Plain Dal

Plain Dal

Plain dal is my childhood favorite dish that my mom used to make to accompany with any tangy curries. This is a super simple dish that needs almost no time to make. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:
Toor dal/Kandi pappu/split pigeon peas - 1 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Green chillies - 4 or to tast
Dried red chillies - 2
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few sprigs
Garlic - 1 clove
Ghee/oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

Raw Toor dal

1. Wash the toor dal well in a sieve till the water runs clear.  Soak the toor dal in water for 20 minutes. Drain the water from the toor dal.
2. Now in a pressure cooker, put the washed toor dal and add approximately 2 cups of water to it. 
3. Add the turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon of oil to it. 
4. Pressure cook it for 2-3 whistles depending on the quality of your toor dal.
5. Now turn off the stove and allow it to cool down completely before you open the lid of the pressure cooker.
6. Make a paste out of garlic and cumin seeds using a mortar and pestle.

Mortar and Pestle

     7. Open the lid of the pressure cooker and mash the toor dal. Add water till you get your desired consistency.
     8. Add some salt and the garlic and cumin paste to it and churn well using an Indian churner.

Types of Indian Churners

1. For tempering: Heat the remaining oil in a small sauce pan. 
2. Add the mustard seeds and allow it to crackle.
3. Add in the slit green chillies and the broken dried red chillies.
4. Now add the curry leaves.
5. Immediately drop this entire mixture into the dal mixture. Mix well and cover it with a lid to seal in the flavors. 
6. Let it simmer for 5 minutes on a low flame.  
7. Garnish it with freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with hot steaming rice.

Tasty Tips:

1. The garlic and cumin paste and the curry leaves are the key ingredients in this dish. Crushing the garlic and the cumin seeds using a mortar and pestle gives this dish a unique flavor. (You can find the mortar and pestle at Ikea or at any Pharmacy stores)
2. There are various types of Indian churners. I use the wooden one shown on to the extreme right in the picture. You can find these at any Indian grocery stores.
3. Be very careful while tempering the dal. The curry leaves and the green chillies tend to splutter a lot in hot oil. So step back after you add these to the hot oil.
4. This dal when accompanied with hot steaming rice and ghee (clarified butter) makes an excellent baby food among kids 8 months and older.