Sunday, October 17, 2010

Dal/Lentils

There's nothing as comforting as eating some hot dal-roti. Though I do make dal on a regular basis, I never thought of blogging about it. It's one of those regular dishes that you feel is not special enough to blog about. 
To get the most from your lentils, its best to soak them in water at least an hour before cooking. Now you have a variety of cook-quick lentils, however that one is not as good when it comes to taste. Once you know how to prepare the simple-humble dal, you can throw your greens too and get spinach-dal and amaranth-dal.
 
The winner of the giveaway is Mary Ann Dames. Stay tuned for this month's giveaway.

Ingredients-
1cup toor dal/lentils
1large tomato
1sprig curry leaf
4cloves garlic
1/2tsp tumeric powder
3shallots
1/2tsp mustard seeds
1tsp cumin powder
salt to taste
chopped coriander

Preparation-
  • Soak the dal for at least an hour before cooking.
  • Slice the tomato, chop or pound the garlic
  • Add water a little above level of the dal. Add the curry leaf and pressure cook till soft.
  • Tempering- Heat 1tsp ghee in a pan, splutter the mustard seeds, add sliced shallots and let them brown. Add this to the cooked dal.
  • Add salt and cumin powder.
  • Garnish with freshly chopped coriander/cilantro.
  • Serve hot with rotis or rice.

14 comments:

  1. we love lentils(my husband more than me!),my way for cook it is almost like your way.

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  2. my staple diet... i love it any form... susan www.chackoskitchen.com

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  3. I never have dal, so I think of it as more of a specialty and less of an everyday food. So glad you shared the recipe!

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  4. so lentils is dal? I never knew that. I guess I have dal all the time. Your soup does look fantastic, especially on this chilly morning.

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  5. Shirley, how are you doing? You've been very busy lately! Your dal looks terrific. Just feel like having some naan. Yumm... Hope you're well. Enjoy your day!
    Take care,
    Kristy

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  6. Even I cook toor lentils this way, sometimes for a difference I add chicken stock to this and make it into a soup :)

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  7. Perfect and tempting. A comfortable side dish always.
    http://shanthisthaligai.blogspot.com/

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  8. Like many have said I too love lentils. They are so great to cook with too since they don't require soaking like other beans. Tumeric is so healthy too - sounds like a great recipe.

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  9. I love dal, it's super comfort in a bowl. Yours looks great, I like the amount of chunkiness!

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  10. Hi Shirley,
    Your Dal looks so delicious. I love lentils and could eat them several times a week. I'll have to try your recipe very soon, it's making me hungry. By the way thanks for joining us this month on the YBR roundup. We'd love to have you again next month. Oh, please don't forget to add your button or badge for the YBR. We are all putting ours up to help get the word out:)

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  11. This looks and sounds wonderful Shirley! Thank you for adding this to 'Soup's on' over at CookEatShare.
    Cheers & Happy holidays~

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