Biulir Dal

Bengali split black gram dal scented with a paste of fennel seed and ginger, finished with asafoetida and dried chilli in ghee, eaten with rice and aloo posto

Origin: Kolkata & West Bengal, India

From the journey of Black Gram.

Biulir dal, also kolai dal or kolai-er dal, is the Bengali way with split black gram: a loose, pale, slightly silky dal flavoured with a paste of ground fennel seed, mouri bata, and grated ginger, and finished with asafoetida and dried red chilli. It is made without onion or garlic, and it is served with plain rice and aloo posto, potatoes in poppy-seed paste, in a combination that many families in West Bengal regard as the definition of a summer lunch. It is especially associated with the ghoti households of western Bengal, the families whose roots lie on the Indian side of the old Bengal, as distinct from the bangal families of the east. That division runs through the whole Bengali kitchen, and this dal is one of its markers. It is also a divisive dish in its own right. Black gram cooks to a faintly slippery, mucilaginous texture, and Bengalis tend either to prize it or to dislike it. The fennel and ginger are what carry it: the sweetness and warmth of the fennel set against the earthy pulse is the whole character of the dish, and without them it is merely urad dal.

Ingredients

Dal

  • 150 g split skinless urad dal (biulir dal)
  • 900 ml water
  • 0.5 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 0.5 tsp sugar

Paste

  • 1.5 tbsp fennel seeds (mouri)
  • 1 piece fresh ginger, 4 cm, grated

Tempering

  • 2 tbsp ghee or mustard oil
  • 2 whole dried red chillies
  • 0.25 tsp asafoetida
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds

Method

  1. Dry-roast the urad dal in a pan over a low heat for three to four minutes until it smells faintly nutty, without letting it colour. Rinse well.
  2. Simmer the dal in the water with the turmeric, skimming off the foam, for 30 to 35 minutes, until the grains are soft and just beginning to break down.
  3. Meanwhile grind the fennel seeds with a spoonful of water to a coarse paste, and mix in the grated ginger.
  4. Whisk the dal lightly to break some of the grains, and stir in the fennel and ginger paste, the salt, and the sugar. Simmer for five minutes.
  5. Heat the ghee or mustard oil in a small pan, add the dried chillies, fennel seeds, and asafoetida, and as soon as the chillies darken pour the tempering over the dal and cover at once.
  6. Serve hot with plain rice and aloo posto.

Notes

The dal should be loose and pourable. Add hot water if it thickens as it stands. The sugar is a Bengali habit and is not meant to make the dal taste sweet, only to round it. Mustard oil gives a sharper, more distinctly Bengali finish; ghee gives a softer one.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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