Fiji Dhal

The everyday Indo-Fijian dhal: split red lentils cooked thin with turmeric, finished with a sizzling tempering of cumin, garlic, and chilli, and eaten with rice or roti

Origin: Viti Levu, Fiji

From the journey of Lentils.

Dhal is the daily food of Indo-Fijian homes, and the commonest dhal in Fiji is made from masoor, split red lentils. It is cooked thin, almost as a soup, with turmeric and a little salt until the lentils dissolve, and then finished with a tempering: cumin seeds, garlic, and dried chilli fried in a ladle of hot oil or ghee and plunged into the pot, where it hisses and scents the whole house. It is eaten poured over rice, or with roti, beside a vegetable curry and a chutney, at lunch and dinner alike. Many households mix the red lentils with toor, split pigeon peas, or with urad, as the cook prefers. It is the food of the girmit. Between 1879, when the Leonidas landed the first indentured labourers at Levuka, and 1916, some 60,000 Indians were brought to Fiji to work the sugar plantations, most of them from the districts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar that shipped through Calcutta, and later from the south through Madras. Their rations on the voyage and on the estates were rice and dhal, and dhal and rice, with roti, remain the centre of the Indo-Fijian table.

Ingredients

Dhal

  • 200 g split red lentils (masoor dal), rinsed until the water runs clear
  • 1.2 litres water
  • 0.5 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp salt, or to taste

Tempering

  • 2 tbsp oil or ghee
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 2 dried red chillies, broken
  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced (optional)

To Finish

  • 2 tbsp chopped coriander

Method

  1. Put the lentils in a pot with the water and turmeric. Bring to the boil, skim, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until the lentils have completely broken down.
  2. Whisk the dhal smooth and add the salt. It should be thin and pourable; add hot water if needed.
  3. Heat the oil in a small pan or a large metal ladle. Add the cumin and, when it darkens, the garlic, chillies, and onion. Fry until the garlic is golden, then plunge the tempering into the dhal and cover the pot at once.
  4. Simmer for 2 minutes, stir in the coriander, and serve with rice or roti.

Notes

For a thicker dhal to eat with roti, use 900 ml of water. Many Indo-Fijian cooks mix masoor with toor dal (split pigeon peas) or urad; toor needs about 15 minutes longer to cook.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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