The everyday Dal
Posted by vivnidhi on December 1, 2007
Presenting……..the everyday dal
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of arhar (toor) dal is this everyday dal recipe. I have eaten it, in at least one meal for at least 60% of the days of my life………yeah that boring…………yet so intriguingly delicious that I still make it 4 days a week. So when I read about Jihva for Toor dal , I thought I should muster courage to post it for a fellow Michgander.
This recipe is of my favorite basic dal. Right from childhood, we are encouraged to eat the everyday dal in a big katora ( steel bowl) so that we vegetarians get our required amount of protein. I have read a lot of recipes of arhar dal on the internet but my version is the simplest, emphasising the taste of the dal more than anything else. Even salt and red chilli are miserly used. The most important thing is heeng (asafoetida), that is what imparts the most distinguishable taste to it.
Recipe:
Initial tempering:
oil 1/2 tsp
cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder 1 tsp
Toor dal 1 cup
water 3 cups
sugar 1/2 tsp
salt to taste
Final tempering
oil (preferably ghee) 2 tsp
asafoetida 1/4 tsp
cumin seeds 1 tsp
red chilli powder 1/2 tsp
The intial tempering ingredients are added directly to the pressure cooker. Once the cumin seeds start crackling, toor dal , water, salt and our secret ingredient: sugar is added. The dal is then pressure cooked on low-medium heat for at least 45 mins or until 4 whistles, till the dal reaches the consistency of thick pumpkin soup. If the dal is too viscous, some water may be added to achieve the consisitency mentioned. Conversely, if the dal is thin, it can be heated further in an open cooker.
The most important step is the final tempering. In a separate small pan, ghee/ oil is heated. All the ingredients except red chilli powder are added to hot ghee/oil. The chilli powder is added at the end, after the cumin seeds have crackled. The tempering is then added to the dal in the pressure cooker and the lid is closed to retain the smell of the tempering. And voila……our everyday dal is ready to be enjoyed with roti and rice. Top it with good “danedaar ghee” and the day is made 
Our daily meal: Roti, dal, vegetables and yogurt
December 1, 2007 at 10:12 am
Dear Vivnidhi,
I was just heading up to sleep when I looked and saw your pingback to JFI: Toor Dal. I am so happy I stayed up just a moment longer! Your lovely everyday toor dal really made my day, maybe my whole week
I will leave another comment for step-by-step rotis soon. Meantime, thank you so much for deciding to post this!
Best wishes,
Linda
December 12, 2007 at 9:11 pm
[...] Nidhi’s Everyday Dal [...]
January 10, 2008 at 12:05 am
[...] or Split green gram without skin was always sick peoples food for me as I was growing up. I wanted arhar/toor/pigeon pea lentils on my plate every afternoon. How boring can that be. Ah, but my Mother would make all varieties of [...]
April 23, 2008 at 2:14 pm
[...] is a quick, simple one. Begin by making plain simple toor daal as detailed in my everyday daal post Arhar daal. That is : add the initial tempering, add daal ingredients and give two whistles in a [...]
May 4, 2008 at 2:33 pm
[...] We begin as usual by making the daal or lentil soup in a pressure cooker. Heat oil and add the initial tempering. Once the cumin seeds are crackling, add the ingredients listed under daal and close the pressure cooker. Further details on making the daal can be found in my post Everyday daal. [...]
May 9, 2008 at 10:55 am
[...] We begin as usual by making the daal or lentil soup in a pressure cooker. Heat oil and add the initial tempering. Once the cumin seeds are crackling, add the ingredients listed under daal and close the pressure cooker. Further details on making the daal can be found in my post Everyday daal. [...]