Masoor

I absolutely love this dal, it goes well with some other cooked veggie on the side and maybe some fried cutlets. But is practically perfect by itself! It tastes even better the next day when all the spices and masalas have got an even better chance to seep into the dals.

You will need:

5 generous handfuls of black masoor dal
1 handful of Tuvar (usual yellow) dal
7 medium to big tomatoes chopped
1 big or 2 medium potatoes washed well and chopped chunkily, don't remove the peels
2-3 cloves of garlic, mashed or finely chopped
10-12 curry leaves
2-3 teaspoons of Garam Masala and Dhania Jeera Powder (this needs to be adjusted to your taste and the potency of the masalas you are using)
1/4th teaspoon of Haldi powder (haldi can overpower all other masalas, so be careful with this)
a small bunch of spinach finely chopped
a small bunch of coriander finely chopped
salt to taste
ghee for cooking
freshly squeezed lemon juice while serving

Wash and soak the dals for at least an hour, overnight is best
Put them in a cooker, add 2 chopped tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of ghee, salt and haldi. Water should be added to cover the entire mixture to the height of about 2 inches above the mixture. Also add in the chopped potatoes. Pressure cook until tender which is usually 3 whistles + simmer for 10ish minutes after that.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat up 3 generous tablespoons of ghee, add garlic and brown it, add curry leaves and let them crackle and pop. Now add all the masalas and cook well, stirring now and then over a medium flame. Add the spinach and the rest of the tomatoes and completely cook.



Wait until the pressure cooker has cooled down enough to open, then add the mixture in the saucepan to the cooker, and return to flame... cook on high flame for about 5-10 minutes stirring now and then to see to it that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the cooker.
Then simmer on low flame for 5-7 minutes, the longer the better.

Garnish with the coriander and serve hot with rotis or bread. Squeeze fresh lemon juice onto the dal just before eating it...

You can stir in a dollop of fresh cream, or add more ghee if you wish to make it richer. You can also cook the whole thing in very little oil if you are counting calories. I would just do some extra Suryanamaskars and/or go for a longer walk :)