Curried lentils with Swiss Chard

We went to a pick-your-own farm in North London last weekend and brought back our bounty of fruit and vegetables. I don't think I've ever eaten strawberries that were so juicy and sweet and oh what pleasure just plucking them off the plant and popping them into your mouth. Yeah yeah I didn't wash it or wipe it or anything, just ate them with all the gusto I could muster on that hot summer day.

The 10 acres of land was filled with fruits and veggies of all sorts- from blackberries, to raspberries to beetroot to courgettes- I had a tough time deciding what I wanted to bring back. Ro who, till now, was of the opinion that strawberries were so over rated, succumbed to the stereotype and decided strawberries and cream were most certainly heavenly. I had major plans of making strawberry this and strawberry that, but at the rate its going I don't think I'll have any left to make my planned desserts, instead we have just been devouring them with whipped cream. Yummville!

I had picked up some swiss chard as well and honestly it was the after effect of an article I wrote recently about growing swiss chard and since then I have been curious. I knew it was part of the spinach family, but hoped it wasn't like the radish greens I recently cooked which was quite bitter. Maybe it was a mistake I did, but I don't think I will be trying that out again.

Initial plan was to make a gratin with the chard, but then slight miscalculations and a whole day spent on a debate with my friends on fb, with bits and pieces of writing thrown in between meant I had very little time to prepare dinner. So I decided to incorporate the chard into a dal preparation. Thanks to the pressure cooker, frozen chapathis and the last stash of chicken cutlets, dinner was ready in no time. The downside however was that I missed out on the lighting bit and hence the dark, shadowy pics. Well, you gain some, you lose some right?

So anyways, I made the dal and it turned out good. The chard tastes very similar to spinach, just that I thought it didn't wilt as much as the spinach and so there was enough greens floating around in my lentil curry. I am hoping to use up the other veggies I picked up asap and as time permits will blog about it too.

(Damn the articles I'm writing, I sound so bloody formal here too) :( :(

Masoor dal- 1/4 cup

Toor dal- 1/4 cup

Mung dal- 1/4 cup

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Swiss chard- about 3 cups chopped and packed (washed properly and the tough stalks removed)

Cumin seeds- 1 tsp

Onion- 1 medium, thinly sliced

Garlic paste- 1 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida- a pinch

Fenugreek powder- a pinch

Coriander powder- 1.2 tsp

Lime juice- a dash

Garam amsala- 1/4 tsp

Salt- to taste

Oil- 1 tbsp

Water- about 2 cups

Throw in the dals (washed), turmeric powder, swiss chard and salt along with water into the pressure cooker, give it a good stir and cook on medium heat for about 3 whistles. Release the pressure and keep aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in frying pan and add the cumin seeds.

Once it sizzles, add the onions and garlic paste and wait for it to cook and wilt a bit.

Add all the powders- chilli, coriander, asafoetida and fenugreek- and saute well. Cook till the raw smell disappears.

Put the pressure cooker with the cooked dal back on medium flame and add the onion mix. Stir well to combine,

Do a taste test and add more salt, spice as per requirement and bring to a boil.

Add a dash of lemon juice and sprinkle some garam masala on top, give a final stir and take it off the flame.

Pour into individual containers and serve as soup or as a side to rice or roti.

Notes: Add chickpeas (garbanzo) to this and it can be converted to a stew on a cold winters night.

Replace chard with spinach and you have palak dal.

You can do the above prep with any dal of choice.

Freeze it once it cools down and trust me it will be a blessing on a day you don't want to cook.

Yellow is definitely the new black (or you can also call it Amritsari Dal)

I flip through cookery books at the library and then something fancy catches my eye and I end up borrowing it. Then it stays on my shelf till I have to return it, (that is, if by chance I open it and find out I'm not late as yet... I mostly end up paying a fine) with hopes of wanting to try some recipe from the book vanishing in thin air. So this time too I ended up picking a book by Madhur Jaffrey (I had no flippin clue who she was..in fact I thought it was a he till I saw her picture) and was adamant I would try out at least one recipe from the book before I returned it. And I did -with great difficulty- but I did, that's the important thing...yaaaayy. 

