To make panchmel dal (literally, “five-blend” dal), I take equal quantities of these five legumes: toor dal, masoor dal, yellow moong, chana dal, white urad dal.

Feel free to change things up – vary the proportions, use black urad in place of white, add a dash of green moong. This is a flexible, forgiving recipe – do what you will, it tastes delicious anyway!

You Need:

[For 3-4 servings]

For the five-legume mix:

• Toor dal – 1/5 cup [buy here]
• Chana dal – 1/5 cup [buy here]
• Moong dal – 1/5 cup [buy here]
• Masoor dal – 1/5 cup [buy here]
• Urad dal – 1/5 cup [buy here]

For the masala:

• Tomatoes – 2 medium
• Fenugreek leaves* – 50 grams
• Ginger – 1-inch stick
• Green chili -1, slit vertically
• Salt – 1/2 teaspoon or to taste
• Red chili powder – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here]
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here]
• Coriander seeds – 1 teaspoon [buy here]
• Green cardamom – 1 [buy here]
• Cinnamon – 1-inch stick [buy here]
• Cloves – 3 [buy here]
• Cumin seeds – 1/2 teaspoon [buy here]
• Oil – 1/2 tablespoon

*If fresh fenugreek is not available, replace with a tablespoon of kasoori methi.

For the tadka:

• Dry red chilies – 2, broken
• Garlic – ~1 teaspoon, finely chopped
• Ghee – 1 tablespoon

For garnishing:

• Fresh coriander leaves – a few sprigs, chopped

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How To Make Panchmel Dal:

1. Prep the legumes

Place all the five dals in a large container or bowl. Wash the dals in several changes of water till the water runs clear.

Pour three cups of plain water into the container for soaking the dals. Set aside for two hours.

After two hours, the dals would have swelled somewhat. Drain the water and move on to the next step: make the masala base.

2. Make the masala base

Roughly chop the tomatoes. Scrape and crush or finely chop the ginger.

If using fresh fenugreek, pluck the leaves and chop them coarsely. Discard the stems.

Heat half a tablespoon of oil in the pressure cooker. Add the following spices to hot oil (turn down the heat to minimum when you do this): cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon stick, coriander seeds. Stir around as the whole spices toast and sizzle – be careful to not let anything burn.

As soon as the cumin seeds turn color (this will take only a few seconds), add the chopped ginger and slit green chili to the oil.

Follow with chopped fenugreek and turmeric powder. Stir around to mix everything with the toasted spices.

Turn the heat up again and add chopped tomatoes, red chili powder and salt.

Cook till the tomatoes are slightly mushy.

3. Boil it all together

Transfer the soaked dals to the pressure cooker.

Fry the dals along with the masala base for two minutes.

Pour three cups of water into the dal. Add salt to taste

Lock the lid of the pressure cooker and set the heat to high till you get the first whistle. Set the heat to low and cook for another ten minutes.

Switch off the heat and let the pressure cooker release its steam naturally till the lid comes off without effort. Unlock the lid and this step and mash the dal lightly. Stir in fresh coriander leaves.

We are now ready for the final step – the tadka.

4. Do the tadka

Heat ghee in a tadka ladle on low heat.

When the ghee is hot, tip into it minced garlic and dry red chilies.

As soon as the garlic turns golden and the chilies crisp up, take the ladle off the heat, pour it into the dal and cover.

Panchmel dal is ready to eat.

Serve hot along with rice or chapatis.

Meal below: panchmel dal, stuffed ridge gourd, mooli pickle, chapatis.

Notes:

Try other exotic dal recipes:

The post Panchmel Dal: Five Legume Medley appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

You Need:

[For 3-4 servings]

• Masoor dal (red lentil) – 1 small cup [buy here]
• Chana dal (Bengal gram) – 1 tablespoon [buy here]
• Onion – 1 small, finely chopped (~2 tablespoons)
• Ginger – 1/2 inch stick, finely chopped
• Green chilies – 1
• Salt – to taste
• Red chili powder – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here]
• Coriander powder – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here]
• Cumin powder – 1/4 teaspoon [buy here
• Turmeric powder – a large pinch [buy here]
• Vegetable or peanut oil – for deep frying

The links above are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

How To Make Red Lentil Fritters:

1. Soak the dals

Wash masoor dal and chana dal together in several changes of water till the water runs clear. Soak the dals in three cups of water for at least six hours, or overnight.

