Tomato Dahl with Gluten-Free Naan (Recipe)

Are you craving something warm in the cooler months? Or maybe your are just feeling a little under the weather and need something like a comforting soup to lift you up? We have the perfect recipe for you. This Ayurvedic recipe contains all of the right balancing properties and will help aid digestion. Plus it smells pretty amazing!

Did you know that traditionally onions and garlic are never used in Ayurvedic cooking? They are believed to disturb peacefulness of the mind. I was curious to know what is used in their place, as they possess such amazing flavor and are essential to so many dishes around the world. Turns out, the magical ingredient is Hing (also known as Asafoetida), a spice derived from a species of giant fennel, which is known for its balancing properties and ability to aid digestion. When uncooked, hing is quite stinky, smelling something like garlic and resin combined, but it is an addictive kind of stink, like a nicely aged cheese. When cooked, any smelliness goes away leaving behind a beautiful, complex flavor somewhat similar to both onions and garlic.
I also made gluten-free Naan bread to go with the Dahl. Naan is one of my great loves and I’ve been wanting to experiment with a gluten-free version, having made the traditional kind at home several times. Mixing buckwheat, millet and tapioca flours produced a tasty bread, not too close in flavor to the original but satisfying in its own way.

TOMATO DAHL

Note: Many Dahl recipes call for cinnamon and cloves, but I left them out as a personal taste preference. If you cannot get your hands on the special Indian ingredients, you can substitute lentils for moong dal and garlic and onions for hing.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon black mustard seed
• seeds of 2-4 cardamom pods
• 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon ghee or vegetable oil
• 2-inch piece ginger – peeled and minced
• 1/2 teaspoon hing – or more to taste
• 3 celery stalks –  thinly diced
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon kala namak (black salt) or other salt
• 1 1/4 cups yellow moong dal or lentils
• 2-3 medium sized tomatoes – cubed
• 8 cups purified water

Method

1. Grind coriander, cumin, fennel, mustard seeds, cardamom seeds and peppercorns in a coffee grinder or a mortar with pestle and set aside.
2. Warm up the ghee in a large pot over low medium heat. Add ginger and hing and saute for 1 minute. Add celery and cook for another 4 minutes, stirring often.
3. Add in the ground spices, pepper flakes, turmeric and salt, stirring for another minute. Add in the moong dal/lentils, tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes until dal is completely cooked and vegetables are soft.
4. Puree 1/2 of the soup in a blender and return it to the pot. Alternatively, puree the whole amount or leave everything chunky (I like to combine both textures). Adjust salt.
5. Squeeze a fresh lemon over the dahl and serve with fresh cilantro leaves and toasted nigella seeds.

GLUTEN-FREE NAAN

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons  ground chia seeds
• 6 tablespoons almond milk
• 1 cup ( 140 g) buckwheat flour
• 1 cup (120 g) tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup (70 g) millet flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon nigella seeds

Method

1. Warm 3/4 cup of almond milk to 110 F. Add in sugar and yeast, whisk together and leave for 10 minutes. The mixture should be very foamy.
2. Bring 6 tablespoons of almond milk to a boil and pour it over the ground chia seeds. Let sit for 10 minutes.
3. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a food processor, combine the yeasty mixture, chia gel and the rest or ingredients, with exception of nigella seeds. Mix until well combined into a runny dough.
4. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and oil lightly. With a wet spoon, shape your breads into traditional tear-drop shaped thin breads (or any other way you fancy). Sprinkle with nigella seeds and let rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 F.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden. Keep tightly covered to prevent the bread from drying.

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