Five-Lentil Stew (Panch Dal)

I've never made indian food before, never made dal, although I have used lentils. This was my first endeavour into the world of indian food, and what a great recipe to choose for it! I found "mix dal" at my local asian store, and happlily, it had all of the required lentils, so I used 1 1/4 cups of this mix. I took magpie's advice, and doubled the tumeric and cayenne in the lentil mix, because when I tasted it after soaking and halfway through cooking, I couldn't really make out the spices very well. I also found that when the lentils were finished cooking, they were pretty soupy (and I know this is stew), but (don't laugh), I strained out some of the water, and was really pleased with the end result! In fact, when making again, I would start with 4 cups of water because I think I removed about a cup. The flavours are wonderful, and the good news is that I'll be continuing my journey into curry after this successful dish! Thanks, Elmotoo! Made for Veggie Swap 21.

I make a lot of dal recipes, but have never made one with such a variety of lentils in one dish. This is really great! I knew that my lentils would be sitting nearly all day in water, so I didn't soak the masoor dal (red lentils) since they are such quick cookers. I also used wholo chana dal (chickpeas), wasn't sure if you meant the split sort or not. In any case, it worked out fine (they soaked for a good 6 hours). I always love that tomato/onion/spice mixture, could just eat that by itself it's so good. Once you added it to the big pot of lentils though, the spices got a little lost, so I doubled up on them (cumin & garam masala). If you like lentil curries, you'll like this!! Thanks Elmotoo! Made for Veg*n swap Dec09.

I had my doubts about this recipe, but having tasted the finished product, I can put those doubts to rest. A very nice complex dish, where each ingredient contributes to the betterment of the whole. I was wondering if soaking for two hours was too long, or if I was using proper sized onion and tomatoes, but I think I made the right choices. I followed the recipe directions with regard to the soak, and used a white onion as well as two big beefsteak tomatoes. To be honest I could've eaten the onion/tomato mixture on its own, but combining it with the lentils was really good. For their small size, the taste of the lentils really cuts through the onion/tomato, which is as it should be. Recommended.

This is really good- and super easy to make as well. Doesn't get better than that. I doubled the recipe so that we'd have extra for lunches during the week. The only changes I made was to leave out the oil and use a non-stick pan along with some oil spray and added a bit more cayene. Thanks for posting, I will make this again for sure. Made for the Nov 08 veggie swap.

I loved it--the smells that filled the house were wonderful. I had this with a potato cauliflower curry -- a great meal.