When Ria posted a question on FB asking what according to you was comfort food, I replied saying rice, dal, pappad, pickle and beef fry. And then I wondered, according to me comfort food also has to be something I can whip up in a jiffy. Pappad, I have a packet at home all the time (thanks to it being compared to crisps here in UK, they now sell fried ones in packets), pickle, the stock from home still adorns my pantry shelf and rice, its just so much more easier now that I follow Jamie Oliver's method (till then I used to dread the soaking and draining and all that). I was stuck at dal and beef fry. Beef fry, I thought is icing on the cake...I mean it would be nice to have it as part of a meal, but then I can do without it too, if I have all the other stuff.

That brought me back to dal..something that does take a lot of time for me, but something I love, love, love (stressed it enough?). And then I stumbled upon the recipe for Amritsari Dal in MJ's ancient book Flavour's of India and decided to give it a go, still assuming its gonna take time. But boy was I surprised. This is like the easiest and tastiest dal recipe evah. The lesser the ingredients the better it is for me...and if it tastes good, damn good for me (and Ro too since he washes up after my cooking expedition).

Amritsari Dal (more or less adapted from Flavour's of India by Madhur Jaffry)

Mung dal- 25 gms

Masoor dal- 25 gms

Toor dal- 50 gms

Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp

Water- 2 1/2 cups

Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida- a pinch

Onion- 1 small, thinly sliced

Green chilli- 1, chopped

Finely chopped ginger- 1 tsp

Finely chopped garlic- 1 tsp

Fresh Coriander leaves- a handful (optional) or dried ones- 1 tsp

Garam masala- 1/4 tsp (optional)

Lime juice- 1/2 tsp

Ghee- 2 tsp

Salt- to taste

Wash and drain the dal's and put in a pressure cooker with turmeric powder, 1 tsp ghee and enough salt. Stir and cook till about three whistles. Once pressure releases, open lid and keep aside. Add more water if you feel the dal is too thick.

In a deep pan, heat the remaining 1 tsp ghee and splutter the cumin seeds.

Add the asafoetida and give it a good stir.

In goes the onion, green chilli, ginger and garlic. Sauté till they are nice and fragrant and wilted a bit.

Add the coriander leaves and chilli powder and stir well.

Pour the cooked dal into the pan with the masala and mix well. Check for salt, add if required.

Sprinkle the garam masala over the top and mix it in. Simmer for a few minutes. .

Add the lime juice, give one final stir, garnish with coriander leaves and serve with love.

Notes: You can add a tomato instead of the lime juice. I didn't because chopping one up was tedious at that point

The recipe calls for urad beans and chana dal. I didn't have either, so I used all these. I had seen other recipes online using masoor and toor and mung dal. 

Sending this over to Ammalu's kitchen who is hosting My Legume Love Affair this month, brain child of Susan from The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Spring Onion Moong Dal

I tried my best to NOT have Indian food whole of last week and succeeded till Friday. And then we went for a Malaysian food festival, ended up having beef rendang with rice and wasn't too happy at all. I can go without having rice for as long as a month or maybe even more without missing it, but the moment I get a taste of it, I crave for it..quite a lot. Which is what happened on Saturday. So I decided to make some steamed rice, dal and tindora fry (I realized the frozen ones are so much easier since I don't have to chop them and just do a stir fry with some sambar powder, its just brilliant) and washed it all down with a mug of beer. I can have rice, dal, pickle and pappad any given time and day...seriously!!! And then today I wanted Hyderabadi biryani, nothing less, but ended up having Sushi..yes Sushi..a far cry from the incredibly awesome Dum biryani, but lets not go there, it makes me wanna cry. So to vent my frustration for not having biryani, I had left over rice and dal for dinner AGAIN!!

I'm not that great at making dal, but for the first time, this dal prep. came out extremely good. Monsoon Spice is a blog I stumbled upon recently and must say I love what I see. This Moong and spring onion dal recipe is more or less adapted from her space. Thank you Sia for the awesome recipe.

Moong dal- 1 cup

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Salt

Water- enough to cook the dal

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds- 1 tsp

Fenugreek powder- 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida- a pinch

Dry red chillies- 2, halved

Garlic cloves- 3, lightly chopped

Green chillies- 2, chopped

Ginger- 1 inch piece, peeled and roughly chopped

Spring onions- 2 large ones, sliced with the greens and whites separated

Tomatoes- 2 small, roughly chopped

Garam masala- 1 tsp

Chilli powder- 1/4 tsp (optional)

Coriander leaves- to garnish

Salt- to taste

Oil- 1 tbsp

Mix together the dal, turmeric powder salt and water in a pressure cooker and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes or for about 3 to 4 whistles on medium to high heat. You can do the same on open fire as well..might just take ages.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel and splutter the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek powder, asafoetida and the red chillies..say about a minute or two, stirring continuously

Add the Garlic and green chillies to the oil and sauté for a minute.