The dals absorb the water on soaking, swell and soften. Drain the water, wash again and get ready to grind.

2. Grind

Place the soaked dals in a food processor. Make sure that the water has been completely strained out.

Add chopped ginger and green chilies.

Grind to coarse paste.

Add salt to taste along with the dry spices: cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder.

Grind again.

Transfer the dal paste to a bowl. Knead in finely chopped onions.

Cover and refrigerate for an hour, before you plan to fry the fritters.

2. Fry

Pluck small bite-sized balls of the dal paste.

In a thick-bottomed kadhai or skillet, heat some oil for deep-frying.

When the oil is hot, set heat to low and gently place a few dal balls. Make sure the balls are not jostling for space.(Smile in anticipation as the oil bubbles and sizzles and turns aromatic :) )

When the bottoms have turned golden, turn the dal balls over and let the other side fry till golden too.

When done, take the fritters out of the kadhai carefully using a slotted spoon and place them on absorbent kitchen paper.

Repeat frying the dal balls in small batches till all are done.

During the process, pour in more oil when you need to, and turn up the heat briefly if the pan cools down.

Serve masoor dal pakodi hot with onion rings, chaat masala, lime wedges and chutney/sauce…

…or use them in aloo badi ki sabzi. [Recipe to follow later!]

Notes:

You can freeze these fritters for later use in curries, they stay good for several days when frozen.

Check out other similar Indian snack delicacies:

Try these masoor dal recipes from The Steaming Pot archives:

The post Masoor Dal Pakodi: Red Lentil Fritters appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

Masoor dal (red lentil) is among the most malleable of legumes – once it reaches a boil, it doesn’t take long for it to mush up. Plus it has a mild taste that makes eminently suitable for playing host to assorted vegetables. These qualities of masoor make it work beautifully as a base for soup.

You Need:

• Masoor dal (red lentil) – 1 cup [buy here]
• Potato – 1 medium
• Carrot – 2 medium (~150 grams)
• Spinach – 3-4 leaves
• Onion – 1 medium
• Green chili – 1 (more if you want it hotter)
• Pepper corns – 6-7
• Salt – 1/3 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder – 1/3 teaspoon
• Fresh coriander leaves – a few sprigs for garnishing
• Ghee or butter – 1/2 tablespoon

For the tadka:

• Amchoor powder* (raw mango powder) – 1/3 teaspoon
• Red chili flakes/paprika powder – 1/3 teaspoon
• Garlic – 4 small cloves (~1 teaspoon when chopped)
• Ghee or butter – 1/2 tablespoon
• Salt – a tiny pinch

*If you don’t have amchoor powder, substitute with a squeeze of half a lime in the end.

How To Make Vegetable Red Lentil Soup:

1. Prep the ingredients

Wash red lentil in 3-4 changes of water or till the water runs clear. Soak it in two cups of plain water for an hour.

Peel the onion. Scrape the carrot. Chop both into 1-cm cubes.

Peel the potato. Chop it into similar small pieces.

2. Cook

Heat half a tablespoon of ghee or butter in a thick-bottomed pan or pressure cooker. Add to the pan the chopped onion, carrots, potatoes, pepper corns and green chili. Sauté for five minutes or till the onions are translucent.

Mix 1/3 teaspoon of turmeric powder with the vegetables. Drain the soaking red lentil and transfer it to the pan.

Cook together for a minute, then add three cups of hot water along with salt to taste. Tear the spinach leaf into small pieces and plop them too into the pan.

If using an Indian-style pressure cooker, lock its lid and keep the heat on high till you hear a whistle. Then set the heat to low and cook till the second whistle. Switch off the heat and let the cooker release steam naturally.

If not using a pressure cooker, let the dal and vegetables simmer till they are soft and give way when pressed.

Crush vegetable pieces slightly so that they blend into the dal – you could do this in a food processor or using a hand blender or potato masher.

We are now ready for the final touch – the tadka.

