If you grow up in a South-Asian home, you casually observe all the "tricks" mothers use to enhance the flavors of everyday dishes or make them quicker to cook. We are letting you in on all the little secrets of the Moji Masala kitchen to make your cooking faster, easier and more delicious!
Give Your Dahl A Kick With This Little Trick...
The onion is the quiet star yet again! Dahl is delicious, hearty and nutritious all at once. But if you are looking for deeper flavor, try adding some well-caramelized onion (aka onion baghar) into your finished dish. You make a baghar by blooming spices and herbs in hot oil for a brief time as the first or last step of a recipe.This process brings out the full flavor of the spices and allows them to be well penetrated in the dish. For dahls, often an onion baghar is used to finish the dish.
Making an onion baghar is quick and simple. First, have your dahl just about boiling as the baghar needs to be poured into the boiling lentils. Slice half of a small onion into skinny single layers. Place a small frying pan on medium-high heat. When the pan is hot add 3-4 tablespoons of canola or sunflower oil and heat for about a minute. There should be enough oil in your pan so your onions are at least half covered. When the oil is very hot add your onions in a single a layer. You don't have to move them around too much, except to rotate the rapidly browning onions from the outside to the middle so they don't burn. The key here is to get them as dark brown as you can before they turn black and burn. This whole process takes just a few minutes. When the onions are done, pour them along with the oil into your boiling dahl and turn the heat off immediately. You can eat it right away or cool and refrigerate overnight. This allows the dahl to marinate in this intensely flavorful onion baghar and the dish becomes magical!