fresh tomatoes, garlic, and soaked dal
It’s too hot to cook, too hot to go out in the morning, nevermind at noon, almost too hot to eat at all. This dal is tasty even at room temperature; the perfect candidate for these long, sweltering days.
I enjoy the slow-cooked taste of this dish, where the flavors have more time to mingle and intensify. You can, of course, make it in a conventional pressure cooker and adjust the time accordingly.
Simple Tomato Dal
1/4 c toor dal
1/4 c masoor dal
1/4 c moth dal
1/4 c whole washed urad dal
1 tsp ghee
1 tsp mustard seed
5-6 curry leaves
1 TB cumin-coriander powder
1 TB dried methi leaves
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chile powder, or to taste
salt to taste
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 large red ripe tomato, chopped fine
or
1 small can diced tomatoes and their juice
5-6 c water
Wash all the dals well and soak together about one hour.
In large saucepan, melt ghee over medium heat and pop mustard. Add curry leaves, stir a minute, then add cumin-coriander powder, methi leaves, asafoetida, turmeric and chile powder. Stir briefly (don’t allow powders to burn), then add onion and garlic. Cook 10 min or so, stirring, until onion is nicely colored, then add tomatoes. Raise heat to med-high and cook 5 minutes to blend flavors, then add the dals and 5 cups water.
Cover and cook over medium heat about one hour with homemade pressure cooker (invert the cover of the pan and weight it with canned goods). Stir occasionally (don’t forget potholder for inverted lid) and add more water if necessary to keep the dal fairly thin.
Remove lid after one hour and mash the dal slightly, and reduce heat to medium low. Continue to cook, uncovered, another hour or until it reaches the consistency you prefer.
Correct the seasoning and serve with spinach-garlic rice.
Spinach-Garlic Rice
Rinse and drain 1 c rice. In saucepan melt 1 tsp ghee. Spear one peeled garlic clove on a fork and stir it around in the melted ghee till fragrant. Add 4 oz spinach and stir with garlic-fork till wilted. Add drained rice, stir about with garlic-fork to flavor. Remove garlic from fork but leave in the pan.
Add 2 c water and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook as usual.
simple tomato dal over spinach-garlic rice
Out Of The Garden 