Cool summer, hot food

Since the weather is unusually cool this summer, I’m looking for hot foods instead, specifically curry. And some of the best in the Northwest Corner (and better than many offerings I’ve sampled in New York City) is available in Great Barrington, at Aroma, which is on Route 7 across the road from Dunkin’ Donuts.

Aroma opened in 2005, at the entrance to the village of Great Barrington, underneath the traffic light. Chances are you’ve passed it a dozen times without realizing it’s there. It is owned by Dalip Kapur (a native of Delhi) and Parmjit Singh Chahal (a native of Punjab).

The two chefs met while working at House of India in Pittsfield, and decided to open a business of their own. They work in rotation; one chefs and runs the restaurant for a few months at a time, while the other returns to India.

When I came for an interview, Chahal was the chef in charge. He shared his recipe for daal, which is the essential Indian food.

It is served as a side dish, but I can make a meal of it by combining it with some cucumber-yogurt dip (get a good thick Greek yogurt and add lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, diced cucumber, minced garlic and salt and pepper) and some warm Indian bread (available now at most grocery stores).

Daal is a fresh way to get some lentils into your diet. Like blueberries, lentils are one of nature’s wonder foods. They’re good for nearly everything in your body. They have loads of fiber, which is good for your heart and your digestion, and help fight cancer by keeping your digestive system clean.

The magnesium in lentils also helps protect your heart, and, for some reason, it relaxes your arteries and veins so that your blood, oxygen and nutrients can circulate more easily.

They are loaded with folate, which is especially important for pregnant women and helps support the baby’s developing spine and neurological system.

They are a good source of iron. And they are a slow burning food, which means you won’t be hungry an hour after eating them, and they help stabilize your blood sugar levels.

The downside to lentils? Usually they’re served in a liquidy brown soup with bits of tomato and onion floating among them. Nothing wrong with that, but this daal is a nice change.

                                 Daal

Adapted from Aroma Bar and Grill

This recipe was recited to me in the very clean kitchen at Aroma. Chef-owner Parmjit Singh Chahal tried to adapt his technique for cooking three pounds of lentils down to a more manageable size, a mere pound. You should probably use this more as a suggestion than a recipe, and adapt it to your own cooking style. Better yet, go to Aroma and let Chahal do the cooking for you.

1 pound black lentils

2 tablespoons fresh garlic, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and cut into chunks

1 tomato, chopped

3 to 4 tablespoons canola oil or ghee (Indian-style clarified butter)

1 teaspoon cumin seed

1 red onion, peeled and chopped

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon cumin powder

Sprinkling of curry leaves, fenugreek and fresh cilantro

Cook the lentils in a pressure cooker, using a 1:3 ratio of lentils to water (a pound of lentils to three pounds of water, Chahal said). Add the tomato, garlic and ginger. Wait for the pressure to get the top of your pressure cooker tinkling and then cook at low heat under pressure for a half hour.

Meanwhile, sauté in a deep pan the cumin seed in the canola oil (or ghee) until it begins to brown; add the onion and cook it until it browns and then add the curry powder and garam masala (a mixture of an endless variety of exotic spices).

Add a few curry leaves (this is probably the only item on the ingredient list that you’ll have to special order; chances are, you can probably omit it).

Turn the heat off under your pressure cooker and let the steam escape so you can open it. There should still be some cooking liquid in the pot but it shouldn’t be soupy. If there is too much liquid, cook at medium-to-high heat, with the lid off, until some of the liquid has evaporated away.

Then add the lentils (and tomato, garlic and ginger) and liquid to the pan with the spices and combine at medium heat. Add some fenugreek and fresh cilantro to enhance the scent and taste.

Daal can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple days. If it gets thick, add water. If you’ve stored it for more than a couple days, add some fresh ginger and garlic to perk it up.

Aroma Bar and Grill is at 485 Main St. in Great Barrington (413-528-3116) and is open for lunch and dinner every day except for Monday, when it is closed for lunch. There is a grand buffet every Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. aromabarandgrill.com.