I have just tried a dhall recipe - against my normal judgement. Usually I would not try a recipe where the spices are added to liquid rather than fried first but I had to use up some red lentils and the other ingredients looked promising so I succumbed. It was pretty bland!
It started with adding ground ginger, ground cumin and ground turmeric to water (not fried off first as you see in recipes for curry). When this boiled, the lentils were added. (Later adding diced potatoes, and fried onions and green peppers with some curry powder and some more ground ginger in the frying pan - then adding to the lentils along with chopped tomatoes).
A further bit of research yields that turmeric is best added to water since if it is added to oil it becomes "a mess". However, what of ground ginger and ground cumin?
So - your thoughts? Do you get the most from spices by frying them first rather than adding to liquid?
It started with adding ground ginger, ground cumin and ground turmeric to water (not fried off first as you see in recipes for curry). When this boiled, the lentils were added. (Later adding diced potatoes, and fried onions and green peppers with some curry powder and some more ground ginger in the frying pan - then adding to the lentils along with chopped tomatoes).
A further bit of research yields that turmeric is best added to water since if it is added to oil it becomes "a mess". However, what of ground ginger and ground cumin?
So - your thoughts? Do you get the most from spices by frying them first rather than adding to liquid?
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