Srilankan Coconut Dal | Blog Hop Wednesday

Dal in any form is hubby dear’s favorite. He can have dal with rice or roti for days together. Even when we go out for lunch or dinner he never fails to order some variety of dal. His favorite being the simple Dal fry.  I too am ok with it, since making a simple dal is always a breeze. And paired with some spicy potato curry and rice it does make a scrumptious and filling meal on a lazy day when you are not in mood to cook something elaborate.  

So when I saw this recipe at Swetha’s space I wanted to try it out. The result was a creamy and tasty dal with a blend of aromatic flavors. We had it with rotis and the dal tasted very different from the usual ones.  And I see myself making this regularly in future. You can find the original recipe here.

Serves: 3 to 4

Ingredients

1.       Red Lentils - 1/2 cup

2.       Onions/shallots/Sambar Onions - chopped - 1 big

3.       Garlic - 1-2 small cloves

4.       Curry Leaves a few sprigs

5.       Green Chillies - slit 2

6.       Turmeric Powder- a pinch

7.       Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 tsp

8.       Cumin seeds + Black Pepper crushed - 1 tsp

9.       Coconut Milk - ½ cup

10.   Lemon juice

Tempering 

1.       Vegetable Oil/Ghee

2.       Dried Red Chillies - 1-2 chopped

3.       Curry Leaves

4.       Onion finely chopped - 1-2 tbsp

Seasoning Spices

1.       Equal amounts of mustard, cumin and fennel seeds.

Method

Wash dal, and add chopped onions, garlic, slit green chilli, curry leaves, turmeric powder, freshly ground, cumin and black pepper powder, fenugreek seeds and required amount of water. Pressure cook this for 3 whistles. Once cooled, remove the dal and transfer it into a Kadai.

Place Kadai on heat, add coconut milk. (I used store bought and added ½ cup of thick coconut milk diluted with ½ cup water.) Add salt and let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Heat a small frying pan, add a teaspoon of oil/ghee.  Add the dried red chillies and curry leaves. Once they turn crisp add the chopped onions and fry till they turn brown.  Finally add the mustard, cumin and fennel and when they splutter pour it over the dal. Mix well. Squeeze a dash of lemon juice and mix well. ( I used ½ of a lemon)

Yummy and tasty dal is ready to be served with rotis or rice.

Let's check out the other blog hoppers spaces.

Sending this to Blog Hop Wednesdays and event started by Radhika and to MLAA hosted by Cathy and started by Susan.