Tag: Dals or Lentils

Masur Dal with onion and garlic (Split red lentil with onion and garlic)

Masur dal can be cooked in many ways. This is a special recipe for Masur Dal or Split Red Lentil and was given to me by my mother. She had learnt it from her mother. Dals are made in most Indian homes but each home has their own way of seasoning and Tempering.

Generally there are 3 steps in cooking Dal :

  1. Wash and cook the dal in a pressure cooker or a pan till the grains a soft.
  2. Add the seasoning, like salt, sugar, chillies or any other spices to this cooked dal
  3. Temper the dal, by adding some fried spices to the Dal. Tempering is called Tarka in Hindi and Phoron in Bengali.

How to make this Dal

First we cook the Masur Dal with some water and onions, garlic and the cinnamon, cloves and, in the pressure cooker. If you do not have a pressure cooker then cook it in a saucepan. If you use a saucepan then do check often that the water does not dry out. You could add some more water if needed. The consistency of the end product will be like a thick soup.

Masur Dal ( Red Lentil).

This is what the Dal looks like before it is cooked. This has to be washed and then cooked with some water and spices.

Chopped garlic, and ginger and sliced onions and cinnamon broken into pieces, and cloves are added to the washed and cleaned Masur dal and then cooked with enough water in a pressure cooker or in a saucepan

After the Masur dal is cooked in the pressure cooker it will look like this.

Now add Sugar, Turmeric, salt and Slit green chilies (optional) to the cooked dal and let it simmer for a few minutes. Taste to see that the seasoning is right.

This is now ready for tempering.

Tempering is frying some spices in oil or ghee and then adding it to the boiled Dal. It makes a huge difference in the flavouring and taste of the Dal.

These are the spices that we use for tempering this Dal. whole Jeera seeds, some cinnamon pieces, some cardamom and dry red chilli. Always tear or slit the whole red chilli before adding it to hot oil or it may burst and splatter all over. Same with adding cardamoms, open them up a little before adding them to hot oil.

Tempering

There are 2 ways to temper,

  1. Heat the oil or ghee, add the spices, fry a little and then add the boiled and Dal to it . OR
  2. Heat the oil, fry the spices and pour the hot oil and spices onto the Boiled Dal.

I usually temper the second way, by pouring the oil and spices onto the dal.

After Tempering the dal it has to be simmered for a few minutes so that the flavours get incorporated well .

The Masur Dal is now ready to be served. You can garnish with chopped Cilantro ( Dhania Patta).

Serve hot with Roti or Rice.

The Recipe

Ingredients

  • Masur Dal (red lentil) 1/2 cup
  • Onion (Piyaj ) peeled and sliced. 1/2 cup
  • Garlic ( Lasun). peeled and chopped 1 teaspoon
  • Ginger ( adrak)peeled and chopped 1teaspoon
  • Cinnamon ( Dalchini) 2inch broken into pieces
  • Cloves ( Laung) 6
  • Sugar ( Chini ) 1/2 teaspoon
  • Salt ( Namak)1/2 tsp
  • Turmeric powder ( Haldi ) 1/4 tsp
  • Green chilies ( hari mirch )slit 2 or 3
  • Water ( Paani ) 2cups

Spices for tempering ( Tardka )

  • Ghee 1 tablespoon
  • Cinnamon ( Dalchini ) 1 inch piece broken into smaller pieces
  • Cardamom.( Elaichi ) 6
  • Dry red chilli ( Shukha mirch ). 1
  • Cumin seeds ( Jeera) 1/4 teaspoon

Method

  1. Wash the Masur Dal ( Red Lentil ) well, and put it into Pressure cooker, add the sliced onions, the chopped ginger and garlic, and the cinnamon pieces, and cloves. Add the 2 cups of water and close the lid. Place the cooker on the stove. Once it whistles, start counting till it whistles 4 times more, then switch off the stove.
  2. Open the pressure cooker lid after the cooker has cooled, then add salt, sugar, turmeric, and slit green chilies to the cooked dal and place the cooker on the stove again, without the lid. Let the dal simmer for 5 minutes, stir a few times.
  3. Now it is ready for Tempering ( Tarka, or Phoron ):
  • Heat the ghee in a small saucepan or frying pan, add the Cinnamon pieces, Red chilli and cardamoms and the jeera seeds. Let the spices brown a little, then pour in onto the simmering dal in the cooker and let it simmer for another 5 minutes, before taking it off the heat.
  • OR
  • The other way is to heat a wok or a big saucepan and add Ghee, and Cinnamon pieces, and cardamom and the Jeera seeds, and Red chilli. Once the spices brown a little, pour the dal from the cooker to the Wok, then let it simmer for 5 minutes more before taking it off the heat.

