how to temper dal Archives | Sindhi Rasoi |Sindhi Recipes

Tadka Dal

Alka Keswani — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:30:41 +0000

Who likes to mess up with life? Who loves complications? If given a choice who prefers walking on a long hurdled road to a smooth drive? Raise your hands, if you like to get in the way of things, if you like to be in a tricky situation, if trouble is a name of your best pal…. I really, really want to see how do crazy people look like 😉 The gibberish geek talks just put me off, while simple straight forward vocabulary really amazes me. I really can’t understand why people need to take a long unnecessary route to put up their thoughts, why people go around, round and round and round in their talks, confusing you about their intentions , and making you wait for the time immemorial, just to say at the end “Sorry I can’t help you”..Darn ! Simplicity is the word Dear…why can’t people just BE SIMPLE..why on Earth one needs to dig in the Lexicon to find one “more Appropriate” word, when there is no dearth of uncomplicated words used in our day to day life? The ranting has nothing to do with my personal life..no I am not bogged down with such situations..I just wanted to check how annoying could the rambling stuff be, while reading a post, when actually all that I wanted to talk was about a Simple Tadka Dal Recipe…lol. Dal as you might know is a very staple food of Indians.Its almost impossible to jot down all the variety of Dal/pulses/legumes that we Indians eat and all the different ways these are cooked in different homes.The permutation and combination will be enough to boggle anyone, so lets not get into details at this moment. Lets just focus on today’s simple comforting Dal, Dal tadka or Tadka Dal, that is made with Masoor Dal. Tadka Dal, is one common way of making Lentil Curry, wherein Masoor or moong dal is cooked with tomatoes (and sometimes with onion and garlic too) and then tempered with different seasonings, mainly of cumin and mustard seeds, curry leaves and Whole red chillies. The taste, the texture, the tempering and the spices varies from place to place as we move from North (Punjabi cuisine is very famous for Tadka Dal) towards South, each having its own unique Flavor. There are probably hundreds of ways to make Tadka dal, the one which I chose to make, was the way Sindhis generally make Fry Dal (with moong dal) Print Tadka Dal Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 35 mins Serves: 3 Restaurant style Tadka dal. Ingredients 1 Cup Masoor dal ( split orange Lentils) 1 Onion 1 Large Tomato 2-3 Green chillies( Adjust according to choice) 3 Cloves of garlic Salt ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder 1 tsp oil Fresh Coriander leaves for garnishing 1 Cup Masoor dal ( split orange Lentils) 1 Onion 1 Large Tomato 2-3 Green chillies( Adjust according to choice) 3 Cloves of garlic Salt ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder 1 tsp oil Fresh Coriander leaves for garnishing 1 tsp Oil ½ tsp Mustard seeds ½ tsp Cumin Seeds 1 whole dried Red chilly Few curry leaves(optional) Method Pick, rinse several times with water, and soak Masoor dal for atleast 10 minutes. In a pressure cooker, add 1 tsp of oil, saute chopped onion till translucent. There are two ways to use garlic in this Dal, either cook it along with Onion, or add it along with Tadka.Since I do not like to chew on garlic pieces if added in Tadka, I added it with onions. Add chopped tomato and add salt and turmeric powder. Saute till tomato is cooked, then add soaked Dal, about 2-3 small cups of water(bit above the level of dal). Mix well and close the lid of pressure cooker and wait for 2 -3 whistles. Let the pressure subsides, whisk the dal well, but do not overdo.Adjust the consistency as per your preference, check the seasonings and adjust accordingly. Just before serving, pour the dal in a serving bowl . Prepare the tempering , with one 1 tsp of oil, add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and Dried Whole red chilly and let the seeds splutter. Immediately pour the tempering carefully over the Dal in serving bowl Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with Rice, Jeera rice or Pulao. 2.2.1

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Special Dhal

Alka Keswani — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:39:53 +0000

A kitchen, which is a blissful place for people those are used to cooking,could be a dreaded territory to the novices.Kitchen could be really cruel to the person who can’t cook to save his life, but is suddenly left on his own to fix meals.Many people start their journey to kitchen with whole lot of enthusiasm, but get exhausted with all the cutting fingers while chopping veggies, burning food, excess of seasoning or ending up with bland food. So when one such person send me his version of cooking a regular dhal, I couldn’t stop myself from trying it. Hey SK, I can imagine what you must be going thru’, but believe me everyone starts this journey the same way (I still burn food, hell lots of time;-) ). Honestly speaking I was bit skeptical, while adding coriander powder and garam masala powder, but I went with your recipe and it was unbelievably yummy ! I would suggest you to venture more in kitchen,who knows one fine day you might become the great SK (sanjeev kapoor… ofcourse).For now, I will only say…you gave me tough competition ..dude! Regarding the name special dhal, well, I couldn’t find a more appropriate name for that. Print Special Dal Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 40 mins Serves: 2 Spicy tadka dal made with yellow moong dal (lentils) Ingredients Moong dal (yellow split dal) ½ cup Onion 1 Tomato 1 Green chillies 1-2 Oil 1-2 tsp Turmeric powder ¼ tsp Coriander powder ¼ tsp Garam masala powder ¼ tsp Jeera powder less than ¼ tsp Salt as per taste Curry leaves and cumin seeds for tempering(optional) Method Wash and soak moong dal for 20 minutes Now take some oil in a pan, add chopped onions and saute them till light brown in colour Add chopped tomatoes, green chillies and all dry masalas.Fry it for some more time Add soaked dal ,salt and water and let it boil for few minutes Cover it and let it simmer for few more minutes until cooked Now whisk it with manual whisker and adjust the consistency of dal It taste good without tempering, but if preferred, you can temper it with curry leaves and cumin seeds (just take 1 tspn of oil, add curry leaves and cumin seeds and heat it, till cumin seeds turn brown in colour.Add it while still hot into boiling dal and simmer it for few minutes) Garnish it with coriander leaves and serve with white rice, pulav or roti 2.2.1

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Dal Chaawal

Alka Keswani — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:37:47 +0000

Print Dal Chaawal Rating 5.0 from 1 reviews Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 30 mins Serves: 3 Dal rice is a staple food of Indian, the comfort food as it is called, the combination of lentils with steamed white rice when served with roti and a side dish makes a complete meal Ingredients Yellow moong dal (dhotal dal) 1 cup Tomatoes 2 Green chillies 2 or as per taste Ginger a half inch piece Turmeric powder ¼ tsp Salt as per taste For Tempering Curry leaves 6-8 Cumin seeds 1 tsp 2 tbsp oil or ghee for tempering Boiled or Steamed white rice as per requirement Method Pick and rinse the dal with water, several times, till the water runs clear. Soak for 20 minutes. In a pressure cooker, mix dal, chopped tomatoes, green chillies and ginger, salt, turmeric powder and two cups of water. Close the lid of cooker and wait for 2 whistles.Put off the gas. (NOTE Many prefer this dal to be cooked in handi, or an open vessel, in that case follow the same method except that more water should be added) When the pressure subsides, open the cooker lid and whisk the dal. Heat the oil or ghee for tempering, add curry leaves and cumin seeds and allow it to splutter Add this tempering to the dal and immediately cover the pan/cooker. Add some hot water and bring it to a boil. Simmer the dal for 3-5 minutes or cook under pressure for one whistle. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with plain white rice and a side dish of your choice. Most Sindhis love to have shallow or deep fried spiced potatoes with dal rice. The onion pickle in the picture is called Paani waari Khatain! 3.5.3251

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