tofu, because I don’t really like tofu in curries, and I wanted something a little more traditional. Like Vegan Dad, Indian food was my first love as a vegan, the first food that shocked me out of my usual Western palette.

This recipe did mark the first time I’ve used soy yogurt and cashew cream (my version, not Vegan Dad’s) in an Indian dish–and let me tell you, ’twas a revelation. This dish also doesn’t have any cumin! This is perhaps one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I’d probably put cumin in beer. Or an open wound.

Aloo Dal Makhani

• 1 cup red lentils
• 1/2 cup black lentils
• 4 small-medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 medium-sized onions, diced
• 2 medium-sized tomatoes, diced finely
• 1 clove of garlic, minced or pressed
• 2/3 cup (or 1 single-serving) soy yogurt
• 1/3 cup Earth Balance ™
• 1/2 cup ground almonds*
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1.5 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup cashew cream (you can substitute soy creamer or coconut milk, but it’s not as intensely awesome)
• 4 .5 cups of water
• salt, to taste

* we get almond meal at our local coop–it’s cheaper than buying whole almonds and less work

Melt the Earth Balance ™ in a large pot over medium heat. Toss in the onions and cook until they start to get soft. Add in the garlic, salt, all of the spices, the almonds, the yogurt, and finally 1/2 cup water. Stir it up! Mix in the tomatoes. Then add the lentils and potatoes, stirring well. Add in the remaining water, and bring to a boil. Once it’s boiling, cover it and cook over low-medium heat for about 30 minutes.

Once the potatoes and lentils are soft, add in half of the cilantro and the cashew cream. Simmer uncovered on low for another 10 – 15 minutes. Add in the remaining cilantro and serve over rice or couscous (we used couscous, cooked in veggie stock).

For some extra green action, we had this with savory green beans–which, strangely, complemented this perfectly.

Savory Green Beans

• green beans
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• Spike ™
• almond slivers
• rosemary olive oil (or regular, and a dash of ground rosemary)

Steam the green beans until they’re done the way you like them. Who am I to tell you how you like your beans? Toss in rosemary olive oil and add in the spices and almond slivers.

I’m very sorry sir to let the raccoon out of the satchel, but this recipe is, with all due respect, “fusion”.

Read: I have bastardized, in my quaint American way, another delicious Indian entree.

But the title. Isn’t it hilarious? You know, dal, delicious, dal-icious. No. Truly not funny.

I have posted it here to dodge that bullet for you, lest you make a fool of yourself in front of company. I’m a true modern day hero.

Dal Markni

• 1 cup green lentils
• 1 cup black lentils (2 cups green lentils is okay)
• 4 cups water
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 2 hot peppers, seeded and minced (jalapeno, serrano, fresno)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• tsp ground cumin (fresh ground, preferably)
• 4 sprigs  (minced) or 1.5 tsp oregano
• small handful chives or green onions
• 1 squeeze of lemon
• salt and pepper to taste

In a large-ish pot, sautee the garlic in cooking oil. When the garlic starts to brown, add in the onions and peppers. Cook until tender. Stir in the lentils and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the tomatoes.

Add the water and some salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer, in that order. Any other order just wouldn’t make sense. Unless you’re making BIZARRO DAL.

Once the lentils are tender, add in the oregano and chives and squeeze of lemon. At this point you’ll want to sample the dal to confirm that you have, in fact, added far too little salt. It’s time to face reality. Add salt until daliciosity occurs. Eat eat eat!

For lack of a better title…this is a basically a dal that tastes like a stroganoff…I served it with garlic/rosemary mashed potatoes and crimini mushrooms sauteed in butter, soy sauce, and a dash of worcestershire (there’s a vegan kind with a spoony wizard on the bottle); we had it later in the week over quinoa (which was also–but not as–good).

Lentil Stroganizzl

• 3/4 cup black lentils
• 3/4 cup brown lentils
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
• 1/3 cup raw cashews
• 1/3 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1 tbsp worcestershire
• 2 – 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• ~4 – 6 cups water
• oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Sautee the onion and celery in oil over medium heat. When the onions start to turn brown, add in the lentils and coat well with oil. Let them cook for a couple of minutes and then add in just slightly more water than is needed to cover the lentils. In a coffee grinder or food processor, grind the cashews and walnuts into a fine powder. After about 30 minutes, add in the powder, cumin, tomato paste, tahini, soy sauce, worcestershire. Let cook for another 30 minutes or so, until lentils are nice and tender. Add water as needed to keep the lentils covered. The desired consistency isn’t watery–this should be servable on a plate. You wouldn’t server water on a plate, would you? If so, then this is not the recipe for you. No assholes allowed.

Surprise loved ones with a truly strange dish, sure to delight!