In goes the ginger and the white part of the spring onions. Sauté till the onions turn translucent.

Add the tomato garam masala and chilli powder and combine well. Cook till the oil separates. Add salt at  this stage, if required.

Pour the cooked dal into this mix and stir well to combine the masala with the dal.

Add a cup or so of water, if you want it diluted a bit. I did.

Add half of the greens and stir well. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

Just before you serve, garnish with coriander leaves and remaining spring greens.

Serve hot with rice, pickle and pappad :)

(how incredibly cute is this serving bowl BTW???)

Notes: The original recipe had a few more ingredients which I didn't have at hand, do add them if you have it, but without that it still was super duper awesome.

I added that extra chilli powder because the green chillies i had didn't give out enough heat.

Naadan parippu curry (moong dal simmered with coconut & spices)

I slept in really late this morning and woke up alarmingly at about 11am. Ro was working from home today and so I couldn't skip lunch. I mean i could have always made some sandwich and satisfied him, but I didnt have enough bread and cold meats to do so. Ro in between conference calls remembered about lunch and very sweetly offered to make rice and said rice and curd and some leftover chicken drumsticks would do. I was glad and atleast to be supportive said id make the rice. Just when i was getting the rice outta the jar i saw the dal container and i had this urge to make the naadan parippu (dal) curry. Asked Ro how long he had between calls, did some research online (oh ofcourse i need youtube and atleast 3 or 4 blog references for anything and everything) and decided to go for it.

This is the second time I'm trying this and i must say I'm proud of the outcome. For one, my hand blender is kick ass. The last time, the coconut mix wasnt smooth enough which left bits and pieces of coconut floating around and it didn't taste like what my grand mom used to make back home. This is a familiar dish to all the mallu's, and an absolute favourite of mine. I also made sure Ro got hooked on to it as well :)

Moong dal- 1/2 cup

Water- enough to cook the dal

Green chillies- 2, slit

To grind:

Grated coconut- 1/4 cup

Shallots- 2 small

Red chilli seeds- 1/4 tsp or less

Garlic- 2 pods

Cumin seeds- 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

To temper:

Coconut oil- 1/2 tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida- a pinch

Curry leaves- a sprig

Dry red chillies- 3

Grind all the ingredients in the 'to grind' section to a smooth paste

Cook the dal with enough water and salt- about 2 whistles in the pressure cooker.

Open the lid, mash the dal if required and add the slit red chillies and more water if required. Stir and simmer for about 3 minutes.

Add the coconut mix,combine well and simmer for a further 5 to 6 minutes.

Check for salt, spice etc. and add if needed.

Heat the oil in a tadka pan, splutter the mustard seeds, add the curry leaves, asafoetida and rest of the ingredients and sauté for a few minutes.

Add to the dal mix and stir well.

Serve hot with rice, pappad and pickle.

Notes: I like my dal a little watery, so i added some water just before adding the coconut mix. It was still thick according to my standards

Also, mashing the dal is purely optional.

The coconut oil was a lil over powering, so i might skip that the next time.

I am sending this entry to the 'Delicious Dal's' event hosted by Veggie Platter and to 'My Legume Love Affair 23' hosted by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Methi Dal (Dal spiced up with fenugreek leaves)

Remember i told you about the Methi Dal my friend keeps talking about? Well, i finally made it and it turned out great. I had some friends over on Saturday for lunch and on Friday i slogged it out and made a whole lotta food, 1, because i could sleep in late on Saturday and not wake up early to cook and 2, i dint have to do any major cooking for the rest of the week :). I don't think i have ever made so much food in my life. The girls ate well and i didn't have much left over. So the 2nd reason was lame.

The methi dal recipe is exactly the same as this recipe, except you add the cleaned and chopped methi leaves (about 1 cup) after the tomatoes are well cooked. I also added a dash of fenugreek powder just before i took it off the heat and that tasted awesome. I avoided the coriander leaves and the last tadka as well. I found this interesting recipe on Soma's blog and I should try it out the next time i get methi leaves.

