Bengali Dal :: Yellow lentils cooked in Bengali style

Did I tell you that these days S is on a Protein spree ?? He has been training for a while now and now is very keen on a Protein enriched diet. I was telling my friend yesterday that we girls are never satisfied with what our husbands do. Earlier I was irate since S was too lazy to go for any sort of exercise and now when he on a strict training regime, I am more irate of his never ending demands of keeping the diet balanced with right mix of Carbs, Fats and Proteins. Pheww !! And to keep up to his ever increasing consciousness towards diet, I have to work harder to achieve his goals. Poor wives, dont you think ;)

Anyways, so I am preparing a lot of stuff these days for increasing his Protein intake in diet. And one rule of thumb which I have made is to prepare lentils everyday  so that he takes at least a bowl of it before dinner. Now, the issue here suffice.. difficult to maintain his interest in lentil and legumes if having daily and I did not want to add on a good amount of Oil and Tadka to make it more compelling for him. Tried a few different recipes like Khatti Daal, Zero Oil Garlicky Daal, Rajasthani Panchmel Daal and Punjabi Daal etc.. But his craving for more variation and new tastes seems like a never ending battle to win. Uff !! 

While surfing Suchi's blog for this months Blog hop, I found this Bengali Dal and was immedaitely tempted to try this on for that night's venture. Luckily S liked it and I got to add another one in my weekly Menu :)

This was a new taste for us, since I have never used Fennel seeds in any of my lentil preparation. A very fine and delicate taste embraced my taste buds and the absence of Garlic ( which by the way is almost always there in my cooking) was a welcoming surprise too. All in all, a simple yet delicious preparation for Dal lovers. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dhuli Urad Daal ( split black gram)
• 2 tsp Fennel seeds, (1 tsp soaked in water and blend into a course paste )
• 1 tbsp Oil
• 2-3 dried red chilies
• A pinch of Asafoetida
• 1 tbsp Ginger paste
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp turmeric

Method:

• Soak Dal for 2 hours in warm water and wash many times. Black Gram usually releases a lot of starch, so do wash it atleast 8-10 times untill the water comes out clear.
• Pressure cook the Dal with salt and turmeric till 2-3 whistles. Open the pressure cooker when the presusre eases off. 
• Heat oil in a pan and splutter dried red chilies and fennel seeds in it. Add ginger paste and fry for a min on low flame. 
• Add the boiled Dal and let it come to a boil, simmer for next 10 min. 
• Add fennel seed paste and asafoetida just before turning off the flame. 

Notes:

• We had this dal along with Bajra Roti, will also taste well with Jeera rice
• I have mentioned this many times before, and again saying that you do not need to give many whistles to cook dal in pressure cooker. When the first whistle starts coming off, just lower the flame and simmer for next 10-15 min before turning off. This will save gas and time both. 

Off to this month's Blog Hop by Radhika and a special thanks to Suchi :)