Trinidadian Dhal chunkayed with burnt garlic and geera

 

Dhal

Dhal is one of my favorite things to eat. Its basically an indian spit peas soup. This recipe has been passed down in my family for generations. It's origin is India; whichever part of India my ancestors originated from. This recipe is rather unique in that the garlic and geera or cumin is burnt. Usually when I watch cooking shows, they always say to not burn the garlic or it would taste bitter but that exactly what this recipe calls for.

Dhal both refers to the name of the dish and also the pulse being used. The pulse in this case is also called dried spilt peas but in Trinidad when we say dhal we mean split peas. Dhal also refers to any type of pulse; for example there is mung dhal and urad dhal that are sold in groceries in Trinidad as well.

The inspiration for this recipe came from my grandmother, my mother's mother or as I call her; my nanny. Her dhal always tastes really good. Now to get a recipe from my grandma is really difficult. When you ask her she says she would say "I put a lil piece of this and a cup of that". So one day I watched her make her dhal so I could get the recipe. She boiled the dhal first with tumeric and some garlic, onion, pimento and hot pepper before she chunkayed (tempered) the dhal with garlic and cumin (geera).

Chunkaying is where you heat a little oil in a small pan or a ladle and add garlic and geera and you cook till starts to get black and burnt. You then throw this mixture in the dhal. 

The dried split peas need to be soaked for at least 4-6 hours or overnight in water to rehydrate them. If this is not done the dhal will take longer to cook. I only soaked my dhal for an hour for this recipe so my dhal took almost an hour to boil.

I usually don’t chop up the onion, garlic and pimentos fine because I use an immersion blender to whizz the dhal at the end but if you only have a dhal-gutny or swizzle stick, you could chop these finer so they fall apart easier in the dhal. The aim is to make the dhal smooth. Add extra boiling water to get to the consistency you like.

When chunkaying ensure you have a pot cover to cover the pot you are boiling the split peas in so when you throw the hot oil into the boiled split peas, you can cover the pot immediately after to prevent hot oil from splashing back on you.

 

This dhal is easy to cook, savory, spicy and delicious. Its also vegan and vegetarian and uses simple ingredients that are easy to find. If you don't have bandania (culantro) you can substitute cilantro or another green herb like parsley. Its also very healthy as it uses very little oil and is very filling. It tastes even better the next day as the flavors get to mingle together. It goes well with some plain boiled rice. Do try and let me know what you think  in the comments.

Trinidadian-Indian Dhal

Serves                  10

Cuisine                 Trinidadian-Indian

Time                     1-1¼hr mins total, 5 minutes prep time, 40-60 mins cook

Level                     Easy

Ingredients

2 ¼ c                dried dhal (spit peas)

11                    medium sized pimentos

11                    medium sized cloves garlic (or 1 head)

1                      hot pepper

3                      onion

3tb + 1/4c        bandania chopped (culantro or substitute cilantro)

2 tsp                grind geera(cumin)

 

For chunkaying

4                      garlic cloves minced

1 ½ tsp            whole geera seeds

3tb                  oil

1 tsp                maytee or fenugreek seeds (optional)

 

Procedure:

1. Search the dried spilt peas for stones, rinse and let soak for 4-6 hours or overnight.
2. Rough chop the onion or finely chop if using a dhal-gutny (swizel stick). Peel the garlic cloves and take off the stems from the pimentos.
3. Boil split peas with enough water to cover about and inch above the peas.
4. Add turmeric, garlic(11 cloves), onion, pimento and hot pepper to the split peas.
5. Add grind geera and let split peas boil for 40-60mins until it starts to fall apart.
6. When split peas have fallen apart, take off heat and blitz with an immersion blender or swizzle with the dhal gutny.
7. In a large ladle or small pot add oil and let heat up and then add the minced garlic and whole geera seeds and maytee if using.
8. Cook until the garlic and geera turn black and then pour this into the pot with the boiled spit peas and cover immediately so it the hot oil doesn’t splash on you.
9. Add another ¼ c of bandania (cilantro) to the boiled dhal and add salt to taste.

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