Enjoy!

Another dal recipe spiced up with a Chicken fry

I am seriously obsessed with baking and cant wait to try out new recipes. But when it comes to the usual, normal, everyday cooking i cringe. I dread the cleaning, the cutting, the stirring and everything about it. I crib about it to Ro every night before we fall asleep and he is now fed up of trying to get me to enjoy it. To prove that its fun, he took over cooking for whole of last weekend and i just sat back and cribbed about life in general. If you don't know what I'm talking about, take a sneak peak at my other blog, and you'll know ;)

Dal Tadka

Now I'm back on my feet and have decided to make proper meals again (the not-enjoying cooking bit is still in tact). Since there was a sudden burst of cakes and bakes on the blog, i decided to post a dal recipe passed on by my best friend R. She was with me in India a couple of months back and made this dal with hot kulchas and they were so so tasty. She 's an amazing cook and made it look incredibly easy. So i bugged her on chat the other day and got the recipe. Unfortunately for me, the impatient one, it didn't taste as awesome as hers, but did taste different from the previous ones i have tried (Dal Fry, Spinach Dal and the Mallu Parippu Curry).

Moong Dal- 1 cup, cooked with water in a pressure cooker. Not mashed.

Dry red chillies- 4

Shallots- 2

Tomato- 2, chopped fine

Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp

Turmeric pwd- a pinch

Salt- to taste

Coconut oil- 2 tbs

Coriander leaves- a handful

Cumin seeds- 1/4 tsp to temper

Grind dry red chillies and shallots to make a fine paste.

In a kadai, heat 1 tbs coconut oil and splutter mustard seeds. Add the ground chilli-shallot paste and cook till the raw smell goes.

Add tomatoes and cook till the water evaporates and the oil is visible. (Add green peas at this stage if you want)

Add turmeric, jeera pwd, salt and the cooked dal. Mix well. Add water at this stage if its too thick. Simmer on medium heat.

Add the coriander leaves, give it a final stir and take it off the heat.

Just before you serve, add a dash of cream, butter or ghee (optional)

I however did a tadka with the remaining oil and cumin seeds and avoided the cream/ butter bit.

Chicken Fry

I also tried out an easy chicken recipe from this blog and it turned out just great. I followed the recipe dot to dot, except instead of settling for a dry version, i masala-fied it with a lot of onion and curry leaves and one tomato. The pic however was taken before the masal-fied version since that was a complete after-thought.

Easy Peacy Dal Fry

When Ro works from home, my whole routine goes for a toss. He's quite a pain in the ass. Since we have an open kitchen, the noises are not that suttle either. I am not allowed to use the pressure cooker, blender or even open the tap if he's on a conference call, leave alone watch tv which i fight against, and so am allowed to watch on the lowest possible volume. Also, I would need to make lunch if he is around and not laze around all day on my comfy couch facebooking, orkutting and chatting.

Last Tuesday was one of those days and the usual rice, curd, some veggie and cutlets were on the list (all left over and cutlets are always a saving grace. Have a set frozen and saved for a rainy day). But i ran out of curd and so was stuck as to what to make, that too something quick, so Ro wouldn't start his tantrums...yes he gets nasty when he's hungry. I had the instant MTR Rasam mix which was the easiest, but we had just finished it a few days back and i didn't want to repeat it. With no other option, i wearily decided on Dal Fry, thinking it was such a tedious task. Well...this easy recipe my mom passed on, proved me wrong. It was ready in no time.

Dal- 1 cup (toor dal or moong dal or maybe even a mix)

Water- 2 cups

Tomato- 1, chopped up

Onion- 1 small, thinly sliced

Ginger garlic paste- 1/2 tbs

Chilli pwd- 1 tsp (or less,according to your taste)

Turmeric pwd- 1/4 tsp

Garam masala- 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp

Coriander pwd- 1/4 tsp or even less

Asafoetida- a pinch

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Oil- 2 tbs

Salt- to taste

Coriander leaves- to garnish (optional)

Wash dal and cook with water in a pressure cooker for about 2 whistles. Wait till the steam subsides and open lid. Keep aside.

