dal - chilean style

Driving home from work on Friday I was listening to NPR and they were discussing the "How Low Can You Go" challenge where chefs were asked to submit recipes for delicious meals for four people that cost less than $10. I caught the tail-end of the segment but heard Valerie Gaino from Pichilemu, Chile discussing her Chilean style dal.  It sounded too good to not try. Go here for the NPR story and the recipe.

Ingredients:

3 cups of lentils

2 cups of chopped potatoes

2 chopped carrots

3 chopped tomatoes

1 hot pepper (I used a jalapeno)

1 small onion chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

16 ounces tomato sauce (I used the 15 oz can)

1 tsp cumin

a little beer or sherry (I used red wine)

a little red vinegar

olive oil

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

salt and pepper to taste



First, precook the lentils following the directions on the package. Once done drain and set aside. Or if your Trader Joe's has the precooked lentils (with the refrigerated veggies) use those and you can skip this whole step. It might make the price of ingredients for this meal go up a bit.

While, the lentils are cooking you can go ahead and dice the onion, garlic, pepper, potatoes and carrots. 

Heat a large (at least 5 quarts) pot on the stove and add olive oil to coat the bottom. Saute onions, garlic, pepper and cumin.

Add a bit of beer or sherry. Since we were out of beer and I can't think of a time we've ever had sherry in the house I used some of the red wine that was sitting on the counter.

Add the cubed potatoes and the carrots to the pot. 

Add water to the pot to just cover the potatoes. I think next time I make this (there will definitely be a next time) I may use veggie broth instead of water for a bit more flavor.

Add the chopped up tomatoes and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer until the potatoes are soft. 

Once the potatoes are soft add the precooked lentils and the can of tomato sauce. 

Salt and pepper to taste. You may also want to add a little bit more wine/beer/sherry or some hot sauce if you like it hot. The husband loves spicy so I added some sriracha. You can also add a bit of red wine vinegar if you think it is too sweet. I added just a splash. My dal had a bit too much liquid (I was a bit short on the lentils) so I let it simmer on the stove for 10-15 minutes.

Add the chopped cilantro and take it off the heat. Let sit for a couple of minutes and then serve. This would be perfect with some warm naan. I did not think ahead to make some fresh naan so we had this with some pita pockets we found in the freezer. Still yummy. This recipe was simple to make and tasted delicious. I think it will be even better the next day. The best part was that it really was inexpensive. Thank you, NPR, for making my Friday evening stuck in traffic worth it.