It has been a long time since I did a post on Dal so when I decided to do a blog post for this weekend, I thought a post on Dal was definitely on the agenda since Lentils are such a big part of our daily diet at home. My pantry is full of colorful Lentils that I cook every day in different ways.
But since this was a post on Dals after a very long time, I wanted to make something different than the average dal that I would cook. So I thought of mixing 2 dals together and giving them a tempering of Ghee to bring out the flavor with a drizzle of Lemon Juice to top it up. I have never added Lemon juice to a dal and to be honest I was a bit skeptical about the taste.
Thankfully the flavors came together to dish out this perfectly hearty dal. You can cook the dal a day in advance and just do the tempering before you want to serve. Serve it with plain boiled rice or hot rotis dabbed with a bit of Ghee.
It is the perfect comfort food for winter that didn't stop me from making it on a warm summer's night.
Recipe (Cooking time 20 - 30 minutes if using a pressure cooker, serves 6)
Ingredients:
1 coffee cup Toor Dal (Pigeon pea)
1/2 coffee cup Masoor Dal (Red lentils)
2 medium Tomatoes chopped
2 - 3 cloves of Garlic thinly sliced
3 - 4 dried Red chilies
1 tsp Red chili powder
1 tsp Turmeric powder
2 tsp Vegetable Oil or Ghee for tempering
2 tsp Ghee to top up the dal (optional, but I would never make my dal without doing this)
1 tsp Cumin seeds
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Asafoetida (hing)
Juice of 1 Lemon
Freshly chopped Green coriander (just a small handful)
Method:
1) Mix and wash both the dals together. Add them in a pressure cooker with 3 cups water, salt, turmeric powder and tomatoes, cook till the pressure cooker releases 3 whistles. If you are cooking the dal in a pot, cook till both the dals have become mushy, you will however have to remove the scum with a ladle at regular intervals.
2) Once the dal is cooked and the pressure released from the cooker, sprinkle the Lemon Juice and let it sit.
3) In a small pan heat the Vegetable oil and add the thinly sliced Garlic and cumin seeds. I love the smell of Burnt Garlic and feel it gives a good taste to the dal, so I fry the Garlic till it becomes a little brown and you get the distinct aroma of burnt Garlic. Add the whole Red chilies, Red chili powder, and Asafoetida and cook for 5 seconds. Now pour this tempering over the hot dal.
4) Before you serve the dal sprinkle some freshly chopped Coriander and a little more Ghee (Come on a little Ghee has never harmed anyone, it is good for you)