Thursday, April 4, 2013

D = Diamonds and Dahl

d
They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend. The theory being if she loses her man, she can always sell the diamonds to keep herself. Most of us seem to love diamonds although in many ways I like crystals better – they sparkle more. Elizabeth Taylor used to like them, she even sponsored a perfume called White Diamonds. Taylor Burton DiamondConsidering diamonds are really lumps of highly compressed carbon, it is amazing how important they have become. Diamond houses use the four Cs, carat, cut, colour, clarity for grading and certifying stones as well as fluorescence which provides the well known ‘fire’ in a diamond. In North America diamonds are always used for engagement rings although this wasn’t the case in England when I lived there, in 37 years things may have changed, but Princess Diana had a sapphire, surrounded by diamonds admittedly and of course the Duchess of Cambridge has the same ring. Many of the royal engagement rings have either been diamonds, or included a fair sprinkling of them, Sarah Ferguson had rubies and diamonds. On this side of the pond, people say “she got her diamond” as another way of saying someone became engaged.

In England we used to eat, and still do as far as I know, a lot of Indian food. There are supposed to be more Indian food takeaways than there are fish and chip shops these days. Many of us love Indian food in all its varied, and delicious forms. One dish which I always enjoy with my curry is dahl and I have made it on several occasions, particularly if I am entertaining. A lot of Indian food is vegetarian and this one fits right in that category.

Dahl

Source: Cookit Simply

ingredients

serves 4

  Dahl
225 g (8 oz) lentils, brown or green
60 g (2 oz) butter or margarine
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 red or green chilli pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp each ground cumin, coriander and turmeric
1/2 tsp each ground cinnamon and nutmeg
850 ml(1 1/2 pints) vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
1 bay leaf
Chopped fresh coriander leaves

method

1. Cover the lentils with water and soak overnight. Alternatively, microwave for 10 minutes on HIGH to bring to the boil and then allow the lentils to boil for 2 minutes. Leave to stand, covered, for 1 hour.
2. Melt the butter or margarine for 1 minute on HIGH in a large casserole. Add the onion, garlic, chilli pepper and spices. Cook for 4 minutes on MEDIUM.
3. Drain the lentils and add to the casserole with the vegetable stock, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Cover and cook on HIGH for 45 minutes, or until the lentils are soft and tender.
4. Allow to stand, covered, for 5-10 minutes before serving. Remove the bay leaf and add the chopped coriander. If preferred, the dahl can be puréed before serving.


Have a great day
Jo_thumb[2]

41 comments:

  1. I'm not a fan of diamonds at all - I think they are a bit cold - I like a opals with fire in them! But unfortunately diamonds have become the main engagement stone here in the UK too...
    Lx

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    1. Have they? It never used to be so. The Queen Mum had an opal I believe. They are supposed to be unlucky though.

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  2. I should have guessed that it wasn't Raoul Dahl. Can't afford diamonds anymore and have no where to burn the black variety.

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    1. LOL. Can't afford diamonds any more either.

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  3. Love you post for the letter D! Just to let you know I've featured your site on my AtoZ post today.
    http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-hq

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  4. I love curry and here in Leicester UK we have The Golden Mile with any number of amazing Indian Restaurants. I've tried making my own many times but I can never match the professionsals.

    Rosalind Adam is Writing in the Rain

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    1. Lucky you, we don't have much in the way of Indian restaurants round here. There is one but never been as my doc, who is Indian from the UK, says its not very good.

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  5. I'm the odd girl out, because I'm not into diamonds or jewelry at all.

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    1. You are an odd one out Diane, I love jewellery.

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  6. I really must stop reading you in the mornings, Jo. You never fail to make my stomach grumble with your recipes! Diamonds look well in a dragon's treasure but what I really like (you'll laugh) are the quartz.

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    1. One thing about quartz, it is easier to obtain and there are plenty of them around. There was a guy on the news this morning carting a load of gold bars in his car, hope he didn't take it from you.

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  7. I love diamonds. Can't afford them, so it's lucky I just like bling and anything that sparkles like a diamond will do.

    Recipe sounds good!

    Barbara
    D is for: Deadlines
    The Daille-y News

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    1. Actually I find I like crystal a lot these days. Bought a crystal bracelet which really sparkles - even more than diamonds.

