Creamy, lemony, coconut daal, dhal, dal...curry?

Dahl, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...a great big, warm, heartening bowl of lentils, with a zing of lemon and a smoke of curry leaves, mustard seeds and lots and lots of garlic.

Comfort food at it's best. I used to think there were 'dhal rules' somewhere out there. That it had to be made this way, or that way, or had to contain this or that particular thing. It isn't so. One of the main reasons I love dahl is because there are no rules really. You can make dal pretty much any which way (and spell it pretty much any which way) as long as it involves lentils cooked into a stew-like form. That's it, that is all the daal judges are after folks.

Twist all the other components which ever way you want them. There are proper and authentic differences in dhal, that don't just fall from whims, and the roots of which lie in historical and geographical variations across india. They're all fascinating to explore but always feel free to make your own history and draw from your surroundings and or personal preferences. Stick to the spicy lentil stew principle and build up from there.

This one is a beauty. It has added texture, zing and a bit more of a spring in its step than the traditional sambar, soup-y, type dahl's. I went for ginger and an over-emphasised lemony flavour, which works really well with this type of lentil and cuts through the coconut preventing it from being too creamy. Although this is really substantial, and more of a curry in its own right, it still wouldn't be complete without serving it with nan bread and boiled rice, but then again what curry would be?

Ingredients:

2 medium white onions

2 lemons

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp garam masala

2 tsps of turmeric

2 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1 green chilli

2 inch piece of fresh ginger

300g / 10 and half oz puy lentils

1 pint of organic vegetable stock

50g / 1.8 oz creamed coconut

Sea salt and black pepper

Small bunch of fresh coriander

Slice the onions into fine half moons and put in a bowl with the whole juice of one lemon and grate over the zest of lemon.

Toss and set aside. De-seed and finely chop the chilli. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Peel the ginger and slice into thin match-stick shapes.

Get a high sided frying pan on a medium heat and once the base of the pan is warmed through add the cumin, garam masala, coriander, mustard seeds and turmeric and dry fry them for a minute or two. As they become aromatic tip them out into a dish and put to one side with the onions for later. In the same pan add the 2 tbsp of olive oil and keep the heat down low.

Add the garlic, chilli and ginger. Cook for 1 minute and add the onions. Cook together for 7 minutes, or until the onions start to brown and stir in the lentils.

Add the vegetables stock and the dry fried spices and bring to a boil. As soon as it reaches the boil, reduce to a low simmer. Shred the creamed coconut and stir this in. Make sure you give this a good stir until all the coconut disappears as it will take a few moments to break down into the liquid.

Cook for approximately 30-40 minute or until the lentils are softened. Once they are soft season the pot with sea salt and black pepper (not before as this can alter the texture of the lentils whilst they are cooking).

Squeeze in the juice of half the second lemon with some more zest. Sprinkle with roughly chopped fresh coriander to serve.

Serves 4

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Ginger-Stem-Men

There's something a little mystical and magical about the old gingerbread folk; devoured at Christmas and chased by baddies in nursery rhymes. These are biscuits with baggage, that never fail to attract the restless hands of curious cooks. I'm ashamed to say though that, for a long time now I had seriously neglected them. Probably due to the fact that the shop bought ones scare me a little bit, with their gorily decorated, bright-as-the-sun icing smiles, staring back at you off the shelves. The gore didn't bode well in the taste department either. There's nothing magical about a sweeter than sweet cookie that's rock solid with barley a whiff of ginger. I've got a hazy memory carried over from childhood that a gingerbread-man should be soft in the centre with a little snap on the outter, and have a fiery, spicy and very very gingery kick.

I've been pondering the ultimate gingerbread man for a while now and have fialed miserably on many attempts to create perfect spicy dough. One attempt came out a bit like a spicey digestive biscuit, revolting I thought but apparently not to some people who said it reminded them how much they like digestives. I was determined to stir as far away as possible form the digestive similarities and remembered trying some regular circular ginger biscuits that had stem ginger in them. This would definitely add to the gooey soft centre. It had to be tried. It was and it worked. Well. Better than well. Of all the spicy dough combinations this made the most sense and got the best results.

These gingerstem-men are more spicy than sweet, have a fiery ginger kick, and the added extra dollop here and there of gooey stem ginger. It makes their usual roadkill physique look a little more characterful and lumpy and bumpy but I prefer them with their physical imperfections as long as the taste is the best. If you have a bit of the Bree Van De Kamp about you and prefer the immaculate appearance you could easily chop the ginger much more finely beforehand or whizz it up in a food processor this way you would still get the gooey texture with a smoother surface.

Ingredients:

100g / 3 and half oz unsalted butter
5 tablespoons demarera sugar
7 tablespoons Golden Syrup
2 teaspoons ground ginger
Half a teaspoon of Cinnamon
Half a teaspoon of Nutmeg
Ground black pepper, a pinch
200g / 7 oz plain flour
Half a teaspoon baking powder
Half a teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Seal Salt, a pinch
50g / 1.7 oz Crystallised stem ginger

Boil the kettle and fill a deep bowl two thirds full with boiling water. Put golden syrup tin in the water with the lid still on. Leave it in there as you get on with the rest of the baking. (This makes it easier to pour and measure than when it's at room temperature.)

Get a medium sized pan on a low heat and melt the butter slowly. Be careful not to brown it by heating it too high. When the majority has melted stir through the sugar until it dissolves and then add your runny-er syrup, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper. Stir this through for a minute or two more until you get a gooey brown mix. Set to one side to cool.

Whilst cooling heat the oven to 170 degrees C, Gas mark 3, or 325 F. Chop the ginger finely (or whizz with a blender). Prepare a baking tray with a sheet of baking paper covering the surface. Brush with a little melted butter to stop the biscuits sticking.

Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in to a large mixing bowl. Stir in the chopped ginger. Gently add in the cooled off liquid mixture bit by bit folding together with the tips of your fingers to bind. If it's too runny add a little more flour (too dry add more melted butter). You want to end up with a moist but firm light brown coloured dough.

Lots of recipes now call for the dough to rest in the fridge but I have found that baking powder and bicarbonate of soda respond best to being cooked immediately. I tried cooking half this batch immmediately and then half after 2 hours rest, and the best biscuits came out from the dough that hadn't rested.

I rolled my dough relatively thinly (about 2-3mml) to keep them moist after being cooked and also shaped my own by flattening and shaping the head out and pinching out the arms and legs. It's fun seeing the different shaped ones that come out rather than the uniform cutter shapes. When you take them out they are still soft so you could shape them further before they go hard by running the the blunt side of a knife around the edges.

If you are using the handy cutters, divide the dough in half and roll one piece at a time, with a rolling pin, again quite thin (1cm) on a floured surface. Then place them on the buttered parchment paper and bake in the pre-heated oven for 17 minutes. Take out and leave to cool until they go solid. Keep an eye on them. You want them to be a nice golden colour and not too dark a brown.

Should make 17 or more medium sized ginger-stem-men.

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