Dal Fry

Dals or lentils are a common preparation in most Indian meals. I have to dedicate few posts to this humble yet important dish. I cook dal at least once a week. Some weeks more. ;-) Mostly on days that I have no clue what to cook or on days when I feel we need to take a well deserved break from all non vegetarian food. The beauty of cooking dals is that it can be cooked in so many different ways, by adding as many or as little spices, vegetables and other ingredients from your kitchen. I personally prefer to keep it simple. But today's post is by no means a simple dal recipe. It is one of the most popular dal preparations of all time. At least in my circle of family and friends.

I learnt this recipe from my elder sister, Anita, and this recipe has a special place of honor in her kitchen. Her family loves a meal of dal fry with jeera pulao and fried chicken. Who wouldn't! In fact as I am writing this post I am salivating for this meal. :-( But this meal will have to wait, at least for now.

Coming back to the post, this specific dal preparation goes well with jeera pulao (cumin tempered rice), Indian pickle and papad. According to me, this simple meal is worth many scrumptious buffets, as it brings many fond memories of my childhood and loved ones. Hope you like it as much.... Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1. Tuvar Dal - 1 cup
2. Onions - 3 medium (Finely chopped)
3. Tomatoes - 3 medium (Finely chopped)
4. Green chilly - 3 nos (adjust as per taste) (Finely chopped)
5. Garlic - 3 fat flakes (Finely chopped)
6. Ginger - 1/2 inch (Finely sliced)
7. Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
9. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
11. Asafoetida (hing) - 1/4 tsp
12. Curry leaves - 20 leaves
13. Coriander leaves - for garnish (Finely chopped)
14. Oil - as required
15. Salt - as required

Method:

1. Cook the dal in 1 cup of water till it is soft and squishy. Once cooked, whisk it so that the consistency is thick throughout. Keep aside.
2. In case your cooking the dal in a pressure cooker, take three whistles, and then take it off the stove. The dal should be thick in consistency, and not watery and runny. Keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a deep pan, add the mustard seeds, let it stop crackling. Then add the chopped garlic,green chilly, curry leaves, and asafoetida. Mix well and let it fry for a minute. Add the ginger.
4. Then add chopped onions and fry well till the onions turn golden brown.
5. Add the tomatoes. Mix well. Let this mixture cook for a couple of minutes. When the oil starts leaving the sides, add the powders. Stir well and fry the mixture for two to three minutes.
6. Finally add the cooked dal and salt. Mix well. Let the dal simmer and mix with all ingredients for three to five minutes.
7. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves.

Dal palak (Spinach in lentil soup)

Any mum's worst night-mare is to get their little ones and not so little ones to eat vegetables. I have had my fair share of struggle and all mums will vouch for this, it's no picnic. Getting enough and different vegetables into a child's diet is important and that everyone knows. However, I have realized making a simple bhaji, no matter how tasty, doesn't ensure that it will be consumed. I have tried everything from threats to black-mail, from cajoling to simply yelling in frustration. Nothing worked. The dinner table looked more like a war zone with neither party yielding for what seemed like an eternity. And then the battle ended only after I gave up. But after many failed attempts and might I add a lot of tears and frustration at both ends, I realized a very simple thing. I was being unreasonable and stupid, expecting a two year old to understand why vegetables were important in his diet. He didn't need to know that, he just had to consume them. And I didn't have to tell him that he was eating vegetables.

So I started making soups, and adding vegetables in pulao and curries. I had not made dal palak in a long time and when I saw these lovely greens recently I bought two packets. One bunch was kept aside for soup and the other one was kept for a side dish. I later figured that dal and rice goes easily down with my two year old, so why not add spinach and make it a nutrient packed meal. Thankfully he loved it, much to my relief and amazement.

This is a simple dal preparation. You may add any lentils available or as you wish. You could add more spices or ingredients and subtract any. As long as you add the lentils, spinach and aromatics its a winner.

Ingredients:

1. Toor dal (Split pigeon peas) - 1/2 cup
2. Yellow moong dal - 1/2 cup
3. Spinach - 3 to 4 cups packed
4. Garlic - 6 flakes
5. Ginger - 1 tbsp
6. Onion (medium) - 2 no
7. Tomatoes (medium) - 2 nos
8. Green chilly - 3 nos
9. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Cumin (jeera) - 1/2 tsp
11. Asafoetida (hing) - 1/4 tsp
12. Salt - to taste
13. Oil - as required

Method:

1. Wash and soak the lentils for at least ten minutes before cooking. Pressure cook the lentils for three to four whistles and set aside. If not using a pressure cooker, cook till the lentils are cooked and are squish in texture.
2. Finely chop garlic, onions, tomatoes and chilly. Grate the ginger. Wash, drain and roughly chop spinach.
3. Heat a deep pan, add oil, add the cumin when the oil is hot, let it splutter for about a minute, then add the garlic, let it brown, add the onions, fry well till they turn brown.
4. Now add the grated ginger, chilly, turmeric, asafoetida and tomatoes.Mix the contents well, and let it cook till the tomatoes are done. This should take about three to five minutes.
5. When the oil starts to float over, add the cooked lentils, salt and 1/2 cup of water. Mix the lentil well, and check the consistency. Lastly add the spinach.
6. Once the lentils come to a boil, lower the flame to the lowest setting of your stove and let it cook for eight to ten minutes. 
7. Check for consistency and salt at this stage.