Tastybite Indian Madras Lentils--Can you make this at home?

[PeterPan]

And is there a reason y'all are mentioning things THAT addictively good that cost $3 a pop and would need to be eaten 3 bags at a time? 

So seriously, save my budget. Is there a way to make this at home? Black lentils? Everything else looks pretty innocuous, but I'm guessing the *technique* matters. Has anyone nailed this or know how?

[Jean in Newcastle]

There are a number of Madras Lentil recipes on Pinterest. Many are crockpot or instapot recipes so super easy. 

[Paige]

Hopefully, they will eventually be back on Amazon for subscribe and save for much cheaper. I used to order them all the time and then with covid the price shot up  and they were no longer available for subscribe and save. 

[mathnerd]

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

And is there a reason y'all are mentioning things THAT addictively good that cost $3 a pop and would need to be eaten 3 bags at a time? 

So seriously, save my budget. Is there a way to make this at home? Black lentils? Everything else looks pretty innocuous, but I'm guessing the *technique* matters. Has anyone nailed this or know how?

It closely resembles the Indian dish "Dal Makhani" and any version of this will taste great! I make a lot of this in my instant pot and freeze portions in ziplocks. 

https://ministryofcurry.com/madras-lentils-daal-makhani-instant-pot/

Punjabi Dal Makhani: https://www.cookwithmanali.com/dal-makhani/

 

 

[IfIOnly]

Here's a list of the ingredients on Amazon. Sounds delish.

 

Edited June 11, 2020 by IfIOnly

[IfIOnly]

[ScoutTN]

My kids love these! We buy them in a box of 8 at Costco when there is a coupon, so about $9.

Trying the recipes soon bc I'd love to be able to make this dish! 

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, mathnerd said:

It closely resembles the Indian dish "Dal Makhani" and any version of this will taste great! I make a lot of this in my instant pot and freeze portions in ziplocks. 

https://ministryofcurry.com/madras-lentils-daal-makhani-instant-pot/

Punjabi Dal Makhani: https://www.cookwithmanali.com/dal-makhani/

 

 

Thank you!! So some questions. Did you find black lentils? And for the chili powder, are you using the same stuff we put in tacos or something different? I'm trying to figure out if I need to hit an indian store to find these things... Love the make and freeze idea. 

1 hour ago, Dreamergal said:

Hmmm....what you are describing sounds like Dal Makhani which is literally lentils and butter.

But with additional spices. Here is the closest Indian recipe I can think of

https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/dal-makhani-recipe/

Lentils though are of different varieties, both in North and South Indian cooking, have different spices and tastes. You can cook them with vegetables.

This one is a mega list.

https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/recipes/dal-recipes/

You also have additional usage of beans like red beans, black-eyed peas, garbanzo beans and black chickpeas to name a few.

In case of beans, if dried you need to soak them for minimum 8 hours and then cook them before use. But you can always used canned beans.

Hope any of this helps. 

Very interesting, and those dal recipes do look good! I didn't realize dal means lentil. I LOVE lentils. Well I like a lot of things. I just go way back on them so they're right up there as happy comfort food. And this dal makhani is so totally comfort food, mercy. 

Where do you find black lentils? I'm going to need to do some searching. And to you does the specific chili powder matter? This says kashmiri red chili powder on ministry of curry. And I hadn't thought about what kind of cream the package meant. I was assuming it meant cow milk cream, because they would have to say if it came from a nut/allergen. But that's a good point that I could use what I have lying around. Well except I usually have cream lying around. 

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, ScoutTN said:

My kids love these! We buy them in a box of 8 at Costco when there is a coupon, so about $9.

Trying the recipes soon bc I'd love to be able to make this dish! 

Oh wow, no wonder people can afford to snack on them! I let my subscription to Costco lapse, sigh. 

[PeterPan]

Whoa, amazon is claiming Trader Joes has this... May warrant a trip! 

And black lentils are beluga lentils. I know I've had those before, just not sure which store. 

[mominco]

10 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

Thank you!! So some questions. Did you find black lentils? And for the chili powder, are you using the same stuff we put in tacos or something different? I'm trying to figure out if I need to hit an indian store to find these things... Love the make and freeze idea. 

