A Simple Backpacking Dahl

This simple delicious dahl uses only dry ingredients you can buy very cheaply from any supermarket and store in a snaplock bag for preparation on the trail. It will make a litre of tasty nutritious dahl which will probably be more than you can eat. You should try this at home tonight before you head out to the backcountry. Simply delicious!

Ingredients:

1 cup red lentils 2730kj

3 ½ cups water

20 grams Hormel dried bacon pieces 300kj

1 tablespoon milk powder 250 kj

½ packet Tasty Tomato CupaSoup 230 kj

1/2 pack Continental French Onion Simmer soup (Salt Reduced) 270 kj

3 or 4 teaspoons curry powder (to taste)

Optional: Add Surprise Peas to taste say 6 teaspoons 100 kj

Total 3880 kj approx 1000 calories.

Instructions:

Soak lentils 10 + minutes – the longer you soak the less you have to simmer.

Add ingredients

Bring to boil, then simmer approx 10 minutes.

This makes up to approx 1 litre of quite thick soup. It was delicious, much preferable to any bought hiking meal you have ever eaten. The quantity would definitely have been enough for Della and me both for a main meal in the wilds.

PS: You may not be able to buy just these ingredients in your country. A reader adapts it for Europe:

‘I’ve just tested this recipe

And adapted it to European / French ingredients, so with what we have in France it gives this:

23-25cl of red lentils (coral lentils, around 200g)

1x bag dehydrated onion soup (brand Maggi, 61g)

1x bag dehydrated tomato (brand Knorr, Tomates du soleil, tomato of the sun, has some dried zucchini in it, 58g)

3x teaspoon curry alternative Ras El Hanout

1x tablespoon powdered milk

Tastes very good, thick Dahl, maybe a bit too salty so you could use maybe half or 3/4 of both tomato and onion.

Prepared dry mix: 10 minutes

Cooked dry mix: 15 minutes with 80 cl of water (nearly one liter, could use one liter to make it less thick)

Thanks for the recipe, it’s great.’