Brown rice and spinach chana dal - 15th April 2009

After work I was feeling quite sorry for myself. Yesterday at the gym I did my muscle conditioning class and came out quite sore. I went again today after work and pushed it pretty hard and was aching and exhausted and so, so hungry when I got home. Pete was ravenous as well so I decided to make something a bit more hearty. We haven't had rice in months at home so I thought a dal over brown rice would be good.

I chopped up some onion and the rest of the celery I had in the fridge and cooked that in some oil with curry powder, tumeric, garlic powder, lots of cumin, and a bit of salt. The I put in 1.5 cups of chana dal and kept stirring so the spices could have a chance to heat up and cook. Because it was a bit dry and I didn't want to keep adding oil, I put in water a couple of tablespoons at a time. Then I made some vegetable stock and filled up the pot so that everything was covered. Then I let it cook and added more water anytime it was looking too dry. I wanted the dal to be somewhat soupy because I like having lots of sauce on top of rice. If the dal were too dry, the texture of it with the brown rice would have been too similar. I kept tasting it and seasoning it as needed and after about 45 minutes of cooking, I put in a few massive handfuls of spinach and let it wilt. It was delicious and hearty and creamy and spicy. The perfect comfort food for when you're feeling a bit sorry for yourself.