- Cumin seeds 2 teaspoons
- Cooking oil
- 1 brown onion minced
- minced ginger, 1 tablespoon
- minced garlic 6 cloves
- red chilli, about 3 inches long, seeded and finely chopped (suggest wearing rubber gloves while chopping)
- Korma curry powder 2 teaspoons
- Seeds from 2 cardamon pods, ground (or cardamom powder)
- Pinch salt
- Black pepper
- Red (i.e. orange) lentils, 400g
- Water, 600 ml
- 40 ml lime or lemon juice
At home:
- Lightly dry roast nigella seeds over gentle heat, and set aside. Then cumin seeds ditto until fragrant. Cool, then grind.
- Heat oil in a frying pan, cook onion, ginger, garlic and chilli until softened.
- Stir in ground cumin, nigella seeds, korma, ground cardamom, and salt and cook for a few minutes
- Wash dahl, stir into spices, add water, and cook until lentils have softened and all changed colour to yellow – about 30 minutes. Add more water if needed.
- Season with pepper and lime juice
- Remove from heat.
- Spread on impermeable trays and dry in a dehydrator till crumbly. Pack as soon as it has cooled – vacuum pack or pack in an airtight plastic bag.
Optionally, pack some powdered coconut milk.
In the bush:
- To rehydrate, add boiling water to cover. Optionally add powdered coconut milk. Soak, keeping warm, 5 to 10 minutes. Goes well with rehydrated brown rice.
- Also rehydrates in cold water in about 10 minutes, with occasional stirring – good as a lunch spread.