Book of Yum

I am hosting the Gluten-Free Menu Swap this week, so welcome! Our theme ingredient this week is the humble but nutritionally powerful lentil or dal.

Why did I choose the lentil, a.k.a. the dal for my theme ingredient of the week? Well, not only is it an ingredient used in a wide variety of cuisines from Middle Eastern to Indian to American and European, but it is an amazing protein source. Happily, it is usually a great deal quicker to cook than its larger bean cousins so more convenient for the busy cook. It is also an extremely economical source of protein, something we can all appreciate in these troubled economic times. You don’t just get protein from lentils or dals, though. They are also high in fiber and a slew of nutrients, including iron! Here’s what WHFoods had to say:

Lentils, a small but nutritionally mighty member of the legume family, are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber. Not only do lentils help lower cholesterol, they are of special benefit in managing blood-sugar disorders since their high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising rapidly after a meal. But this is far from all lentils have to offer. Lentils also provide good to excellent amounts of six important minerals, two B-vitamins, and protein-all with virtually no fat. The calorie cost of all this nutrition? Just 230 calories for a whole cup of cooked lentils. (source: WhFoods)

Sounds pretty good, wouldn’t you say? I hope you have as much fun using the theme ingredient as I had researching it. I especially went crazy hunting down lentil and dal recipes- but I think that for every great recipe I found, there are hundreds more out there just waiting to be discovered. If you have a favorite lentil or dal recipe, please share (URL, cookbook etc) in the comments.

Here in the States, we are most familiar with the brown lentil, but it is actually my least favorite of the lentil options. Peppery French green lentils are delicious, if a little hard to find. You can find them at your local gourmet grocery store like Whole Foods. My absolute favorite lentil has to be the red lentil, which has a delightful subtle flavor that works in all sorts of dishes. I use it regularly in my favorite veggie pot pie recipe, where it plays an important supporting role without dominating the dish.

Indian cuisine utilizes a wide variety of dal (split dried beans) that may be unfamiliar to many Western cooks. The gluten-free chef should definitely investigate them, though, as there are so many gorgeous applications that translate beautifully and healthfully into a gluten-free diet. One example is the urad dal, a white split bean that is ground with rice and fermented in a batter for wonderful crispy crepes called dosa. A very similar recipe is also used to make idli, steamed rice “cakes” that are delightful with chutney, deep fried vada and a savory pancake called uthappam. Confusingly, the term dal also refers to a well seasoned, soup or stew side dish that usually accompanies vegetarian meals. I’m an especially big fan of dal makhani, a buttery dal dish, [also try the version from Oberai hotel in Bangalore] and Rajma, a veg chili made with red beans. Do you have a favorite Indian dal recipe? Tell me about it in the comments!

Wondering where to get your Indian lentils? I can pretty much only find most of them at the Indian market, but you can also find them online if there isn’t one near you. They are usually very competitively priced. It’s best to go with an Indian friend if at all possible as names can be confusing- but people working at the market are usually willing to help you locate things if they aren’t too busy, so go for it! I keep mine in sealed tupperware, labeled, in the pantry.

Individual Inspiring Recipes for Lentils:
Jenna’s Red Lentil Savory Pie in a buckwheat pie crust, mmm
Crockpot Honey Lentils (From GLUTEN FREE CROCKPOT BLOG)
Crockpot Moroccan Lentil Soup (From GLUTEN FREE CROCKPOT BLOG)
101 Cookbook’s Lentil Soup Recipe with saffron yogurt
101 Cookbook’s Vegetarian Lentil Burgers (use gluten-free bread crumbs)
Lentil Burgers with “swiss” uncheese sauce
Indian Dal Recipes (Just the tip of the iceberg!)
My South Indian Dal Fritters
Moong Dal Fritters
Red Lentil Dal
Red Gram Chutney

Lentil Recipe Collections:
GF Accidental Vegetarian’s Lentil Recipes
SF Gate Lentil Article and Yummy Recipes
Vegetarian All Creatures’ Lentil Recipes
Food Down Under Lentil Recipes
Veg Web Lentil Recipes

Obsessed with Lentils? Consider participating in this blog event My Legume Love Affair with a recipe!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled post.

