Dhal and Salmon Deliciousness and my Favourite Photo.

Should this really be all about the fish? The salmon is nothing spectacular though it was pretty tasty. All that was involved in the prep was to sprinkle it with some piment d’Espelette and whack it under a medium grill. Should it be about the wine? All that was involved there was putting a bottle of Gewurztraminer in the fridge and pulling the cork later. Should it be about the dhal? Perhaps it should. But, the thing of which I am most proud is the ingredients photo. She’s a beauty!

You have to agree, this is a lovely photo. Tell me you agree!

The photo is so clear that an ingredients list is almost superfluous. Having said that, here it is anyway;

Ingredients for Dhal and Salmon Deliciousness 

• 3 darns of organic or wild Atlantic salmon
• 1.5 teaspoons of piment d’Espelette
• 300 grammes of yellow split peas
• 150 grammes (or thereabouts) baby spinach leaves
• 2 red onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 teaspoons of ginger root, finely sliced
• 1.5 teaspoons of turmeric
• 1 teaspoon of mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seed
• 1 teaspoon of chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon of garam marsala
• Half a teaspoon of black pepper
• Half a teaspoon of sea salt
• Juice of a lime

I’ve told you how to prepare the salmon and how to get the wine going and I have shown you the photo of the ingredients. So, I think the dhal is all that’s left here. That’s not a bad thing. This was the first time I have ever made a dhal. It won’t be my last. I can hear most of the food world sniggering at my lack of dhal experience. However, now that I know, I know and I will do dhals to death over the coming months. Start by chopping the onions up nice and small.

Onions are at the core of every great dhal.

Chop the ginger and put a frying pan on to heat. Dry Fry the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Remove and reserve. Add some butter or oil and the onions. When they are starting to go a little translucent, add the ginger, garlic, turmeric, salt, ground pepper and chilli powder. Grind the mustard seeds and cumin seeds to a powder. Throw them in too.

There’s a lot of flavour and colour in the frying pan right now.

Stir this over a medium heat until the spices are nicely cooked. You will know because the aroma rising from the stovetop will take on a nice nutty note. They will have turned a nice rich brown colour too.

Nearly there. The flavours are amazing. The aromas better.

Turn the heat off and cook the split peas. Follow the instructions on the packet. It’s really easy. When they are about three quarter’s cooked, add the spice mixture.

Note how brown the spice mix is. Lots of nutty flavours in there.

Continue to cook the dhal until it is ready. You may need to add a bit of extra water to achieve the desired consistency. It is a very forgiving dish. When it’s just about ready, stir in the spinach leaves. They will wilt in a couple of minutes. Then serve it with the salmon and wine as mentioned above. I garnished mine with a few sprigs of coriander.

Simple food prepared simply. Try it.

I really should say something profound about this dish. There is nothing profound to say except that it was fantastically tasty. I also got to feature the fish plate that the Wife gave me last Christmas. Having said all that, the high point for me was that ingredients photo. I wish I could be that happy about every shot I take.