Very interesting, and those dal recipes do look good! I didn't realize dal means lentil. I LOVE lentils. Well I like a lot of things. I just go way back on them so they're right up there as happy comfort food. And this dal makhani is so totally comfort food, mercy. 

Where do you find black lentils? I'm going to need to do some searching. And to you does the specific chili powder matter? This says kashmiri red chili powder on ministry of curry. And I hadn't thought about what kind of cream the package meant. I was assuming it meant cow milk cream, because they would have to say if it came from a nut/allergen. But that's a good point that I could use what I have lying around. Well except I usually have cream lying around. 

https://www.ishopindian.com/nirav-urad-whole-2-lbs-pr-21689/

https://www.ishopindian.com/mdh-kashmiri-mirch-chili-powder-pr-21922/

[cjzimmer1]

14 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

 

Where do you find black lentils? 

This is one of the brands I've purchased.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Q2420C/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_9?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

[Spy Car]

The black lentil you want is called Urad Dal in Indian markets. Not beluga lentils, which are tasty in their own way, but not to recreate this dish. Too firm.

You want Urad Dal.

Bill

[PeterPan]

1 minute ago, Spy Car said:

The black lentil you want is called Urad Dal in Indian markets. Not beluga lentils, which are tasty in their own way, but not to recreate this dish. Too firm.

You want Urad Dal.

Bill

Oh dear, sounds like an important distinction. That's what frustrates me about blogs for recipes. People will put stuff out there and they're wrong. It just makes for really $$ mistakes. It's why I asked. 

[Spy Car]

21 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

Oh dear, sounds like an important distinction. That's what frustrates me about blogs for recipes. People will put stuff out there and they're wrong. It just makes for really $$ mistakes. It's why I asked. 

Easy mistake as both are "black lentils."

Beluga stay very firm. Great choice for a lentil salad. Not right for this dish. Not at all.

You want Urad Dal.

Like this: 

 

By chance, I knew the woman who started this "Rani" brand. She had a little shop in Culver City when we met called Bharat Bazar. She was just getting into establishing her own brand of spices and other ingredients. Decades ago. She was old then. Best maker of mango pickles (as she would tell you herself).

Anyway, Urad Dal is what you want. Very common at an Indian grocery.

Bill

The other bean you want for this dish is red kidney beans (called "rajma" in Indian markets).

Edited June 11, 2020 by Spy Car

[mominco]

Peterpan the one Bill and I are talking about are the same thing. Bill that is cool.Do you know if she sold the brand?

[Spy Car]

13 minutes ago, mominco said:

Peterpan the one Bill and I are talking about are the same thing. Bill that is cool.Do you know if she sold the brand?

Good job. I missed that you already had Urad Dal. That's exactly what Peterpan needs.

Not sure how Rani brand has changed hands. The current website doesn't even mention her. Sad. She was fairly elderly when I knew her. I was a regular in her shop and we'd talk and talk. I assume she passed. The shop is long gone.

Bill

[mominco]

11 hours ago, Spy Car said:

Good job. I missed that you already had Urad Dal. That's exactly what Peterpan needs.

Not sure how Rani brand has changed hands. The current website doesn't even mention her. Sad. She was fairly elderly when I knew her. I was a regular in her shop and we'd talk and talk. I assume she passed. The shop is long gone.

Bill

🙂 Even the smaller indian stores seem to carry both Udad and whole Udad!I buy the biggest bag of udad since I make dosas/Idlis .

Oh too bad -I saw nothing about her when I checked that is why I asked.  Sorry about your mom Bill!. 😞

Edited June 11, 2020 by mominco
typo

[Spy Car]

1 minute ago, mominco said:

🙂 Even the smaller indian stores seem to carry Udad and whole Udad!I buy the biggest bag of udad since I make dosas/Idlis .

Oh too bad -I saw nothing about her when I checked that is why I asked.  Sorry about your mom Bill!. 😞

Thanks. I've taken her loss pretty hard.

Bill

[mathnerd]

20 minutes ago, mominco said:

🙂 Even the smaller indian stores seem to carry Udad and whole Udad!I buy the biggest bag of udad since I make dosas/Idlis .😞

Urad dal is the same dal that you use for Dosas and Idlis. Urad comes as whole lentils or split lentils. Both these forms can come with the skin husked (which makes them white) or with the skin intact (black lentils). I use the whole urad dal with skin for the Dal Makhani (Madras lentils). I use the husked urad dal for the Dosa batter. @PeterPan I buy organic urad dal from my local indian store. My local WholeFoods also carries organic urad dal in the lentil section, so check that out if you can get to WH. For me, Chili powder is the same as cayenne powder - if you don't have it, powder the chili pepper flakes that you use for pasta or pizza and use it instead (add a little bit at a time to check for the level of spiciness). 

