8/23/07

Dal Fry


This is my kinda comfort food ....some hot rice , dal fry , lots of mom-made desi "ghee" (don't panic :D ) , achaar or papad as a side n I am all set.

There are many different recipes for dals or dal frys. In fact every Indian household will have its own unique recipe. As a child I loved the dal my Dadi (paternal Grandma) made ...nobody makes it like she used to. Back in my school days, once in a blue-moon my Dad would cook biryani, desserts , Kheema etc ...n it would be a huge event ......all of us would "assist" him ....I mean everyone who was present ...kids, maids, friends, relatives.....distant relatives :D It was fun.

So the point is I had my first lesson about "dal" from my father. While he was cooking he would give us all his expert tips, talk about food n cooking etc...I will share "his" recipes hopefully in near future. For now lets talk Dal Fry...



Ingredients:

For Dal:

0.5 cup yellow Moong dal / split green gram
0.5 cup Masoor dal /split red lentils
1 medium onion, chopped,
2-3 green chillies (or to taste),
1/4 tsp. haldi/turmeric powder,
1/2 tsp. ginger paste,
1/2 tsp. garlic paste,
few coriander leaves, chopped
1 tsp. oil,
at least 2 cups water, or more,

1 lemon size ball of tamarind, soaked in warm water,
salt to taste.

For tadka/tempering:

2 tbsp. Ghee,
1 big clove of garlic, smashed with back of knife n roughly chopped
1/2 tsp. zeera/cumin seeds,
1/4 tsp. black mustard seeds,
few curry leaves/curry patta.

Few coriander leaves .

Method:

Cook together all the ingredients for dal except tamarind and salt using sufficient water till the dal is soft n tender/cooked thoroughly. Remove from heat, now smush it using dal ghotni/ rawi/hand blender or just pulse it in ur blender. Return to stove on low-medium heat. Extract and strain the pulp of the tamarind. Add it to the dal. Add more water to get the consistency you want(thinner/ thicker) Now add salt and bring it to a boil. Keep aside.

Meanwhile heat ghee in another vessel(large enough to accommodate the cooked dal) for the tadka/tempering. Add the garlic clove , zeera/cumin seeds , mustard seeds to the hot ghee. Let them splutter then add curry leaves, cook all this till the zeera n mustards turn black. Immediately add the cooked dal to the tempering n cover the vessel , cook on med. heat for a min. Remove from heat add chopped coriander leaves n cover with a lid. Serve hot/warm.

15 comments:

FH said...

Rahin, what a wonderful culinary gift to you from dad! Looking forward to your dad's recipes here!:)
Dal fry looks yum.I like the dish you used for dal too,reminds me of grandma's dishes back home!:))

Richa said...

so true! little ghee goes a long way in dals, looks yum! liked ur walnut cookies as well, wud like to try it someyime soon :)

Pravs said...

Good to have a dad who can cook and give tips too :D Dal looks good. will try it out. Hey Rahin, i have something waiting for you in my blog. check it out.

Sharmi said...

thanks for leaving your footprints in my blog with some lovely words. I have blogrolled you. I loved the pot in which you have served:)

Anonymous said...

Hey Asha, Thanks....the dish is a gift from my sis's mom in law , she gave me a set of these small cuties because i liked them too...they look so authentic ...dont they ?

hi richa, thanks for stopping by, lemme know how do u like the cookies ....i will be glad to recieve any input/critic

hey pravs,a biiiig THANK YOU with a biiiig HUG to u, thank u for remembering a newbie like me, its v nice of u, i cant wait to show off :) my first n new award on my blog ....

Sharmi....u r welcome ...thanks to you for blogrolling me ... i have also blog rolled u

Susan said...

I'm will Asha-that bowl is lovely. Is it made of metal or a ceramic with a metallic glaze? I'll bet any recipe looks great served in it. How nice that your dad cooks, even if only once in a while; better blue moon, than no moon. : )

Lubna said...

Hey Rahin,
Just stumbled on your blog...nice recipes. The walnut cookies look really delicious!
Lubna.

Rahin said...

Thank You Susan, O ya my dad cooks gud n though it was not a regular affair we always enjoyed it ....also the vessel used for serving is made of Aluminium, common in Indian households...I am glad u liked it

Hey Lubna, a warm welcome to my blog, I ckd urs too n have also blog rolled u

TBC said...

Nice recipe. Love your serving bowl.

zlamushka said...

I luv dal and completely agree with your introductory sentence. Simple spicy dish with achar, makes me happy, too :=)

Anonymous said...

hi tbc , thanks , i c a lot of the serving bowl fans :)

hey Zlamushka , gud to know tht u like it too :)

Chef Jeena said...

I love this recipe it sounds delicious and looks great too! :)

Anonymous said...

hey jeena, thank u :)

Anonymous said...

It's so cool to see dal made this way - this is practically the only method we use in Trinidad to make dal (and we use only the split peas) with the mushing then the tempering. I'd never seen a recipe for it that way though. We use somewhat different seasonings. Been meaning to do a Trini dal post for a while now :-)
Thanks for visiting my blog!

Anonymous said...

Thanks to the world of blogging, we get to learn abt so many cuisines n cultures, i wud love to know how ur temper ur dal n will definitely look fwd for ur post:)