3. Do the tadka

Heat half a tablespoon of butter or ghee in a tadka ladle. When it melts, add to it finely chopped garlic. Keep stirring/swirling to prevent burning. Toast the garlic till they are gold-rimmed. Switch off the heat and add to the sizzling garlic a pinch of salt and half a teaspoon each of red chili powder + amchoor powder.

Ladle the dal into serving bowls and sprinkle freshly chopped coriander leaves. Drizzle the chili-garlic tadka all over. And that’s it – vegetable red lentil soup is ready – dig in! Serve hot as a soup or on the side with a bigger Indian meal.

Meal below: vegetable red lentil soup, methi gobhi, kachumber, potato fries, chapatis.

Notes:

Variation: experiment with other vegetables in this soup: cauliflower and sweet potato, for example.

Like the idea of combining vegetables with dal? Then you should check out these recipes:

The post Vegetable Masoor Dal: Red Lentil Soup appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

This recipe is a meatless take on the dhansak template, with plenty of vegetables and a freshly prepared dhansak masala.

Before I made my own, I had only had dhansak in Parsi restaurants. The dish was consistently delicious (standouts: Soda Bottle Openerwala and the now-closed Daddy’s Deli Bangalore) – but no two offerings tasted alike. So in my first attempt at preparing dhansak, I searched earnestly for a solid recipe. Youtube videos, blogs, old books. The challenge compounded. I found as many variations as the number of recipes. There were pretty wide differences in

With a few trials and adaptations, based partially on what I usually have in stock (sorry, patthar ke phool), I have finally settled for the recipe as I lay out below.

Note: I am fairly flexible about the dals as well as the vegetables that go into dhansak – whatever is in season or in my pantry is fair game. The main consideration is that the quantity totals should tally. For example, if the only dal I have on hand is toor, I would put in enough of it so that the overall quantity of dals remains the same. If I skip the potato or eggplant, I would add more pumpkin or chayote. If going beyond the listed ingredients, I would pick substitutes from a similar flavor profile – for example, masoor would be swapped with yellow moong, not rajma; pumpkin with butternut squash, not capsicum.

Some of the links below are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

You Need:

[For 4-6 people]

To boil together:

• Toor dal – 3/4 cup [buy here]
• Masoor dal – 1/4 cup [buy here]
• Chana dal – 1/4 cup [buy here]
• Pumpkin – 2 cups, cubed
• Bottle gourd or chayote (chow chow) – 1/2 cup, cubed
• Eggplant – 1/2 cup, cubed
• Potato – 1/2 cup, cubed
• Tomatoes – 1 cup, cubed
• Turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon [buy here]
• Bay leaves – 2

For the dry dhansak masala powder:

• Coriander seeds – 1 tablespoon
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon [buy here]
• Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
• Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
• Peppercorns – 8
• Dry red chilies – 1 or 2
• Cinnamon stick – 1-inch stick [buy here]
• Cloves – 2 [buy here]

For the tempering:

• Salt – to taste
• Tamarind – coin-sized ball
• Tomatoes – 1
• Onions – 2 medium
• Green chili – 1 (optional)
• Garlic – 8 small cloves / 3 big cloves
• Ginger – 1-inch stick
• Cinnamon stick – 1 small
• Ghee – 2 tablespoons

Garnishing:

Kasoori methi, coriander leaves

How To Make Vegetarian Dhansak:

1. Boil the dal and veggies

Wash the dals (toor + masoor + chana) together in several changes of water till the water runs clear. Soak the dals in three cups of water for 30 minutes.

While the dals soak, chop the veggies (pumpkin + eggplant + potatoes (peeled) + chow chow / bottle gourd + tomatoes) into bite-sized chunks.

Tip: Place the eggplant and potatoes in salted water till ready to use, to prevent discoloration.

Drain the soaking dals and place them in a pressure cooker, along with all the chopped vegetables. Pour in three cups of water. Add a teaspoon of turmeric powder and a couple of bay leaves.

Give it all a stir. Lock the lid of the pressure cooker and boil till the dals and vegetables have softened to mashable consistency. In an Indian-style cooker, this takes boiling on high heat till the first whistle, and then further simmering on low heat till the cooker lets out two more whistles.

Let the cooker stand till it has let out its steam naturally. Unlock the lid.

