Dal Fry

 

 

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

10 mins

TOTAL TIME

25 mins

 

RECIPE TYPE: main

CUISINE: indian

SERVES: 3-4

INGREDIENTS (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

• 1 cup arhar dal/pigeon pea lentils
• 2.5 or 3 cups of water for pressure cooking the dal
• 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
• 1 medium sized tomato, chopped
• 1 or 2 green chilies, slit or chopped
• 2-3 dry red chilies, kept whole
• 10-12 curry leaves
• ½ inch ginger + 3-4 garlic, crushed or made into a paste in a mortar & pestle
• ½ or ¾ tsp black mustard seeds (rai)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
• ¼ tsp asafoetida powder (if using a strong asafoetida, then just one pinch is enough)
• ½ tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
• ½ tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp kasuri methi/dry fenugreek leaves
• 2-3 tbsp oil or ghee or unsalted butter
• 1 tsp lemon juice (optional)
• 1 or 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish
• 1 cup water or as required
• salt as required

1: Boil the tuvar dal with a pinch of turmeric powder in a pressure cooker for a good 8-9 whistles or more till they are cooked completely. Once the dal is cooked, then you mash the dal and keep aside. You can see the doneness of the dal and consistency in the below pic. The lentils are cooked till completely soft. There should be no separate grains visible.

2: In another pan, heat oil or ghee or unsalted butter. Add mustard seeds. Once they pop and start crackling, add cumin seeds and fry them. Then add the onions. Once the onions become transparent or lightly browned, then add ginger-garlic paste. When the raw smell of the ginger-garlic disappears, add curry leaves, red chilies, green chilies. I have used curry leaves as they give a very nice flavor to the dal.

Add all the spice powders – turmeric powder, red chili powder, asafoetida. Fry for some seconds. Now add the tomatoes and fry them till they become soft. When the oil starts to leave the mixture, its an indication that the onion-tomatoes base mixture is cooked. You can also a pinch of garam masala powder to bring in more aroma and spice to the dal.

3: Add this fried mixture to the dal or add the mashed dal to the fried mixture.

4. Add some water and salt. stir and let the dal simmer for 3-4 minutes or till you get a smooth and slightly thick consistency.

5. Lastly add crushed kasoori methi/dry fenugreek leaves and simmer dal fry for a minute.

6: Garnish Dal Fry with corainder/cilantro leaves. Serve Dal Fry hot with parathas, rotis,jeera rice or plain steamed basmati rice accompanied with onion-tomato raita, papad, lime or mango pickle and onion salad or kachumber.

If you are looking for more dal recipes then do check dal makhani, masoor dal, moong dal tadka, parsi dal and mah ki dal.