Many thanks to Cheryl for temporarily housing the Gluten Free Menu Swap at her blog GF Goodness. You can find more great menus with Org Junkie.

My Menu for the week:

Monday: American Homestyle
GF Beer Battered Tofu
and Hush Puppies
with spinach saute

Wednesday: Pressure Cooker
Thai Chickpeas
Jasmine Rice
Light salad

Friday: South Indian
Masala Dosa (made with urad dal)
with green chutney and cashew chutney

Sunday: South Indian
Dal Vada/ Dal Pakora- Dal lentil fritters

Baked goods: sweet potato muffins, Bette Hagman’s GF Crumpets

Roundup of our Participants in this week’s Gluten-Free Menu Swap:
Poor Kim at Gluten Free is Life is COLD, COLD, COLD. I wish I could send her some of the warm, spring like weather we’ve been having here in Northern California. In the spirit of our dal theme, she is making honey baked lentils, a recipe that sounds delightful and one I might just have to try. I must be hungry, but everything on her menu really sounds appetizing.

Ginger at Fresh Ginger has to eat dal all by her lonesome ’cause her sweetie doesn’t like it, but she’s having an Aloo Dal (Dal with Potatoes) that sounds scrumptious. Any chance we might have the recipe for that one? She may also have masala dosa this week with me, although alas, we won’t be together, and she’ll actually get someone to make it for her at a proper restaurant. Her photo of grilled polenta makes me want to nab it off the screen and have some. YUM!

Elizabeth G of A Modern Gal has a healthy sounding and delicious meal planned this week. She’s having a bean and rice themed week, including a lentil stew plucked from the freezer, and Crockpot red beans and rice. Her Indonesian Fried Rice sounds like a great way to use up leftovers and quite tasty as well.

Cheryl of GF Goodness shared her international and healthy menu with us. I’m excited about her upcoming experiment with Bittman’s recipe for dal and intrigued by her recipe for Asian style gingery soup. You can also sneak a peek at some adorable sleeping kitties at her house if you check out her post.

I can’t say when I’ve enjoyed reading a menu more! Wendy’s menu at Celiacs in the House told the story of her first memorable encounter with Indian cuisine. I loved seeing her masala dhabba, or stainless steel spice tin, all the more because I just happened to buy one myself this week during an excursion to an Indian market with a friend of mine. Wendy’s menu featured Lentils and Kale from 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes as well as Split Pea Dal. Sounds wonderful and I love her openness to new flavors!

Manda shared her love for lentils that developed, like mine, through her exploration of Indian food. She noted the nutritional value of lentils, as well as the lovely color diverse dal can add to your diet- aesthetically pleasing as well as fitting into the food pyramid’s “eating by color” technique. Manda plans to make a tasty European Tuscan Lentil Cassoulet during her very busy week.

Esther of the Lilac Kitchen was very happy to have lentils be this week’s theme ingredient because she had been thinking she should be cooking with them more.. She’s making a lovely dry veg curry with some kind of dal this week and some other interesting dishes including fish pie.

Over at Angela’s Kitchen, her daughter just celebrated her eleventh birthday, for which our blogger made (a presumably gluten-free) star shaped pizza and a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting covered with snowflakes and stars. You can see the lovely pictures at her site. She loves making dal with lentils/dhal and papadams; and may make some this weekend. They also sometimes make lentil based pastas that the kids like, but their favorite way to eat lentils is by sprouting them and enjoying them on salads and sandwiches.

M-elle of Cooking and Uncooking shared her history with lentils from her first diagnosis when she relied on soups like Split Pea Lentil soup and salads. This week she’ll be making her favorite split pea soup and is hoping to try the recipe for Red Lentil Dal I posted above. I was really intrigued by the raw Mediterranean Dolmas on her menu, and I hope to hear all about the possibly raw pizza she makes on the weekend. I personally really enjoy her blog and reading her menu makes me remember why I need to visit her more often!

Thanks all for participating, and sorry for any delay in posting your menus!

Now, it’s a darned shame, but since I make my dishes the week OF the menu swap, I don’t have a new lentil recipe for you yet. However, I did make this delectable, ultra tasty and ultra sweet peanut butter bar after seeing the recipe on the side of my brown sugar box. It turned out so well gluten-free that I had to share it. Just a small piece will satisfy any urges for a sweet fix. My gluten-consuming friends declared them YUMMY and I was very pleased with the recipe as well. They can be wrapped individually and frozen, too.