In the end, if you cannot hit the indian store now, leave out the black lentils and make the recipes with the rest of the ingredients and increase the quantities of the lentils that you have on hand to make up for it, and it will still be delicious 🙂 You can always make another batch of Dal Makhani as per original recipes later.

[PeterPan]

Well I have the first batch in the instant pot and I think it's about done. Not sure it's going to be right, as it looked light. I got the Kashmiri chili powder, like ministry of curry says, and it looked lighter than what I remember of the package. But we'll see, maybe it will be great. I'm definitely hungry enough, lol. Ok, checked and it was really thick and the beans weren't broken down. I added more water and am giving it more time. I didn't soak, so her accommodation of an extra cup of water and extra cooking time wasn't enough. We'll see. 

I'm going to serve it with some nice pork brats, which seems somehow a desecration to such a fine otherwise almost vegetarian dish. 

Oh, and do people really use massive amounts of onion in this? The MoC recipe only makes a small amount and uses a whole onion. So you'd end up using 3 onions to make a larger amount. Not that I'm stingy on onions, but that would get $$. Maybe it's essential for the flavor? 

I'm finally actually smelling something in my house hmm, so maybe we're finally hitting the magic point. They were just underdone before. 

On 6/11/2020 at 4:52 PM, Dreamergal said:

Coconut milk is the staple used generally to get a creamier texture, but cream is also used and I use half and half with just a splash of cream.

Yeah, she says "light cream" and I don't know what that is. I have some coconut milk so I will probably cut my heavy cream half and half like you say. 

Hopefully this will end up ok. I don't know why I'm so dubious. It just looked light. I was surprised how much the *cumin seeds* were the flavor I had liked. The kashmiri powder is almost like paprika. I'm not sure it's bringing a lot here. I used fresh ginger, so that might bring something. We'll see. 

I almost wish I had just gotten regular red chili powder at the indian grocery and been done with it. They had a ton of it, so it seems more likely it was the right thing. At least it's just a small batch if the Kashmiri is too mild. 

[PeterPan]

24 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

The "authentic" Indian home cooked dish is not something that would pass being sold in an American supermarket or even an Indian restaurant here. 

Yup, that's what I'm realizing. Straight out of the instant pot it tasted like something I might have had in an indian restaurant but definitely NOT like what I'm remembering the tastybite. I could have made my regular turkey chili (with american, typical chili powder) and added some ginger and cream and it would have been closer. The ginger is REALLY strong on this recipe, the chili depth of flavor non-existent. No one of the other people here will eat it. I added straight cream just to see if I could cut the heat.

26 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

 I would make it again and again until it just tasted "right" to me.

I'm going to have to. I'm always always always disappointed by blog recipes, so I don't know why I thought this one would be better. Thanks for the tip on the red onions! I could try those or sweet onions. Any attempt at better technique would be better at this point. It has no depth of flavor at all, just burn from the stupid ginger. 

Really, I think I could have gone with the split dal. I went with urad dal, but it's taking a long time to cook down. It is pretty close at 80 minutes (no soaking), but it really could have benefited from more time. It did start to get creamy, which shows promise. It just didn't get to that smoother consistency I liked, even with 80 minutes in the IP, oy. My mom always cooked our lentils till they were like porridge, so I must have warped taste, lol.

So I'm bummed, but I'll try again. I think I'll probably just try my american, off the shelf chili powder and see what happens. It would have some depth of flavor, and I'll do the fresh ginger but do a lot LESS. Those two changes plus better techniques with the onions would probably get it a lot closer.

[mathnerd]

1 minute ago, PeterPan said:

Really, I think I could have gone with the split dal. I went with urad dal, but it's taking a long time to cook down. It is pretty close at 80 minutes (no soaking), but it really could have benefited from more time. It did start to get creamy, which shows promise. It just didn't get to that smoother consistency I liked, even with 80 minutes in the IP, oy. My mom always cooked our lentils till they were like porridge, so I must have warped taste, lol.