Garnish with chopped Coriander leaves ( Dhania Patta) before serving. if You add a spoonful of Ghee when you eat the dal it will definitely taste better.

Rita's RecipesLeave a comment

Bhaja Mooger Dal. ( Roasted Moong Dal)

There are so many kinds of Dals in India and there are numerous ways off cooking them. Dals are basically beans, but smaller in size than the Kidney bean( Rajma) or Garbanzo beans ( Chola).

Whole Moong dals have a green outer skin which is removed to get the yellow Moong Dal. In Bengal we use the yellow Moong Dal (Mooger Dal) and very rarely use the whole green moong. In this recipe the yellow moong dal is first Dry Roasted and then washed and boiled unlike in most other recipes where the Dal is first washed and boiled and then seasoned. We Call it Bhaja Mooger Dal ( Roasted Moong Dal).

You can find the recipe for Moong Dal that is not roasted in this Blog Moong Dal.

THINGS WE NEED TO MAKE THIS DAL

Yellow moong dal looks like this

Other than Moong dal we will also need, Turmeric powder, salt and sugar and,

Ghee, and green chilies which are slit on one side.

For the TEMPERING we need Bay leaf (Tej patta), Cinnamon (dalchini), cardamom ( elaichi), Cloves ( laung), Cumin seeds ( Jeera), dry red chilies ( lal mirch).

Ingredients

Yellow Moong Dal 1 cup

Turmeric powder (Haldi) 1/4 teaspoon

Salt 1teaspoon

Cumin seeds (Jeera ) 1/2 teaspoon

Sugar ( Chini). 1 teaspoon

Bay leaf (Tej patta) 1

Cardamom (Elaichi). 2

Cloves ( Laung) 5

Cinnamon ( Dalchini) 1inch piece broken into small pieces

Ghee ( Clarified butter) 2 tablespoon

Red chilies ( Lal Mirch) 2

Green chilies (hara mirch) 3 ( Optional)

Water 2&1/2 cups

Method

  1. Heat a pan and put the 1 cup of yellow moong dal in the pan and keep stirring to dry roast it. Keep the heat to medium and continue till it starts to turn brownish, you will also get a nutty aroma. When you see a few seeds turning brown switch off the heat and immediately pour some water in the pan to stop it from browning further. If it becomes too brown or burns then the dal won’t cook.

2. Wash the roasted Moong dal well and put it in a pressure cooker with 1 cup of water. Close the lid and cook it for 2 or 3 whistles then switch the heat off and wait till the pressure cooker cool down.

[You can cook the dal without a pressure cooker too, but it will take about half an hour or so. In case you want to cook in a pan and not in the pressure cooker then put the roasted moong with 2 cups of water in a pan, add 1/2 tsp of salt and bring it to a boil on high heat, then lower the heat and let it simmer gently till the dal is soft and cooked. You may need to add more water too, do not let the water dry out. Once it is cooked follow the instructions as below]

3. Once the cooker has cooled down open the lid to check and see if the dal grains are cooked well and are soft.

4. Add the salt, turmeric powder and sugar to the dal in the cooker and put the pressure cooker on the stove. Add the rest of the water and let it boil for about 5 minute on lowest heat.

After the dal is boiled it will look like this. Now we have to do the Tempering.

5. Tempering: Spices are heated and fried in a little oil or ghee and then added to the boiled dal to enhance the flavour and taste. Each Dal has a different combination of spices. There are 2 ways to do the TEMPERING :

1) Heat the Ghee in a pan or kadai. Add Bay leaf ( tej patta), cinnamon (dalchini) broken into smaller pieces, cloves (laung), cardamom ( elaichi) dry red chilies ( lal mirch) and cumin seeds( Jeera). Once the Cumin and the Red chillies start to brown a little, pour the contents of the Pressure cooker on the ghee and the spices in the kadai. It will sizzle and splutter so please be careful and stand a little away from the stove. If you want to add green chilies add them now and let the Dal simmer about 5 minutes on medium heat before switching off the stove.