Gluten-Free Peanut or other Nut Butter Bar Cookie Recipe Dessert  American

Ingredients 1/2 cup softened butter or margarine (1 stick) 1/2 cup natural peanut, almond, or sunflower seed butter 1 1/2 cup White sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 1/2 cup gluten free blend (I used Bette Hagman’s gourmet blend*) Filling: 2 eggs 2 tbsp. natural nut butter (peanut almond or sunflower seed) 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar ———————————————————- *Bette Hagman’s Gourmet Blend, mixed in bulk: 3 cups white rice flour 1 cup potato starch 1/2 cup tapioca starch flour Directions Preheat oven to 375. Mix butter, nut butter, sugar and vanilla in your mixer and then slowly add your gluten free blend. It will be somewhat crumbly, but moist. Line a 9 *13 pan with parchment paper or grease it carefully. Take out one cup of the flour mixture and reserve it. Press the rest into the bottom of the pan as a bottom crust. Combine filling ingredients in your mixer and mix it up. Pour over the crust in your pan. Then crumble that reserved cup of flour mixture on top of the filling. Bake for 20 minutes or until the bar is golden on top. Cool, cut, and enjoy! Notes Even glutenoids won’t miss the gluten!

Rating:  8 Original Source:  C and H Sugar recipe, adapted to be gluten free. Recipe ID:  1352 Added:  January 13, 2009 Last Modified:  January 18, 2009

When I went to India for two weeks during Winter break, I was thrilled to be invited into the home of a family in Bangalore twice for elaborate and delicious home cooked meals. Every dish was delicious, but my and my husband’s absolute favorite dish was dal vada, or a dal pakora made out of ground channa dal. It was a naturally gluten free dish that fulfilled every fried-food fantasy I’d had since I arrived in India, where most fried foods were off limits. DH and I gobbled up way more than our fair share of this delightful appetizer, and I absolutely had to ask for the recipe. When we got back home, I immediately bought channa dal at my favorite local Indian grocer. And then- life intruded. There was absolutely no time to make elaborate dal fried dishes, so I had to leave the recipe in my recipe file. Luckily a few weeks ago the CeliacSF Bay Area support group held a potluck at a member’s home with an Indian food theme. PERFECT! I thought- time to pull out all my favorite authentic Indian recipes, including this one for dal pakora. To my intense joy, the recipe came off without a hitch- and everyone at our potluck seemed to enjoy this authentic Indian recipe. And, the nicest compliment of all- one new member had brought her mother, visiting from India, who said that while she had her own similar recipe, she really liked mine too. I was thrilled with that generous stamp of approval, and slightly startled when I came back for seconds and found only three lonely little pakora left out of a huge batch. Apparently I’m not the only GF folk to enjoy the occasional GF fried treat!

Here’s a pictorial guide to making Dal Vada:

First soak chana dal overnight. Then drain, rinse, and grind it in a food processor with garlic and ginger until it’s a nice, smooth dough.

Then mix in all the other ingredients, including cilantro and red onion. Form into little balls, flatten, and deep fry until cooked all the way through and deep golden brown.

And, here’s a video for a similar recipe using combined dal:

And, if you want another video, here’s a great video showing in great detail how to make authentic dal vada

By the way, channa dal is a dal that I really enjoy. It’s a yellow lentil similar to yellow split pea, but a little larger. It almost looks like a dried corn kernel. It’s fantastically low on the glycemic index, and tasty too. You can do lots of things with channa dal. If you’ve got channa dal left in your pantry after making this yummy recipe, try one of these recipes:

Channa dal with Spinach Recipe
Sukhi Channa Dal Recipe
Another Channa Dal Recipe
Spicy Channa Dal Recipe

Enjoy!
You can also try my Mint Cilantro Chutney Recipe
with this dal pakora recipe
if you have some mint on hand. Enjoy!
And, here’s my post describing the dinner party in Bangalore where I first enjoyed this recipe.

