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Aquarius Red Lentil Dal

A lentil and rice dish simmered with onions, garlic, spices, tomatoes, cilantro, and jalapeño.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Turmeric and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,698 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Aquarius Red Lentil Dal

Timeabout 15 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the onion base

  1. Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat.

  2. Add 1 cup onion and 1 minced garlic clove and sauté until tender and golden brown, about 10 minutes.

  3. Set aside.

Cook the lentils

  1. Combine 3 cups water, lentils, remaining 1 cup onion, 2 minced garlic cloves, turmeric, cumin and ginger in heavy medium saucepan.

  2. Bring to boil.

  3. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are tender, about 15 minutes.

  4. Transfer half of lentil mixture to processor; purée until smooth.

  5. Return purée to same saucepan.

  6. Mix in sautéed onion mixture.

  7. Simmer 5 minutes to blend flavors.

  8. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve

  1. Spoon rice into bowls.

  2. Spoon dal over.

  3. Top with tomatoes, cilantro and chili.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

568Calories
17 gProtein
16 gFat
92 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 13 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Lentil1/2 cup cooked (99g)115
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Plum1 medium (66g)30
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Turmeric1 tsp ground (3g)9
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Turmeric + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,698 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Lentils + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together308 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Lentils + turmerictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together267 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Turmeric + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,776 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Dried red lentils
Break down into a thick, creamy base when simmered and puréed.
Onions
Soften and turn golden, adding sweetness and savory depth to the dal.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma that mellows as it cooks in the oil and lentils.
Basmati rice
Provides a neutral starchy base that soaks up the thick lentil sauce.
Plum tomatoes
Add fresh acidity and moisture to the finished dish.

The step that matters

Purée only half the lentil mixture. Puréeing half leaves the rest whole, giving the dal body and texture. Puréeing everything would make it uniformly smooth and pasty, while too little purée leaves it thin and grainy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, clove, lentils, turmeric, cumin, ginger, basmati rice):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Kalefits better
  3. Welsh onionfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, clove, lentils, turmeric, cumin, ginger, basmati rice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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