Daal-Bhaat

On my recent trip to Nepal, I mostly had rice and lentil for my lunch and dinner. “Chaamal” would be uncooked rice, and “bhaat” would be the cooked version, whereas daal refers to both cooked and raw lentils. Why write about daal-bhaat?

I do not categorize daal-bhaat as comfort food, though it stirs up the nostalgic memory of steaming rice with hot daal poured over it for most Nepalese. Also, they have sentimental value as the staple food of South Asia. I grew up eating daal-bhaat at least twice a day. My mother would add some sides — vegetables, meat or pickles — to make it more delicious, but daal-bhaat on its own is delicious.

The pairing of rice and lentils is quite interesting and can be scientifically explained — not saying one is dry (rice, but that depends on the type) and needs liquid to facilitate eating. Actually, lentils are deficient in tryptophan (basically an amino acid) but high on lysine (another amino acid). In contrast, it’s the other way round for rice — low on tryptophan and high on lysine. And we need both tryptophan and lysine for healthy growth. So, rice and lentil pair perfectly together.

While cooking daal, I discovered that “brining” lentils helps maintain their shape and have a creamy texture once cooked. However, this is not recommended, like the dried beans — by soaking it overnight in the brine solution it helps with the cooking process.

YouTube has tons of daal cooking videos, but most of them look complicated. It is as simple as boiling lentils with a dash of salt and pepper (as per your taste) until you get a creamy texture. It needs occasional stir and maybe the addition of water. It was a struggle to come across a simple and yet delicious recipe. So Vegan provides a Super Simple Dhal, which is simple to cook. To add more pizzazz or to bring out the flavour, I’d prefer “tadka.”

Tasty Channel provides a “How to Cook Perfect Rice Every Time” episode that explains the science and methodology of cooking rice!!

For more on cooking Nepali Daal-Bhaat, visit Andrew Olson Nepalese Lentil Curry (Dal Bhat).