dal and haldi

[susruta]

Is it or is it not correct to cook dal with haldi? My husband quotes a Hindi proverb to the effect that if you cook dal and haldi the dal will not become soft. However, all the cookbooks I consulted have recipes in which lentils are cooked with turmeric, whether it be masur, channa, arhar dal, etc. .

[gingerly]

never had a problem myself but if it's important enough to warrant a proverb of its own,hmm..ok let me guess-

maybe it applies to lentils with the skins on?

the lentils we use today are faster cooking strains?

b.c.-before (pressure) cookers?

i read in some places that the addition of turmeric apart from improving digestibility,actually speeds up cooking

guess you could always do a controlled experiment!

[worm@work]

Strange isn't it? My mom in law says the same about adding both salt as well as haldi to the dal before pressure cooking.. that adding either of the two will keep the dal from cooking well. I add both salt and haldi to the dal in the pressure cooker stage and have never had a problem. I always wondered though because she seems to feel rather strongly about this.

[susruta]

Excellent suggestions, thanks.

I will perform a controlled experiment this weekend cooking masoor dal three ways: without any salt or haldi, with salt, and with haldi. I will then give samples to some people who aren't aware of the controversy and ask them to give their impressions of the texture and softness of the dal. I will report back here. We will see if age-old wisdom is correct or not!

[tejon]

I've cooked dal with and without salt and with and without turmeric. Haven't found any difference in the texture or taste, but I'll be curious to see the results of your experiment.

[Episure]

Excellent suggestions, thanks.

I will perform a controlled experiment this weekend cooking masoor dal three ways: without  any salt or haldi, with salt, and with haldi. I will then give samples to some people who aren't aware of the controversy and ask them to give their impressions of the texture and softness of the dal. I will report back here. We will see if age-old wisdom is correct or not!

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Susruta, do you have anything to report? I'm always interested in such matters.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

Maybe the salt applies only to larger legumes like rajma (red kidney beans). At least, in culinary school my instructor said not to salt beans until the last 15 minutes of cooking. If they're salted in the beginning, then there won't be any osmosis of water into the beans because salt draws water to it, and would keep it out of the beans.

As dal cooks comparatively fast, perhaps the salt/osmosis thing isn't an issue. In any event I haven't noticed any effect when it comes to salting dal early on and cooking it on a stovetop. I haven't tried to salt bigger beans in the beginning because I can't bear the thought of risking all that waiting time for undercooked beans.

Pat

Edited March 23, 2005 by Sleepy_Dragon (log)

[Geeta]

Hi all,

I have been reading eG for quite some time now. I have become a participating member yesterday.

I have chosen this post as haldi is considered auspicious in Indian households.

I feel the texture of any DAL is smoother if haldi and salt are use while boiling.

Also growing up my mom always said that a dal should always be cooked with Haldi and salt as it's auspicious (infact if someone dies in the family then for 13 days, the food is cooked without haldi in all the relatives' kitchens)

Personally, i think that due to it's antiseptic properties and fact that indian food is spicy, Haldi is used at every meal for protecting/repairing the alimentary tract.

[chefzadi]

I almost always add turmeric to Algerian style lentils. I've never noticed a problem with the lentils not cooking.

At least, in culinary school my instructor said not to salt beans until the last 15 minutes of cooking. If they're salted in the beginning, then there won't be any osmosis of water into the beans because salt draws water to it, and would keep it out of the beans.

Which culinary school did you attend? I don't mean to ask a personal question. I'm just curious if it was a school that taught French techniques or Indian teachniques or....

[Sleepy_Dragon]

...

Which culinary school did you attend? I don't mean to ask a personal question. I'm just curious if it was a school that taught French techniques or Indian teachniques or....

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Hi Chef. No worries, not personal at all, especially as I've mentioned it before, and also post my school's menus on the site. It's a local vocational school here in Seattle: Seattle Culinary Academy at Seattle Central Community College.

Definitely French-based with additional emphasis on Pacific Northwest US seasonality, and some international as well, but none of the international units and menus were Indian.

What I know about Indian cookery (a microscopic fraction out of something vast) has been largely self-taught, with much help from message fora like this one. I just like it a lot and am eager to keep learning. My final school project is going to entail running our bistro for a day with an Indian menu.

Hope that answers. Happy to field more questions in private if we get off topic.

Speaking of which, do you think salting larger beans would be ok in the beginning, or better to wait?

Pat

Edited April 30, 2005 by Sleepy_Dragon (log)

[chefzadi]

Definitely French-based with additional emphasis on Pacific Northwest US seasonality, and some international as well, but none of the international units and menus were Indian.

Sounds like Le Cordon Bleu curriculum. Maybe you know this already, but I teach there and I attended a trade school in France.

Speaking of which, do you think salting larger beans would be ok in the beginning, or better to wait?

Depends on the application/cuisine. What you were taught applies to French cooking in general, but not always as in a cassoulet for instance, no.

My final school project is going to entail running our bistro for a day with an Indian menu.

Fantastic! Care to share the menu with us?

[Sleepy_Dragon]

Sure, I'll post the menu once I'm done tweaking it and dealing with the recipe testing. Already I've had to remove some items because it would be too much work within the time constraint we have. My kitchen for the day is the school's bistro, and we only get two hours to prep everything; anything beyond that is something I have to do by myself. I'm finding it pretty challenging to get a good menu together with such a compressed prep time for Indian cooking.

I did know you taught at LCB, recall you mentioning that to another LCB student elsewhere on eG.

Pat

[chefzadi]

Two hours. Okay.

I would suggest preparing the spices ahead of time. Toasting, grinding, blending. That will cut your time in the kitchen the day of.

Look forward to the menu.

My Algerian pantry at home resembles portions of an Indian pantry. I can actually cook a range of Indian dishes based on what I already have. Curries (must I use this word?) and tajines (again, must I use this word?) can actually start off with an identical set of ingredients but the different techniques in both cuisines produce different results.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

Hi Chef. Thanks for your reply. Spice mixes made the day before are definitely part of the plan. Same for caramelized onions and other aromatics. I'll be prepping hotel pans of stuff for each station with spices carefully toasted, sorted and labeled. And there will be student names taped to each pan. And admonishments in their recipe sheets. Like don't just grab your neighbor's mix, it's not a substitute! If you accidentally spilled yours, make more like so...

I will of course prep a little more than called for, on the assumption some burning will occur for the first timers. There will be demos, and the extra spices will be part of the food cost. Better that than sending out burnt spices or throwing the line into the weeds while they scramble to make more garam masala.

As for "curries" and "tagines", I know what you mean :-p. I'm avoiding the c word entirely except in reference to karripatta, and will also explain to the student waitstaff ways to answer customer questions about it should those come up.

Pat

[chefzadi]

Great game plan. Sounds like you've put in some time as a T.A.

What would I do without a T.A.? Being a T.A. is great training to be a Sous Chef/Kitchen manager.