Yellow split peas are very prevalent in the Indian communities of Guyana, Fiji, Suriname, Jamaica, South Africa, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, and are popular amongst Indians in the United States as well as India. There, it is referred to generically as dal and is the most popular dal. It is prepared similarly to dals found in India, but may be used in recipes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal#Common_ingredients
If you’ve been following along, you’ll notice that I’ve now used at least three different spellings of dal on this blog. It’s one of those words that doesn’t have an official English transliteration, so I’ve been trying to use whichever spelling comes up most for the particular local version I’m looking at in a particular post. I suppose maybe I should just choose one and stick with it, since even when I’m looking at one particular version I see a lot of variation in how other bloggers spell it, but I’m just going to stick to what I’ve been doing.
Which brings us to today’s post. Yes, we’re continuing to look at variations of dal from outside of India. Fiji is another country that doesn’t immediately scream “Indian food” when you think of it. But, much like Guyana, it has a sizable Indian population descended from indentured workers brought in to work the sugar plantations in the 1800s.
Compared to the Guyanese version, the Fijian version has a lot more of the spices you would expect in an Indian dal. In fact, I’d say the biggest difference from Indian dal is the fact that Fijians seem to be more inclined to include extra vegetables in their dahl beyond tomato and onion. Carrots were the most common inclusion, but I also saw recipes with eggplant, spinach, or even a blend of a bunch of different vegetables. The lesson here is that recipes should be inspiration for using what you have, not something set in stone that can’t be changed.
Yellow split peas were once again the most common dal used, but red lentils or a mixture of different dahls made the cut for optional ingredients.
The variety of fresh chilies to use was all over the map. Several recipes just called for “chilies”, but of the ones that specified a variety to use I don’t think I saw the same recommendation twice. I just put “chilies” in my recipe and will leave it up to you. I happened to have a jalapeño in my refrigerator, so that is what I used this time.
I did feel like the amount of oil I call for was a little bit light, because it seemed like the onions, etc. were browning from sticking to the pan rather than frying. I went back and looked at the spreadsheet I use to create the recipe and I’m in line with what most of the recipes I looked at call for, so I’m not changing anything. Feel free to add more oil if you think it needs it though.
Fijian Dahl
Serves: 4-6
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 1 hour
Total: 1: 10
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1 ¼ cups yellow split peas
4 ⅓ cups water
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon red chili powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ½ small carrots, sliced
1 ¼ Tablespoon oil
OR
1 ½ Tablespoons ghee
OR
1 ½ Tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
¾ teaspoon cumin seed
¼ teaspoon asafoetida
1 small onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sprig curry leaves, roughly chopped
1-2 fresh chilies, minced
1 large tomato, diced
Minced cilantro, to taste
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Optional:
⅔ inch fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
1 ⅓ teaspoons curry powder
⅓ teaspoon cumin powder
1 ¼ cups red lentils in place of split peas
½ can coconut cream or coconut milk
1 ¼ cups mixed lentils, in place of split peas
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon sugar
Rinse your split peas and drain. Place in large pot and add water. Bring to a boil, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface. Once the peas are boiling and most of scum has been removed, add the turmeric, chili powder, salt, and carrots. Reduce the heat and cover, leaving the lid slightly cracked to allow steam to escape. Simmer until the peas are very soft, 45-60 minutes. Stir occasionally, and add additional water as needed.
Heat oil, ghee or butter in a small frying pan. When it is hot, add the mustard and cumin seeds and fry for 30 seconds, until they sputter and are fragrant. Add asafoetida, onion, garlic, curry leaves and chilies. Fry for 4-5 minutes, until onion begins to brown. Add tomato and cook for a few minutes longer, until the tomato breaks down. Pour into the dal and mix well.
Taste for seasoning, and stir in cilantro and lemon juice.
Serve with rice or roti and papadums.
Lorin cooks Legumes 