Comfort Food – Moong ki Daal

Some days I crave for some exotic gourmet food or on some days for something sweet or for street food and the list goes on. When the desire is for a hearty, comforting meal, for an Indian menu dal is always the option, or rather THE choice!
 
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Dal have a special place in an Indian homes. No everyday traditional indian meals are complete without a dal dish. Different regions in India have their own special way of preparing dals & different varieties of dals give different tastes.
 
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South Indian dal based recipes include sambhar or rasam or tovve. North Indian specialties are dal tadka, dal fry and the list just goes on and on. What makes ‘dals’ special is that use of  few simple ingredients can result in an exotic dish!For our ‘low’ days I keep few recipes handy and this dal is one of them.Like this dish here, Moong ki dal with hot steamed rice, papad & pickle is the best comfort food I have come across till now!

 

Other names for moong dal : Telugu – Pesaru Pappu, Kannada – Hesaru bele, Malyalam – Cheru Payaru

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Moong ki Daal

Hearty and comforting!

To pressure cook

  • 1 cup yellow moong dal (split yellow gram)
  • a pinch of turmeric or haldi

Other ingredients

  • 2-3 tsp ghee/ clarified butter or oil
  • 1 medium onion – chop finely
  • 5-6 cloves garlic – chop finely
  • 1 ” piece ginger – peel & chop finely
  • 1-2 green chillies (slit)

For the tempering

  • 3-4 tsps ghee/ clarified butter or oil
  • a pinch of hing (asafoetida)
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds/ jeera
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  1. Pressure cook the daal with sufficient water (about 3 cups) for about 2-3 whistles or till dal is cooked. Set aside. Let the pressure drop before you open the lid & remove the daal.
  2. Heat the ghee/ oil & add the garlic & saute for a minute. Here garlic gives the daal its main taste & flavor. So be generous when u add it to the daal! Then throw in the onions, chillies and ginger and saute till you get a nice aroma. Do not be in a hurry to add the dal without sauteeing till the required stage bcoz only when the flavor of the onions & garlic are released will the dal taste good.
  3. Add the cooked daal, some more water to thin it a little (not too much), salt, a little more haldi (if required for color only). Cook till you get the desired consistency.
  4. Now for the tempering – heat some ghee or oil. You could use oil for the tempering but again its the ghee which makes the dal tasty. Add all the tempering ingredients and let the cumin begin to sizzle. Then pour the tempering over the dal. Mix & serve hot with steamed rice.

Adapted from our family recipe dairy

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