Chana-Toor Daal Fry

Lisa once asked me if we cooked with Arhar ki daal everyday. I looked at her and while my ignorance buzzed in my mind, I confidently said, " no, we use toor daal". She nodded understandingly and said," oh ok". Many meals later we realized we were talking of the same legume! 

I grew up eating Aamti it was a 'necessity' at every meal, unless of course Mom made kadhi. Katachi Aamti was with Puran Poli and was made only on special occasions and many a times, we would buy PuranPoli from the stores.The idea of  anything else being used ( read:  chana daal, masoor daal or urad daal) was unbelievable! I did not even know the different names  the same daal went by! 

Blogging  and many cookbooks later, I love the idea of experimenting with new legumes and also combinations, which earlier were unknown.

I reserve all new experiments in the kitchen for when the hubby comes home over the weekend. It also helps to have just one more adult who can eat a bit more (really, I mean, a bit more) than my almost 4 year old! 

Daals are the main source of protein in my household. I know, that in itself is not much, but I still shy away from eating eggs (except in cakes... HAH! did you say?) and it looks like Little S is not too fond of eggs as well. Oh well, as he says and shrugs his shoulders! 

Like me, many of my friends are also vegetarians and legumes and pulses are the main source of protein in our everyday meals. I was talking to my friend Rucha, the other day and one of the things we talked about was adding some more protein sources to our kids meals and a variety, after all, one does get tired of the daily daal and rice! 

I flipped thru my 660 curries cook book, THE reliable source, for simple (and complex) and latched on to this particular recipe. It combines the goodness of Yellow Split Peas (Chana daal) and Pigeon Peas (Toor daal) cooked with onion and garlic. It is easy to make, even on a busy week  night. So, this recipe goes out to you, Rucha. Hope you and your family like this daal fry as much as we did.

Source: Raghavan Iyer's 660 Curries

Makes 4 cups

1/2 Cup Yellow Split Peas ( Chana Daal)

1/2 Cup  Pgeon Peas (Toor Daal)

1/4 Cup Ghee ( which is about 2.5 Tbsp)

1 tsp Black Mustard Seeds 

1 Medium sized Red Onion, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced

8 medium sized Garlic loves, peeled and finely chopped

2 fresh Green Chillies (Serrano or Thai, stem removed and chopped into1/4 inch  rounds (do not remove seeds)

2 tsp Salt or to taste

1 tsp Cumin, ground

1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds, ground

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1 large Tomato, cored and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 Tbsp fresh Cilantro, finely chopped

Wash  the daals in 3-4 changes of water, clean thoroughly and pressure cook till soft ( 3 whistles). These can be cooked on the stove top as well, if you prefer that. Once the peas are cooked, I use my immersion blender and puree them to a smooth consistency. 

Heat Ghee in a pan over medium heat. 

Add the mustard seeds and let them pop

Add the chopped onion, garlic and chillies and stir-fry till the mixture is brown and smells pungent-sweet (2-3 mins)

Stir in the salt, cumin, fenugreek and turmeric and allow the spices to cook, about 30 seconds.

Add the chopped tomato, cilantro and 1/2 cup water. Simmer the sauce, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the tomato has softened about 5 mins.

Add this to the cooked daal/ legumes and stir once or twice. simmer the curry, uncovered, over medium-low heat until the legumes are infused with the flavors, about 10 minutes. 

Serve with steaming hot rice.

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Simple Daal Fry RCI -PUNJAB

pic source: Google search

Punjabi food! The very name brings back so many memories!!! Childhood memories, my very first introduction to 'different' food! Eating out was Idlis, Dosas for a very long time, but very slowly this new taste had me hooked! The spice, the taste and the nice way of camouflaging vegetables in a gravy that made it so delectable!! I ate vegetables that I would stubbornly push aside at home (barring the eggplant, which I still refuse to eat). Even the paratha was SO MUCH better than the usual 'poli' - the charm of eating out!!!

So far it was just Paratha and 'Green'bhaji.. (Alu Palak) and Chana Masala.. standard fare, no changes! Till one day..one day I wanted to pig out... I mean... eat Punjabi food, but had mouth ulcers (I can only say only this, in my defense...lalach bahut buri cheez hai... I ate!!) so saying no to the vegetables I opted for, what , in my opinion..then, was the boring Daal Fry. Oh Boy!!! was I wrong!!!!! and was I glad I did!!! Dunking the paratha in the daal and eating it was sooooooo nice!

That, this seemingly unobtrusive looking daal could taste so heavenly was a revelation to me! I, in fact was completely unaware of anything in the daal types, that tasted like this! Surprised? so was I... especially since I had grown up tasting only varan, amti and sambar!

Years later when I attended a cooking class, I learnt how to make Daal Fry, which ever since has regularly graced our dining table.

The first time I cooked (after marriage) at my new home, I made Daal Fry and Fulkas, and my little niece,S, liked the taste very much, I still remember her proclaiming that it was the best daal in the... Universe!!! My father (in Law) called up my parents and told them that they had not exaggerated when they said I could cook (you know how it is in the arranged marriage scenario!!!) !!! My Mother (in law) also appreciated the taste, that was a huge compliment coming from someone who is an amazing cook herself!! Do you now wonder why I love making daal fry so much!!??!!

Here's how I make it!

1 cup Moong Daal / Toor Daal*

1 tsp Ginger Chopped
1 Green Chilly (+/-to taste)

1 tsp Cilantro, finely chopped

1/2 Onion chopped

1/2 tomato chopped

5-6 coves Garlic (chopped)

1/4 tsp Cumin/ Jeera

1 pinch Red Chilly powder

1 pinch Pepper powder

2 pinches Amchur powder / lemon juice

1/4 tsp (or less) Turmeric

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Butter / oil/ ghee (traditionally, ghee is used)

There are two ways one can make this

Method 1 : The class method

Pressure cook the moong daal. Grind garlic, chillies and cumin.

To the hot daal add chopped onion, tomato and ginger.

Add salt, turmeric, red chilly powder and amchur.

Heat 1 tbsp Ghee / butter, add the paste (ginger-garlic and chillies).

Add this to the daal, mix well, cook thoroughly.Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Method 2:

Pressure cook the daal, mash and keep aside.

Heat Butter/ ghee/ oil . Add cumin seeds.

Add the ginger, garlic and saute for half a minute. Add the chilly.

Next add the onion and saute till they are light brown.

Add the tomatoes and cook till soft and mushy. I add the turmeric at this stage (no particular reason, but my logic- if you can call it that- is I cannot see the onions turn colour if turmeric is added in the initial stage).

Add the mushy daal, if it is too thick, add 1/2 a glass of water. Add the pepper pwd., red chilly pwd. , salt, amchur pwd and bring it to a rolling boil. If using lemon juice, add after switching off the stove.Garnish with cilantro and serve with plain rice / jeera rice/ roti/ paratha/ naan!

*you can use either Moong daal or Toor daal. Moong daal is lighter to digest where as Toor Daal is acidic in nature and can cause a bit of a problem.

This will go to Richa as my contribution for RCI-Punjab. Thank You Richa!!!!

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