Punjabi Dal : When taste meets luxury :)

After many posts related to various methods of preparing Daals, am officially known as a lentil lover now. But what can I do, being a Punjabi by heart I just cant deny the supreme survival of this amazing dish.  I have seen people who cook only few varieties of dal. And I seriously get disappointed for them. They are literally unaware of the beautiful combinations of the various daal we can prepare.  In fact S didn’t even know about any dals other than Chana, Arhar and Makhni daal. He said, they never had any other dal in their home. 

The rich and creamy texture of this dish is what makes it a perfect accomplishment with Naan or Jeera- rice. Just keep a spoonful of Mango pickle nearby and see the bowl getting drained away quickly. And you will remain with a stomach overloaded and a tongue still craving :)

Ingredients:

1 cup blacks split Urad dal
½ cup Chana dal
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 green chillies, chopped fine
2 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tsp Cumin seeds, turmeric, black pepper, coriander powder each
2 tsp Red chilli powder, salt each
2 bay leaves, fresh if possible
1 small stick cinnamon
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
1 tsp Garam Masala
2 dried red chillies
2 tsp Ghee
2 tsp Kasuri Methi
½ cup Coriander leaves

Method:

Am sure you are astonished with the long list of spices. But trust me, it’s easy to make and the result is all worth it, so don’t panic and let’s start :)

Soak both the dals for around 2 hours in warm water after washing. This will make them tender and hence it will take lesser time to cook. If you don’t have time for this, simply soak in warm water for at least half an hour.

Pressure cook the dals in enough water (around 3 1/2 cups) with 1 tsp salt and turmeric for two whistles. Open when the pressure eases off.

In a pan, heat 1 tsp of ghee and splutter cumin seeds. Add bay leaves, nutmeg and cinnamon stick and stir for just a min. Please do not avoid this step as cinnamon and bay leaves extract that miraculous taste from this recipe that you would surely have explored new.

Add onion and sauté till light brown. Now, please take time for this step and sauté onion well on medium flame. Or the true flavour won’t come out of the dish.

When the onions turn evenly brown, add ginger garlic paste and green chillies to it and fry for around a min or two. Keep stirring or the paste will start sticking to the pan.

Add tomatoes following with the spices; rest of the salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder and cook covered for 3-4 minutes. Stir in between to avoid sticking.

When the tomatoes are completely cooked and tender with the colour changed to bright red, add the sizzling dal to this pan and mix well. Adjust seasoning and water accordingly and simmer for around 10 min stirring in between. Add coriander leaves and mix well. Turn off the flame.

Now, in another pan, heat the rest 1 tsp of oil. Add kasuri methi and red dried chillies into it and stir on a low flame for a min. Sizzle this over Dal, sprinkle Garam Masala and cover the pan to let it rest for a few minutes before serving. This will let dal absorbs all the flavours well.

Hey, and don’t forget to keep Mango pickle aside while serving. :)