In need of a restorative food hug while suffering from an annoying bout of ‘summer’ flu, I cooked up a big vat of Anna Jones’ Black dhal from her fabulous book a modern way to eat.

Although it’s called black dhal, the finished dish is actually a chocolaty brown colour, however, the uncooked black lentils are little white gems with a black husk. I’d never come across black lentils (also known as urad dhal or black gram), and thought that I’d struggle to find them. Luckily, I have a very handy International Supermarket on my high street, which as its’ name suggests, sells a wealth of international produce. If you can’t find what you need in here, you won’t find it anywhere. Having hunted the ‘grains pulses wall’ (yes, you heard right, there is a wall of grains and pulses), I came across Urid Dal. Not sure whether I’d found what I needed, I bought it anyway, and with the help of Google discovered it was just what I needed. Hoorah. Continue reading →