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil and fry the cumin seeds, make sure you don't burn it. Add the chopped onions, salt, Ggp and fry till the onion becomes a light brown colour. To this add the chilli pwd, turmeric pwd, garam masala and the tomatoes and cook till the oil separates. Add the cooked dal to this, stir well, check for salt and spice and add as required. Bring to a simmer. Remove from fire and keep aside.

In a small pan, heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, coriander pwd and asafoetida and pour over the dal. Mix well and just before serving, garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Notes: If the dal is a bit too thick, you can add some more water and loosen it. You can also have this with roti.

The tadka part is completely optional.

Parippu Curry (Dal) and Jeera Rice

Give me dal and rice any day and i wouldn't complain one bit. I love dal in all forms...tadka, or fry or whatever. But the naadan parippu curry with rice a poppadom is my all time favourite. It just doesn't come out the way my grand mom makes, but i still make it when i yearn for it and finish it up more or less at one go. I'm however surprised that Ro has never tasted the naadan parippu curry in spite of being born and brought up in Kottayam. He was surprised when i mentioned this and said i was just being a bit adventurous and trying out new variations of dal. Adventurous i was, but definitely not the first time I've had naadan parippu curry. After all that hype, he thought it had a 'different zing' than the usual dal preps, but not 'zinged' enough to fall head over heels in love with it. I promised it actually tasted much better back home.

Toor/Moong dal- 1/2 cup ( I use them depending on my mood. I honestly don't know the difference, taste-wise)

Water- as required

To grind:

Grated coconut- 1/2 cup

Jeera- 1/2 tsp

Green chilli- 3

Turmeric pwd- a pinch

Oil- 1 tsp

Shallots/ small onions- 1 big or 3 to 4 small

Garlic- 2 pods, thinly sliced

Salt- to taste

To temper:

Dry red chilli- 2

Curry leaves- a sprig

Mustard seeds- 1 tsp

Coconut oil- 1 tsp

Grind all the items in the 'to grind' section and keep aside.

Dry roast the dal in a frying pan till it becomes fragrant. In a sauce pan, boil water and cook the dal. Mash and keep aside. I like it a bit watery, so i take a little extra water.

In a deep pan, heat about a tsp oil and sautee the onions and garlic till they become soft. To this add the ground paste and sautee for about 2 minutes. Add the mashed dal and salt and cook on low fire, just enough to infuse the flavours. At this stage, you can add more water if required. Once done, remove and keep aside.

Just before you serve, temper it. Heat the rest of the oil and when hot splutter mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves and pour over the dal. As mentioned before, i think this adds to the flavour of the dish and is my favourite bit.

For the jeera rice, while boiling rice, add about 1 tsp of jeera seeds and you will get nice fragrant, a slightly yellow jeera rice.

Notes: The ground coconut mix has to be more or less like a paste which i guess makes the curry thick.

Substitute coconut oil with ghee and it will add to the mallu-ness

Sambar and a dash of gyan

OK so this post is purely for my reference and will be of no interest to you. Like i mentioned before this food blog was started not because of my love for food and cooking, but because this was just an easier way to draft all the recipes i have tried. Otherwise i spend endless hours searching the net for the perfect this and that and at the end of it feel so irritated. So for the sambar i searched the internet quite a number of times to get an easy sambar recipe and ended up whipping up one of my own with outlines from here and there. I mean how much interesting can a sambar be anyway? I dont get many of the veggies required for the sambar from the local supermarket and so make it only when i visit East Ham (the ultimate desi area) and pick up ready made dosa maavu. It lasts us forever and by the end of it we get sambar sick.

Toor dal/urud dal- a cup

Water- enough to cook the dal

Salt- a few dashes

Turmeric- a pinch

Veggies- okra, beans, potatoes, drumstick, carrots, tomatoes, small onions (as you like it)

Large Onion- 1, thinly sliced

Garlic paste- 1 tsp

Green chillis- 3 thinly sliced

Sambar pwd- 3 tbs (heap)

Asafoetida- a pinch

Tamarind paste- 1 tsp diluted in half cup water

Oil- 2 tbs

Salt- to taste

To temper:

Coriander pwd- 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Dry red chilli- 2 crumbled

Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Oil- 1 tbs

Coriander leaves- to garnish

Cook the dal with turmeric, salt and water required. Mash and keep aside.

