Probably the only time mung beans will ever be controversial

In the interests of transparency, I'm going to openly admit that this is a bit of an abomination. I'm bringing a gently steaming vessel of Peanut Butter Mung Dal to this virtual table of spilled pixels that somehow arranged themselves into words, and it is clear that this is an aberration of some form. I promise to justify my transgressions, but you'll have to be patient as I go through the various motions.

Dal is a wide-reaching term used to describe a number of soups and stews, hailing from the Indian sub-continent, that take some kind of pulse as it's central ingredient. If this is a somewhat vague description, that is by design; the dish is hardly homogeneous. A few years ago I stayed with a host family in the region of Surkhet in Nepal (I will talk about this in more detail sometime in the future) and we would eat dal twice a day. Every new day would bring a new dal, and every new dal would bring a subtle change in flavour or component. Am I trying to set the scene for a peanut butter-based justification? I might just be, forsooth.

Rather less jokingly, cultural appropriation might seem like a roll-your-eyes, modern liberal stock phrase (the term has been circulating for over 40 years), but the practice is evident within the commercialisation of so-called "exotic" food. We denizens of the Global North have historically been quite adept at adopting the dishes we consider the most palatable from the South, producing a simplified facsimile and having that "pass" for an authentic representation of the food of a certain nation or group. Did anyone miss Jamie Oliver's Jollof rice fiasco? As much as we can claim that making these recipes constitutes a multicultural attitude (that phrase can only be described as icky), Vera Kwakofi put it best when she neatly summarised that "in five years his version will become the official one".

So, you understand why I want to preface this so heavily? Not that I believe I have any kind of following comparable to that of Jamie Oliver's, but it does good to be conscious of inauthenticity. I know that this creation would have matriarchs across India and Nepal shaking their heads in incredulity, though maybe some of them might be curious. The traditional dal here served more as a blueprint than an end-goal, although I will concede that the finished product was passably dal-esque.

Just like in the chana masala post, I was aided innumerably by Felicity Cloake's article 'How to cook perfect dal where she summarises and distills much of the contemporary literature surrounding the dish. Of course, she didn't recommend to add peanut butter. Though, question: can you really reach "perfection" in cooking? Food is so context driven, so I'm sure that one dish can't be perfect for every moment and every feeling. A bowl of dal is such a comforter though that if any food was going to be, it would be quite the contender.

This is a slow recipe to cook, but not particularly involved. There is a 90 minute long low-simmer, with that time period free for you to put some rice in the cooker and then fill with whatever soothing activities you wish to take part in. Also, the lack of bean soaking here might seem controversial, but there don't seem to be many food writers that really advocate a long soak. Which is just as well, because I had the idea to make this about two hours before I'd left the office.

To serve on the side, I've also made Nigella Lawson's Turmeric Rice with Cardamom and Cumin from her book At My Table, but adapted it for a rice cooker rather than to be cooked on the stove. Two recipes in one post!

Peanut Butter Mung Dal

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Serves: 2-3 people

Ingredients

Dal

250g of dried mung beans

1.25l of water

2 tbsp of peanut butter

3 cloves of garlic

2 red chillis

2 cm piece of ginger

1 tbsp of fenugreek seeds

1.5 tsp of ground cumin

1 tsp of paprika

1 tsp of turmeric

Salt to taste

Handful of fresh coriander (optional)

1/4 tsp of mace (optional)

1 small green chilli (optional)

Tarka

1 tbsp of butter

1 tsp of mustard seeds

1/2 tsp of chilli flakes

Method

Put the mung beans into a mesh sieve and rinse until clear.

Crush the garlic and roughly mince. Cut the ginger into flat slices and finely slice the red chilli. Leave the green chilli whole, if using.

Add the fenugreek seeds to a saute pan and warm on a medium heat until they turn a chestnut brown colour. Once they have, transfer to a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder and grind into a coarse powder.

Add the mung beans to a large saucepan and pour in the water. Add the garlic, ginger, red chilli and green chilli (if using) and turn up to a high heat.

When the water has come to a boil, add the ground cumin, paprika, turmeric and mace (if using) and stir through.

Put the lid on the saucepan, but leave it ever-so-slightly ajar so a small amount of steam can escape. Turn down to a medium-low heat and keep simmering for an hour and a half. The extended simmer on a low heat will allow the beans to slowly break down and become creamy. Every now and again, stir the pan through.

When the simmering is about 45 minutes in, begin to prepare the rice (recipe to follow).

When the mung beans have about five minutes of simmering left, melt the butter in a small saucepan on a medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the mustard seeds and the chilli flakes and infuse them in the butter for three minutes. This will be the tarka that you pour over the dal.

After the butter has been infused with flavour set it aside. Taste the dal and adjust the spices and seasonings as necessary (remember, it will taste richer and fuller flavoured once the tarka is poured over and integrated). Add the peanut butter and stir through until it is integrated with the rest of the mixture. Once you are satisfied, pour the tarka over the dal and mix together until fully combined.

Sprinkle with chopped coriander to taste (if using) and serve with with the turmeric rice or flatbreads (or both!)

Nigella Lawson's Turmeric Rice with Cardamom and Cumin

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes (this depends on the rice cooker)

Serves: 2-3 people

Ingredients

200g of basmati rice

1/4 tsp of turmeric

4 cardamom pods

1 tsp of cumin seeds

400ml of water

Salt to taste

Crush each of the cardamom pods slightly to allow them to release their flavour.

Add all of the ingredients into the rice cooker, pour over the water, mix slightly and set it to cook.

When the rice has cooked stir through again, remove the cardamom pods and serve.

Notes & Adjustments

• As stated above, dals can be made with virtually any pulse. Theoretically, this one could be too, but it would drastically change the cooking times and quantities of water based on which pulse was chosen.

• You are probably best using a non-emulsified peanut butter; I used Meridian here. This will just make it easier to integrate the peanut butter into the dal.

• If you prefer the dal to be a bit milder in terms of spice, de-seed the chillis.

Just a quick note going forward to say that this upcoming month is going to be pretty challenging for me. I'm facing some not insignificant financial anxieties as well as being busy with things like applying for jobs and a PhD (yes, I'm very excited; yes I'm incredibly stressed). I really want to keep going with this blog, despite not having very many readers and will continue to nourish it the best I can. That said, doing this does take a lot of time, and it does often take money. It may be that my posts become somewhat more infrequent for the foreseeable future, but if I enact some form of hiatus then I will write here to notify!

Until next time,

Ashe x