Who's Talking About Parippu?

I've been a student of Culinary Communion since July 22, 2005, the day of my first class in West Seattle at the home of Chef Gabrielle Claycamp. That is where I learned how to cook Indian cuisine with ingredients I never knew existed (yellow moong dal, astofoetida, and ghee, to name a few).

The class notebook, Cuisines of India, is among my second shelf books that I came across last week as I looked for a dish to bring on a Winter trip to a cabin on Whidby Island. The recipe for Parippu, a yummy versatile Indian dal, popped out at me. I had to tell my friend, Mara, about it, who is married to Bhararth, a man who knows his Indian food. She told me, "Look at you, talking about parippu...," and asked me what I was doing using a Tamil word for dal. She told me to go to Ballard Market, where I found all the ingredients, except the 10 curry leaves (more on that in a bit). She also gave me tips on how to serve it: over rice with a vegetable side dish or with roti, a type of Indian flat bread. I opted for the bread to give the dish a more first-course-appetizer kind of appeal. But instead of roti, which Mara told me you can find uncooked and refrigerated for easy preparation, I ended up with naan which worked just as well. Naan is cooked and packaged and ready to heat in the oven.

Now, about those curry leaves. Another secret I learned from my dear friend is a little shop in the University District called R&M Videos and Grocery. That is where you can find your curry leaves and just about anything else an Indian dish may call for (and from the sounds of it, a movie to round out your evening of Indian cuisine).

Now, back to Whidby. The cold, wintry island evening was perfect for this hearty comfort dish. In the cabin on Honeymoon Road, I heated and steamed up the little kitchen with this spicy concoction:

Parippu

2 cups water
1 cup masoor dal (red lentils)
1 ripe tomato, chopped
2 green chilies, minced (I used thai chilies, which are very hot)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 onion, chopped
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander

Tarka
2 Tablespoons ghee (clarified butter, or just use butter or coconut oil)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds (I used brown)
1 onion, finely minced
10 curry leaves


Cook the lentils: Poor 2 cups water into a heavy bottomed saucepan. Put the lentils in and add the tomato, chilies, onion, coconut milk, turmeric, and ground coriander. Bring to a boil and let simmer until the lentils are cooked to a soft mush (about an hour).

Finish with Tarka: For the final seasoning (Tarka), heat the ghee in a small saute pan, add the cumin seeds and mustard seeds and cover. Allow the seeds to pop. Add the minced onion and curry leaves and saute over medium heat until the onion is golden. Pour the seasoned onions into the lentils. Season and cook five minutes.

Serve over rice with vegetables or with a flat bread. If you opt for flat bread, tear the bread and use the pieces to scoop it up to eat it.