In a heavy bottomed pan heat the oil and sautee the onions, green chillies and garlic paste. Once they become translucent add all the veggies, the sambar powder and a pinch of asafoetida. Mix well. The powder must coat all the veggies well. To this add the dal mix (i don't drain the water, but use it to cook the veggies) and if water is not sufficient enough, add water and also pour the tamarind water. Mix well. Check for salt and add the required amount. This must be cooked on low heat till the veggies are cooked and have taken in the flavour of the sambar pwd. When it starts to boil, take it off the heat and keep covered.

Just before you serve do the tadka. Heat some oil in a pan and when piping hot add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When they start spluttering, throw in the rest of the items and mix well. Remove and pour into the sambar and mix well. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.

Notes: I know this is an elaborate way of making sambar and there are simpler ways of doing it all at one go in a pressure cooker. My fear of cookers have put me off this process:)

You can add some more chilli pwd, as this is not a very spicy version and i prefer it to be more spicy but my overgrown baby (read Ro) cant handle spice and so i have to do accordingly.

Doing the tadka gives that extra flavour to the sambar and adding coriander pwd and cumin seeds is my personal choice because i like what they do to the sambar. But its optional and you can just temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves.

I also dont like my sambar watery and so this is a thick version.

Also, i am assuming there are hundreds of ways to make sambar and in the blog world itself i have seen so many of them. I hope i don't get a mail saying i have copied this off someones blog and declared it as my own. My reason for saying this is because i have been following a couple of blogs accusing people of plagiarism and patenting recipes. Doesn't this take the whole fun out of blogging? Why do people make such a big deal out of it. If it is a picture that was copied, I understand you have every right to be pissed. But this person has stated that the recipe matched more or less (but not 100 percent) and that credit should have been given to her blog for displaying it. If that was the case, each time we make something, we have to do a hundred searches online, see if someone else has made something similar and then give credit to whoever has. Isn't that silly and immature? Whether or not credit is given to the original recipe shouldn't be of concern here. If you do get it, good for you. It should be taken in the right spirit and you should be glad someone out there is trying out the recipe you posted. If it was that great a recipe then you probably shouldnt have posted it online in the first place. I personally would be thrilled if someone did try out a recipe from my post and wont accuse that person of plagiarism. And what amazed me was the number of comments saying she did the right thing and a couple of days later i saw the blog she was accusing and there again the same people have commented saying it was silly of the other to make this an issue in the first place. Hypocrisy? is that to be appreciated? Seriously people, get a life! So what if someone copied your recipe? Don't let it get to your head. Take it in the right spirit and move on!!!

Spinach Dal

I love Dal in every form. Since we are on an 'eat healthy' regime, and since i cant really figure out what else to do with palak, I decided to throw in some into my Dal. After some research online, I finally came up with this recipe. And like my other recipes, this one is damn easy as well.

Toor Dal-1/2 cup

Baby spinach- 1 cup, chopped

Shallots- 1 thinly sliced (if you have the small red onions, then about a handful)

Tomato- 1 medium, chopped finely

Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp

Green chillies- 3 slit lengthwise

Turmeric pwd.- 1/4 tsp

Coriander pwd.- 1/2 tsp

Oil- 2 tbs

Salt- to taste

For tempering:

Oil- 1 tbs

Jeera seeds- 3/4 tsp

Dry red chilli- 1, crushed

Garam masala- 1/4 tsp

Cook the Dal in a sauce pan or pressure cooker with the turmeric and a bit of salt and sufficient water. I like it a bit watery, so i add extra water.

Sautee the onions and green chillies in a heavy bottomed pan. When the onions give out a glazed look, add the ginger garlic paste and tomatoes and cook till done. In goes the coriander pwd. next. Once the raw smell goes, add the chopped spinach and mix well.

Add the Dal to the masala mix and, if its too think you can add some water at this stage. Bring it to a boil and take it off the flame.

In a small wok heat some oil and throw in the jeera seeds. When the aromatic smell is obvious, add the garam masala and red chilli, sautee for a while and add this to the Dal. This according to me gives that extra flavour and completes the process.

I add the garam masala at the tempering stage because i don't really like the over powering taste it has and chooses to add a wee bit only at the end, you can however add it along with the coriander pwd. also. You can also add curry leaves and mustard seeds for tempering and also choose to do the seasoning process right in the beginning before putting in the onions. But like i said, i somehow feel doing it at the end, gives it that special taste.