I guess I must be exploring a theme, because this month, I’ve been making and eating a ton of bean dishes that are a bit like chili (in that they are warming and delicious), but that also happen to take advantage of totally different flavor profiles. Even better if they’re quick and easy and cheap, like this dish is.
This recipe, adapted from Food and Wine magazine, uses a bunch of clever tricks to pack a lot of Indian flavor into little-to-no work, like using a combination of quick-cooking yellow split peas and practically already-cooked canned chickpeas and kidney beans. The Magic Bullet makes things even easier by chopping up the jalapeño, garlic, and ginger, easy peasy.
Indian-Style Three Bean Dal
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried yellow split peas
- 3 Tbsp olive or vegetable oil
- 1 piece of ginger, about 1.5 inches, peeled
- 2 large garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 jalapeño, seeded (unless you like it hot)
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 small tomato, chopped
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup water
- 15 oz can chickpeas, drained
- 15 oz can red kidney beans, drained
- Salt
- Rice or naan for serving, optional
Directions
- In a large pot, bring six cups of water to a boil. Add the split peas and a generous pinch of salt and boil until just beginning to break down, about 50 minutes. Drain well.
- Meanwhile, blend the garlic, jalapeno, and ginger in the Magic Bullet.
- In a large, deep skillet, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the ginger, garlic, jalapeño, cumin and cayenne and cook until softened, about six minutes. Add the tomato and tomato paste and cook until the tomato is slightly broken down, about 5 minutes.
- Add the cream, butter and water and bring to a boil.
- Stir in the yellow split peas, chickpeas and kidney beans and season with salt. Simmer over low heat until thickened, about 15 minutes. Serve.