Dal Bhat

Name: Dal Bhat
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Nepali
Ingredients: 400 g Long-grain rice; 250 g Red or yellow split lentils; 1 tsp Turmeric; 1 Onion, finely chopped; 1 Tomato, chopped; 4 cloves Garlic, crushed; 3 cm Ginger, grated; 1 tsp Cumin seeds; 2 Dried red chillies; 1 tsp Jimbu; 3 tbsp Mustard oil; 600 g Potato and cauliflower, cut into chunks; 2 tsp Salt; 1.2 L Water for the dal

Rice, a thin lentil soup poured over it and a seasonal vegetable beside — the meal most Nepalis eat twice a day, every day, and never tire of.

Source

Recette de Nepali home kitchens · 🏺 Traditionnel · Everyday Nepali cooking — rice and lentils twice a day, a seasonal vegetable beside them, and a fermented something sharp enough to cut through both.

Nepali · everyday meal — An ownerless traditional meal, so no cook is credited. The cited article confirms the rice-plus-lentil-soup structure, the tarkari served alongside and the twice-a-day habit. Quantities, the jhaneko method and the jimbu note are this book's own.

Background on Wikipedia ↗

Watch it being made · 3 videos

Namdol Takza Shwet's Kitchen Darshna Ribadiya

⏱ 55 min🍽 4 portions🔥 580 kcal🇳🇵 Népal🌶️

HalalVéganeVégétarienSans glutenSans produits laitiersSans fruits à coque

Étapes

Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then cook it — 400 g rice to 700 ml water, lid on, 12 minutes, then 10 minutes off the heat without lifting the lid.
Rinse the lentils and simmer them with the turmeric, 1 tsp of the salt and 1.2 L water for 20 minutes, skimming the grey foam off the top for the first few minutes.
💡 Nepali dal is soup, not paste. If a spoon stands up in it, add another 200 ml of water — it is meant to be poured over rice.
While it simmers, fry the potato and cauliflower in 1 tbsp of the oil with a pinch of the turmeric, cover, and let them steam soft for 15 minutes. That is the tarkari.
Make the jhaneko — the tempering. Heat the rest of the oil until it just smokes, drop in the cumin, dried chillies and jimbu for 10 seconds, then the garlic, ginger and onion until golden.
💡 Mustard oil must be heated until it smokes once, then cooled slightly. Raw, it tastes harsh; smoked once, it turns sweet.
Add the tomato, cook it down for 2 minutes, then pour the whole tempering into the dal. It will hiss. Stir, add the rest of the salt and simmer 5 more minutes.
Serve rice in the middle of the plate, the dal in a small bowl to pour over it, and the tarkari beside. Pickle goes on the rim.

💡 Astuces

Eat it with your right hand if you want the real thing — you mix rice, dal and tarkari into a small mouthful yourself, and every bite is a slightly different ratio.
In Nepal a dal bhat plate is refilled until you refuse. Cook more rice than you think you need.
Jimbu is the one ingredient that makes this taste Nepali rather than Indian. A Nepali or Himalayan grocer will have it dried in a small bag.