2) Take a small saucepan or frying pan and heat the Ghee in it. Add the Cumin seeds( jeera), Bay leaf ( tej patta), Dry red chilies, cinnamon (dalchini) broken into smaller pieces, cardamom ( elachi), Cloves ( laung). Once the Cumin starts to brown a little and the red chilies also brown a bit, pour this tempering onto the Dal in the pressure cooker and then let it simmer about 5 minutes before switching off the stove. If you want to add the green chilies add them after you add the tempering .

Serve the Dal Hot.

NOTE: the chilies in the dal are not eaten unless you are fond of HOT food, they are added for flavouring and to add a little spiciness. Some like to squeeze out the chilies in their dal if they want hot spicy dal.

Rita's Recipes3 Comments

Easy Kaancha Moong Dal Recipe for Beginners

Moong Dal or Mung Dal, ( Yellow split gram) is considered to be high in protein, and easiest to digest compared to the other dals that we usually use. It comes in whole green seeds, or split in half with the green skin still intact, or yellow grains where the green skin is completely removed. In a Bengali home the yellow variety is generally used. One variety of yellow Moong has smaller seeds, and that is considered the best, it is called Sona Moong in Kolkata. Sona moong cooks faster than the bigger grain one, and you do not need to use a pressure cooker for it.

This recipe is for Kaancha Moong Dal ( Unroasted moong dal)

Recipe

Ingredients

  • Yellow Moong 1/2 cup
  • Green chilies 4
  • Turmeric powder 1/4 teaspoon
  • Salt 1&1/4 teaspoon or less
  • Ghee 3 teaspoons, 2 tsp for seasoning? tarka and 1 to garnish
  • Methi seeds ( Fenugreek seeds) 1/2 teaspoon
  • Ginger 1 tablespoon, divided
  • Dry red chili 2
  • Water 1 cup plus 1/2 cup more.

Some of the ingredients are shown in this photo.

The ginger is grated, and the Green chilies have to be slit.

Seasoning is best with Ghee/ clarified butter. First you add the methi seeds in the hot ghee, the half of the ginger grated and red chilies.

Method

Prepping

Wash the !/2 cup of Moong Dal well , drain out all the water and keep aside

Grind or grate the Ginger, keep in a small bowl, half is used for Phoron/ tarka/ seasoning

Slit the green chilies

Gather all the ingredients needed for Phoron / Tarka / Seasoning: Methi seeds ( Fenugreek ) !/2 teaspoon, Dry red chilies 1 or 2, and Ghee and the Ginger paste

How to make the Dal

  • Put the washed Moong Dal in the pressure cooker with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 cup of water. (If you use the Sona or small grain moong then you can cook the dal in a pan, but it will take about 20 minutes, on low heat.)
  • Cook the Moong Dal in the Pressure cooker on high heat till you get 3 whistles. Switch off the stove and wait for the cooker to cool down before you open the lid.
  • Put the cooker without the lid) back on the stove on medium heat, add the 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder, and let it boil for a few minute..
  • Add the slit Green chilies to the dal and let it boil for for a couple of minutes more.
  • In the meantime heat a Kadai or a small pan for the Phoron/Tarka/ Seasoning.
  • Add the 2 teaspoons of Ghee and as soon as it melts add the Dry red chilies and Methi seeds .When adding dry chilies make sure to break it a bit otherwise it may swell up in the oil and burst.
  • Once the Methi seeds are slightly brown add half the grated ginger to the ghee, it will splutter a bit.
  • When the spluttering lessens, pour the dal into the kadai, OR you can pour the seasoning into the boiling dal.
  • Add the remaining ginger paste and let it boil for 5 minutes.
  • This is not a thick dal, it is like a soup, if it is too thick then you may need to add a little more water. Add the 1 teaspoon of ghee before taking it off the heat.

Serve hot with Rice.

Variation

Adding Karela or Bitter gourd sliced and fried is a variation of the simple Moong dal. The karela has a slight bitter taste. It tastes great in this Dal with fresh hot Basmati Rice.

Rita's Recipes1 Comment