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  8. Hey Jo, hope you and the family are well, long time! I had my first diamond for my 21st birthday from my mum - I must find it, its been a while since I wore it. Love dahl, so nutritious and easy to make! Hope your having a blessed week, its started to snow here again, so cold....

    Amanda - Realityarts-Creativity
    Art Blog

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    1. Hi Amanda, it was snowing here yesterday too, but we expect in Canada, not usually in the UK in April and I think you live in London don't you? North maybe, but not in the south at this time of year.

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  9. I am fascinated by all stones shiny and pretty, but I am not emotionally attached to diamonds. I have so many other gemstones I like better... Even on rings :)
    Happy A to Z!

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    1. I like sapphires because they are my birthstone. I have always loved amber and was impressed with an amber exhibition I saw in the Dominion.

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    2. I would return your visit but can't find you.

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  10. I prefer my Columbian emerald surrounded by small diamonds. Not fond of dahlia but love chicken curry.

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    1. So would I Denise, I am very fond of emeralds. I love chicken curry and often make it.

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  11. Oh I'm so happy to have found your blog! SO happy to know it includes recipes! *squee* I am absolutely bookmarking. Dahl.... yummo!

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    1. Glad to make you so excited. Also glad you dropped by.

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  12. Mmm, the dahl looks good. I do love how a lot of Indian food is vegetarian.

    I do like sparkly jewelry, whether it has diamonds or not.

    A to Z Participant
    Cherie Reich - Author and Surrounded by Books Reviews

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    1. I have a friend who loves anything sparkly, clothes, jewellery, shoes. Whenever a bunch of us get together we all end up with sparkly stuff just to try and keep up, not that we can.

      There is a large section of India where every food they eat is vegetarian.

      Thanks for dropping by.

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    2. I have tried to access your blog Cherie, it keeps seizing up on me. I will try again later.

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  13. My husband asked me if I could have any type of ring what would I want. I told him a silver ring with black onyx or red garnets. He bought me a Beautiful Black Hill's Gold ring with a Black Onyx stone in the shape of a heart. it's so pretty and exactly what I wanted.

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    1. Sounds pretty. Nice to have exactly what you want.

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  14. I'm not sure I'd like dhal, but I bet my wife would.

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    1. The thing is, you need to eat it with a good hot curry Alex, then I am sure you would enjoy it. Are you an adventurous eater?

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  15. I didn't like diamonds when I was young and got engaged. I had amethysts (we couldn't afford diamonds anyway!) Then, much more recently I got engaged for the second time, and needed to be different, so yes, I have a diamond. But I have it with yellow gold,I think the modern fashion for white gold is very cold with a diamond. The dahl recipe looks hot - too much for me, I can't do chili! But otherwise yum...
    www.madelineannstringer.blogspot.com

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    1. Most dahl recipes don't contain spicy hot things at all.

      I love amethysts, I have two rings, earrings and a pendant with them.

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  16. Hi Jo, for some strange reason, when I saw your header, I thought you were going to write about Roald Dahl. But oh the Dahl recipe is just as good :) I went for an Indian cooking class before and proceeded to forget everything after that (there are just so many spices to buy!). I LOVE eating Indian food though!

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    1. You were not alone thinking Roald Dahl, in fact another blogger did choose him.

      I have all those spices in my spice rack anyway so no problem. In England, where I was born, we tend to make a lot of curries.

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  17. Now don't laugh, but I might be one of the few people who prefer dahl to diamonds. Not that I dislike diamonds, I just love eating dahl.
    Jagoda at http://www.conflicttango.com

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    1. Hmm, not sure about that. If you have diamonds you could get lots of dahl!!

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  18. I have a couple of very tiny diamonds, but would love some chunkier ones. I like sparkly stuff too so crystal would work just fine for me!

    I LOVE Indian food. There's a great place around the corner from me that I go to now and then for their delicious authentic food - including dahl!

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    1. I love the look of crystal, but diamonds are forever!!!

      Not sure where you live Trisha, but an Indian restaurant round the corner sounds like the UK. Wish we had one here.

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  19. I diamonds are not my best friend .. but I like to wear mine and love window shop them. Dahl is something completely new to me.

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    1. That does surprised me about dahl Viveka. You have been involved in food so much and you have lived in England. It's really good with curry.

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