Palak masoor dal.

We already gave you some  tips and tricks to get rid of your hangover. But every country has its own traditional dishes to make the process go faster. We like to give you a taste of the international anti-hangover cuisine. In this episode we present you a cure from India. This huge country with it’s countless cultures and subcultures has many different dishes. However palak masoor dal is not bound to a certain area in particular and is also quite popular in surrounding countries like Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. With the key ingredients lentils and spinach it’s even a healthy dish when you’re not hungover.

So India is quite a curious country. It’s laws on alcohol vary enormously depending on the province you’re in. Especially the regions with a majority of Muslims have strict rules. In the more liberal provinces you will find a large body of steady drinkers. Maybe because of that the selling of alcohol is prohibited on national holidays. Many provinces do the same on other holidays. The system is so complex that we advise you to check out the Wikipedia-page if you want to learn all the ins and outs. India’s most famous citizen Mahatma Ghandi was actually in favour of a complete prohibition. Well so much for his status as a national hero, as far as we’re concerned. At least Nelson Mandela or Mother Teresa never tried to force sobriety on to people. The prohibition that still exists in several areas causes quite some deaths a year. Many times because people are forced to make their own moonshine without the necessary knowledge, or they bought some illegal and poisonous elixirs. The situation reminds us a lot of the story on Malaysia we brought you a while ago.

In many other places in India drinking is widely accepted. As a former English colony it’s no surprise that whiskey is the most popular hard liquor. But India also has some more traditional alcoholic beverages, made from Asian ingredients like rice or palm sap. Since the first beers had to be imported from England, the alcohol percentages (as well as the amount of hoppe) went up and that’s how Indian pale ale was invented. A kind of beer that’s still popular today. Basically drinkers who want to visit India need to do some solid research on what places would suit their lifestyle best before they book their holiday.

Now that we explained how to get your hangovers in India, it’s time we tell you how to get rid of them. This dish is called palak masoor dal. A thick soup with red lentils and spinach as the key ingredients. It’s quite easy to prepare, so even a massive hangover shouldn’t stop you from doing so.

Ingredients:
250 grams of red lentils
250 grams of spinach
1 whole dried red chili pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2,5 centimeter piece of ginger
1 tablespoon ghee

Preparation:
Wash the lentils clean with cold water. Now put them in a pan, fill it up half way with cold water and bring to a boil over a high flame. Remove the scum from the surface. Keep a boil until the lentils lose their shape and integrate with the water. Now mix in the spinach and add some hot water whenever the mixture seems to dry up. However we do want to keep a thick soup.
Now heat up the ghee in a small pot and mice the ginger. When the ghee is proper hot, put in the minced ginger, chili powder, turmeric powder and the whole chili pepper. Fry this mix for about 2 minutes and then add to the soup. Let the whole thing simmer for a while as you stir it to mix the flavours properly. And there you have your Indian dish, easy as that. Although you could of course add extra ingredients like for example garlic, cumin seeds, curry leaves (or powder) and extra chili peppers. Enjoy!

Micky Bumbar

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