Toor dal is a simple, easy and common dish. As it is protein-rich it is usually given to toddlers without tempering(The roasting of certain ingredients in oil such that it enhances the flavour). This Indian recipe tastes best with hot rice, Potato masala fry and of course, ghee.
Toor dal is also known by various names such as arhar dal, pigeon pea lentils, thuvaram paruppu, kandhi pappu, tur dal and kandhi pappu. It is a dish of choice for special occasions and you can prepare it in many ways.
Ingredients for cooking toor dal
1 cup (200g) toor dal
1/2 teaspoon zeera
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 drops gingely oil
Other ingredients
2 tbsp oil
1teaspoon ghee
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 pinch asafoetida (hing)
A sprig of curry leaves
1big onion or 6-7 small onions (finely chopped)
1 medium-sized tomato (finely chopped)
1green chili ( finely chopped)
4-5 garlic cloves(chopped)
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp salt or salt to taste
Method
The cooking of Dal (Using pressure cooker)
Wash the toor dal properly and keep it in a vessel. Add water of volume more than twice the volume of toor dal to the vessel. Then add turmeric powder,zeera and gingely oil. Pressure cook the dal for 4 -5 whistles. After the pressure releases remove the vessel from the cooker.
Now, take a masher and mash it as shown.
Preparation of the dal
Take a big Kadai or pan and heat it. Add 2 tbsp of oil and wait for 2 minutes. Then add mustard seeds. Allow it to splutter.
After the spluttering of the mustard seeds, add the onions and asafoetida. Give a quick stir.
Then include the garlic and stir.
Now add green chili, curry leaves and saute till the colour of the onions changes to golden brown.
When the colour of the onions changes add the tomatoes and chili powder.
Cook till it becomes mushy.
Finally, add the cooked toor dal, ghee and salt. Mix well. You can also add little water to get the required consistency. The dal should not be too thick nor too watery.
For the last touches, garnish the dal with coriander leaves.The toor dal is now ready to eat.
Serve it with hot rice and Potato Masala Fry!!: )
