Dal Lucknowi

Dal is a staple in my house. My husband is a big fan of dals be it any kind. He can just survive on dal and potato fry. On days when I am visiting my mom, he prefers to cook his food at home and on most of the days it would be dal and some curry. His love for dals is such that, whenever we visit a restaurant, I would order paneer (as that happens to be mine and daughter’s favourite) and hubby dear would definitely give an order for some kind of dal. Since, I have such a big lover of dal at home, I try out different kinds of dals, like the SriLankan dal, though the most common is Dal Tadka, which I am yet to post. To come to think of it, even though I keep making a variety of dals very frequently at home, I have hardly posted any. Infact, this is only my second post on dal.

This recipe is adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor’s show and it tasted quite yum and if you’re a garlic fan you will definitely love this one.

What you’ll need

1. Tuar Dal – 1 cup
2. Milk – ¾ cup
3. Green Chilly – 1 or 2
4. Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp
5. Salt to taste

For tempering

1. Ghee/oil – 2 tsp
2. Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
3. Asafoetida – a big pinch
4. Garlic – 2 cloves, crushed or finely chopped
5. Dried Red Chilly – 2 or 3, broken
6. Fresh Coriander Leaves – for garnishing

Method

1. Soak the tuar dal for 15 minutes. Discard the water in which the dal was soaked, rinse well.
2. Pressure cook the dal with slit green chillies and turmeric powder.
3. Allow the cooker to cool naturally, and remove the dal mash it well.
4. Heat a kadai, add the cooked dal with about a cup of water and salt to taste. Let this simmer till the dal starts boiling.
5. Now heat another small frying pan with ghee/oil, add the cumin seeds, asafoetida and garlic. Fry till the garlic turns golden brown.
6. Add the broken red chillies and pour this tempering over the simmering dal. Mix well.
7. Keep the flame at low, and add the milk. Stir well and simmer for another  6 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Remove from heat. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Linking this to Only Recipes from the Royal Kitchen hosted by Divya.