Lentil and Barley Dal with Kefir
Slightly adapted from THIS yummy Smitten Kitchen Recipe! I thought I had pretty much everything on hand, but ended up having to improvise a bit. (Different kind of lentils, added barley, tomato soup for diced tomatoes, kefir for cream) It turned out great though and I would happily make it again exactly the same way! Matthew had thirds *and* snitched from my bowl. And Chaucer begged, though all he got was a pinch of cilantro from Matthew, which he did not find to his taste.
2-3 tbs olive oil
1 onion, diced
1/2 tsp cumin
1 in piece of fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp garam masala (try using a blend of these ingredients if you don’t have garam masala)
1 tsp chili powder (or more)
1 small (around 10 oz) can condensed tomato soup
1 tsp sea salt (I say more)
1/2 cup green lentils
1/2 cup barley
4 1/2 cups water
Butter
Plain Kefir
Cilantro, chopped
Sautée the onion and cumin 1-2 minutes in the oil, then add ginger and garlic and sautée another minute or two. Add other spices, stirring to coat onion thoroughly, and pour in tomato soup. Bring to simmer, then add water, lentils, and barley. Simmer 35-45 minutes. Once lentils and barley and tender, it’s just a matter of how much liquid you want and how much you want to flavors to concentrate. I let mine boil down quite a bit.
Dole into bowls, and melt a pat of butter in each bowl. Swirl in a good swig (2-3 tbs) of plain kefir, and springle cilantro on top. Serve with bollywood music and hearty bread (naan bread would be fun!).
Bon appétit!