I usually do not add any salt to IP recipes because I have found that the salt prevents the lentils from cooking to that "porridge" consistency, which I love. I add salt after the recipe is completely cooked down. You can add a little bit of black pepper powder if you want it spicier after the dish is done.

[PeterPan]

4 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

I usually do not add any salt to IP recipes because I have found that the salt prevents the lentils from cooking to that "porridge" consistency, which I love. I add salt after the recipe is completely cooked down. You can add a little bit of black pepper powder if you want it spicier after the dish is done.

I wondered about that!! She soaked her beans, so maybe that got them over the hurdle and allowed her to add salt. I didn't even add much because I used my home canned tomatoes that had salt already. 

Well I added regular chili powder that I use for chili, tacos, etc. and it's MUCH better, oh my. There was just no depth of flavor with only the kashmiri. 

And I'm not meaning to be disrespectful if someone likes the dish the way MoC says. I'm just saying it's not that kind of american friendly, mild, warm tastybite flavor. 

Edited June 18, 2020 by PeterPan

[Spy Car]

2 hours ago, PeterPan said:

Yup, that's what I'm realizing. Straight out of the instant pot it tasted like something I might have had in an indian restaurant but definitely NOT like what I'm remembering the tastybite. I could have made my regular turkey chili (with american, typical chili powder) and added some ginger and cream and it would have been closer. The ginger is REALLY strong on this recipe, the chili depth of flavor non-existent. No one of the other people here will eat it. I added straight cream just to see if I could cut the heat.

I'm going to have to. I'm always always always disappointed by blog recipes, so I don't know why I thought this one would be better. Thanks for the tip on the red onions! I could try those or sweet onions. Any attempt at better technique would be better at this point. It has no depth of flavor at all, just burn from the stupid ginger. 

Really, I think I could have gone with the split dal. I went with urad dal, but it's taking a long time to cook down. It is pretty close at 80 minutes (no soaking), but it really could have benefited from more time. It did start to get creamy, which shows promise. It just didn't get to that smoother consistency I liked, even with 80 minutes in the IP, oy. My mom always cooked our lentils till they were like porridge, so I must have warped taste, lol.

So I'm bummed, but I'll try again. I think I'll probably just try my american, off the shelf chili powder and see what happens. It would have some depth of flavor, and I'll do the fresh ginger but do a lot LESS. Those two changes plus better techniques with the onions would probably get it a lot closer.

Urad Dal requires a good soaking (12-18 hrs) prior to cooking. Not like brown lentils.

Bill

 

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, Dreamergal said:

I always soak beans for more than 12 hours, the previous night usually and then cook them in the morning. I cook them again when I use them with the dish.

Ok, I'm looking at more recipes now and realizing some of them do this! I'm going to put a batch on tonight to SOAK, and I'll try to get some red chili powder. That should give me back the depth of flavor. And I'll develop the flavors better in the stage 3 cooking. 

This is so close to american chili that it's almost embarrassing I didn't nail it, lol. But I'll keep working on it. 

Edited June 18, 2020 by PeterPan

[mathnerd]

2 hours ago, PeterPan said:

Ok, I'm looking at more recipes now and realizing some of them do this! I'm going to put a batch on tonight to SOAK, and I'll try to get some red chili powder. That should give me back the depth of flavor. And I'll develop the flavors better in the stage 3 cooking. 

This is so close to american chili that it's almost embarrassing I didn't nail it, lol. But I'll keep working on it. 

Presoak the dal overnight, wash it well, cook it in plain water until it reaches the tenderness you prefer. Then, make the dish with the precooked lentils if you desire really soft lentils and pulses. In my experience, adding tomatoes, salt and some spices alter the acidity of the cooking medium ending up with crunchy lentils. Then, they cannot be softened anymore with longer cooking time. So, I cook the lentils separately and then make the recipes that go with them. I suggest that you look up several Punjabi Dal Makhani recipes and pick one that looks inspirational to you.

Edited June 18, 2020 by mathnerd

[Spy Car]

Another thing you can do to make the dish creamier is to puree a portion of the beans (while leaving the rest whole) then recombining them to get a mix of textures.

