EGGPLANT DAL SAUCE

Servings: 4
Ingredients:

1 md Eggplant
2/3 c  Red lentils
2 c  Water
2 t  Black mustard seeds
1 t  Coriander
1 t  Cumin
1    Cinnamon stick
1    Dried red chili
-cayenne pepper to taste
-salt to taste

Roast the eggplant in a 400-degree oven for an hour (stab it first with a
fork). A half hour or twenty minutes before you anticipate the eggplant
will be done, pop the mustard seeds in a medium sized saucepan, then add
lentils, water and spices. Bring to a boil and gently simmer until the
eggplant is finished cooking, then remove eggplant from oven, slit open,
scoop out innards, chop them coarsely and add to lentils. Cook another
5-10 minutes to blend all the flavors. This would probably make a
respectable soup if it were thinned out with more water and broth, but I
served it over…

> Kirsten, your recipe for eggplant dal sounds delicious, but would you
explain > how to ‘pop’ mustard seeds? Also, you call for black mustard seed
~ how is > that different in flavor from regular mustard seed? Do you find
them at your > HFS, or do normal grocery stores carry them? > I pop the
seeds by putting them in a heavy wok with a lid. I spray a little bit of
Pam first. The brown or black mustard seeds can usually be gotten at a HFS
or an Indian grocery store. These are the only kinds of seeds I have ever
tasted so I can’t comment on whether the flavor is different but they add
substantially to the flavor of an Indian type dish.

Kirstin Reade Wilcox
From Fatfree Digest April-May 1994, Formatting by Sue Smith (using MMCONV)

—–