*IMPORTANT REMINDER: The Adopt-a-gluten-free blogger deadline is July 7th. Please send me the URL of your post about your adopted blogger, photo, and description of the recipe NO LATER than this date, as I will be flying to Japan on the morning of July 9th. If you don’t get your entry in by this date, you may not be included in the roundup until (retroactively) in early August… You can email me at seamaiden399(at)gmail[dot]com. Thanks guys and can’t wait to see your posts!

Chana Dal Pakora or Dal Vada Recipe- revised Main Course  Alternative Grains  Indian

Ingredients 250 gm (8.8 oz) Bengal Gram (Channa/ Chana Dal) 1 1/2 medium red onions, finely chopped 1 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves 2-3 finely chopped green serrano chili 2-3 cloves (Loung?) 1 stick (1 inch) cinnamon bark (dalchini) salt to taste Cooking Oil for deep frying 50 gm.(1.75 oz( Ginger (finely crushed but Not paste) 1/2 or 1/4 head of garlic (finely crushed) Chutney to serve- mint or cilantro chutney is lovely. Mint AND cilantro chutney is also nice. A red tomato chutney or even ketchup offers a nice contrast. Directions Directions Soak 250 gm. (washed) Bengal gram for 5-6 hours. Strain the water and grind the strained dal along with crushed garlic, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon bark. It’s hard for the food processor to break up the cinnamon bark, so make sure to start with it. You may have to break up pieces by hand. Put the ground mixture in a bowl and mix finely chopped onions, fresh cilantro leaves, salt, and green chilies. Mix it well with spoon or by hand. Make round, flat patty shaped balls and deep fry on medium flame in oil heated on medium heat. If the oil is smoking, it’s too hot! I find that it is very easy to burn the first few while trying to get the temperature right, but you’re shooting for a cooking period of about 2.5 minutes, then turn for 2.5 minutes more. If you fry them too fast, the inside will be raw, so you really want that type of extended frying period. *Tip: Before you start frying, set up a cooling area with an (edged) cookie pan and a cooling rack. You can line the cookie pan with paper towels if you like, but place the fritters on the rack when they’re done. Then the oil can drip down but the fritter won’t get soggy like it would on a paper towel. Notes Notes This is a South Indian recipe that our friends (originally from Northern India) had been introduced to by their son�s caretaker. They liked it so much they adopted the recipe- and after weeks in India drooling over all the gluten containing fried snacks I couldn�t have, it was a thrill for me to enjoy this in their home. I begged them to make it again when we visited their house a second time- and it was just as wonderful as I remember! Probably my favorite thing I ate over the entire duration of our trip. :) I finally made this recipe in my own kitchen on the first day of summer because my local Celiac support group was having a potluck with an “indian foods” theme. I wanted to bring all my favorite recipes that I discovered while visiting India, so I made this recipe, as well as homemade rasgulla and aloo jeera. It was all sooo yummy! And everyone gobbled up the Dal Vada, because as DH put it- of course everybody wanted gluten-free fried goodness. :)

Rating:  10 Original Source:  Friends in India. THANK YOU! Recipe ID:  1253 Added:  June 20, 2008 Last Modified:  June 21, 2008

Cilantro Chutney Recipe Sauces & Condiments  Vegetables  Indian

Ingredients 1 1/2 chopped, de-seeded serrano chili 3 tbsp lemon or lime juice 3/4 inch ginger 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp cumin 2 tsp. oil dash of asafoetida/hing (use one made from Rice Flour, like Whole Foods) 1 very large bunch chopped cilantro or 2 medium bunches 1 tbsp sugar (or less, taste and adjust to your preference) Directions Combine everything in a food processor except for the cilantro and sugar. Add the cilantro a bunch at a time and combine. Add 1 1/2 tsp sugar, taste, and add more if you like. You can also add more salt or lemon juice if you prefer. Notes These are perfect frozen in ice cube trays and defrosted as needed. It’s best to freeze them as soon as possible after making the sauce to preserve color and flavor. Manjula suggests combining 1 part chutney to 3 parts yogurt for a dip, 1 part chutney and 2 parts cream cheese for a sandwich spread (Me: how about with cucumber slices? Yum!), or even as a component of a vinaigrette.

Rating:  8 Original Source:  Inspired by Manjula’s recipe but completely different proportions. Recipe ID:  1257 Added:  June 25, 2008 Last Modified:  June 26, 2008