Bill

[PeterPan]

13 minutes ago, Spy Car said:

Another thing you can do to make the dish creamier is to puree a portion of the beans (while leaving the rest whole) then recombining them to get a mix of textures.

Bill

That's what I saw as I looked through recipes last night. I suspect with the presoaking just a good stir will cause them to break down.

[Spy Car]

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

That's what I saw as I looked through recipes last night. I suspect with the presoaking just a good stir will cause them to break down.

A presoak will soften the beans and shorten cooking times. As Mathnerd suggested, I'd gently cook the beans in plain water until just tender, and then rinse. At that point you can add in more water and seasonings and cook until finished. And you can puree some portion of the dal to give it a creamy texture.

Bill 

Edited June 18, 2020 by Spy Car

[PeterPan]

58 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

Just immersion blend the urad dal. Creamier texture without the cream and healthier if you ask me. 

I am not sure I should say this, but I also use Sushi ginger and regular fresh ginger half and half amounts each for a recipe if I want to cut down the heat of the recipe for my kids. Now I will probably be blasted by the purists because you cannot apparently cook sushi ginger, but in my experience you totally can. It gives a hint of sweetness and spice taste is a really wonderful taste that hits you at the back of the mouth in my experience. 

 

Oh that's interesting! Well we'll see. I found a very american riff on the Tastybite, so we'll see if it tastes closer to me. I have the beans simmering right now. Apparently I underestimated how long they would need, because they keep going and going. But they're so happy in their little pot, and it's kind of fun to stir beans and attend to them. Normally I just dump stuff in an instant pot, which isn't very ceremonious and doesn't really make you feel like you COOKED. 

Meanwhile, I cooked down the red onion, like you said, added in a different blend of spices (way less but sticking with the Kashmiri chili powder). For the ginger, I just cheated and used a cube of frozen. I figure it's so much tamer, that gets like you're saying, some ginger without too much. And if it's too little, oh well try again. But my *suspicion* is they made the Tastybite heavy on the cumin and light on the heat and ginger. We'll see, but that would just fit the american palette. 

I'm not sure the new spice mixture has enough depth yet, but it tastes good to me straight out of the pan. Yum. I'd just sit and eat it, hehe. I also went with tomato paste this time so I could brown it and develop more flavors. I still think it's missing a layer of flavor, but maybe it will be there when the beans come. I'm cooking them very gingerly, as Spy Car said. 

The multi step recipes seemed to be indicating you brown the spices separately then combine with the beans and cook again. I was thinking about throwing that all in the instant pot to get that simmered together, melded effect. I don't know. I probably could have cooked the beans in the instant pot while browning the spices and saved a little time. I'll just keep talking to them. My theory now is get a batch that tastes right before you ask how to make it FASTER, lol.

[PeterPan]

10 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

I really hope your kids like it too. 

Yeah, that's why I decided to tone it down. I *think* my ds might be willing to eat what's going right now. I decided to go ahead and pop it in the instant pot, just because it was so close. It just needs to come together at this point. But the dal definitely is happier with that lone cooking time, oh my. And when I added liquid to the buttered spice mixture, it came to life and looked DELISH. Well that and tasted delish. I watered it down a bit to go into the IP, because I think the beans will need the liquid.

We'll see what happens. It's at least not too hot and at least close. It looked REALLY close before I added the water. If the beans slurp it up with the last bit of cooking, it may be just right. 

[PeterPan]

2 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

I wondered if lentils were suited for the instant pot, I’d worry about them burning on the bottom?

Well these are technically whole black gram beans (urad dal) and a smallish speckled kidney bean (rajma), not what we would call lentils even though the recipe says lentils and the package says black lentils. So yeah, as long as you have enough liquid, you can cook beans, lentils, whatever in the IP, no problem. But yes, I was concerned that as they cook down and become thicker there wouldn't be enough liquid and they'd burn. I put them in for 15 with a significant amount of liquid. I think they'll be fine. 

[umsami]

On 6/10/2020 at 6:49 PM, CuriousMomof3 said:

Ask @Dreamergal I make a lot of lentils at home, but I've never had Tastybite so I can't compare.

In related news, an Iraqi friend of mine, living in the US, just posted on FB that the kunafeh at Trader Joe's is "real kunafeh", which I would take as a strong recommendation.  

Yes, it's good! We buy it when we need a kunafah fix. 🙂