Featured recipe

Mezbani dal

Feast lentils with beef

At a Chittagong mezban, a community feast given for a death anniversary, a wedding or simply as a gift to the neighbourhood, the beef curry gets the glory but the second big pot is just as anticipated: a thin, savoury dal cooked with the bones, fat and scraps from the same cattle. Ladled over rice alongside the beef, it carries the meat's flavour into every mouthful and softens the heat. The dal itself is a mix of split chickpea and moong, simmered with the bones until it breaks down, then finished with a frying of onion, garlic and the same spices as the beef. A frequent mistake is making it too thick; a proper mezbani dal pours easily over rice. Chef's tip: roast the moong dal in a dry pan for a few minutes until it smells nutty before you add it, which gives the deep, toasty flavour of the feast pots.

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