Blend the dals to the consistency you like: use a whisk for coarse texture, a blender for fine texture. Or, do what I do: blend a fourth of the boiled dal and veggies in a blender and mash the rest using the back of a ladle.

2. Make the dry dhansak powder

Dry roast these whole spices on low heat, one by one, in a thick-bottomed pan or tava: a tablespoon of coriander seeds, a teaspoon of cumin seeds, half a teaspoon each of fenugreek and mustard seeds, a few pepper corns, a dry red chili or two, a small cinnamon stick and two cloves.

Let the spices cool.

Dry grind them in a spice grinder.

Dhansak masala powder is ready. Keep aside till it’s time to use.

3. Make the tempering

Soak a coin-sized ball of tamarind in half a cup of hot water. After twenty minutes, mash the tamarind into the water, discard the roughage and seeds if any.

Grind together an inch stick of ginger, garlic cloves and half an onion.

Slice the remaining onion finely.

Heat two tablespoons of ghee in a thick-bottomed pan. When the ghee is hot, set the heat to medium and slide in the sliced onions along with a cinnamon stick.

Fry the onions for five minutes.

Then add to the pan the ginger-garlic-onion paste.

Stir continuously while the onion paste browns and becomes fragrant.

Add a tomato, either chopped or pureed, and a slit green chili if using.

Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring things around, or till the tomato turned a deeper hue.

Now is the time to put in our freshly made dhansak masala powder.

Give a final stir take the pan off the heat.

4. Put it all together

Mix together the boiled dal and vegetables (step 1) with the tempering (step 3).

Pour tamarind water into the dhansak.

Tip: If the tempering is stuck to the pan it was prepared in, use tamarind water to deglaze that pan first and then pour that into the dhansak.

Bring to a boil. Add water to thin it out if you like, and adjust salt.

Dhansak is ready.

Serve dhansak hot, garnished with fresh coriander leaves / kasoori methi.

Dhansak is typically paired with Parsi brown rice and kachumber salad.

Meal below (clockwise from left): berry pulao, aloo stir-fry, kachumber salad, dhansak, grape chutney.

Notes:

Like the idea of vegetables and dal boiled together? Then you will also enjoy poi saag toor dal, mooli sambar, pumpkin masoor dal with chili garlic relish.

The post Dhansak: Parsi Dal and Vegetable Medley appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

Masoor dal and pumpkin, both mild-flavored and quick cooking, get a burst of flavor from the swirl of chili garlic chutney added as a finishing touch.

You Need:

[Serves 4]

• Pumpkin* – 500 grams
• Masoor dal (red lentil) – 1/2 cup
• Chili garlic chutney – 1 heaped tablespoon
• Ginger – 1/2 inch stick
• Green chili – 1 (optional)
• Bay leaf – 1
• Salt – to taste
• Turmeric powder – 1/3 teaspoon

*Pumpkin cultivar no rigid bar. I usually make this using the kobucha or what goes by the name "Disco pumpkin" in south India.

In the picture above (clockwise from top-left): red lentil, bay leaf, ginger, pumpkin, green chili.

How To Make Pumpkin Masoor Dal with Chili Garlic Relish:

1. Prep the ingredients

Wash masoor dal in several changes of water till the water is clear. Soak the dal in two cups of water.

After half an hour, drain.

Peel the pumpkin if using a tough-skinned variety. (I usually the peel remain on.) Scoop out and discard the seeds. Chop the pumpkin into 1-inch pieces.

Chop up a green chili.

Crush or grate a 1/2-inch ginger stick.

Make and keep garlic chili chutney handy.

2. Boil the pumpkin and masoor dal

In a pressure cooker, add soaked masoor dal, chopped pumpkin, 1/3 teaspoon of turmeric powder, chopped green chili, grated/crushed ginger, one dry bay leaf.

Add three cups of water to the pressure cooker. Mix.

Lock the lid and boil on high heat till the first whistle, then on low heat for another five minutes.

Let the pressure cooker cool down till the lid can be unlocked without effort.

[If not using a pressure cooker, boil the pumpkin masoor dal in a lidded pan till the ingredients have softened to your liking. Adjust the quantity of water and cooking time – it will take longer without a pressure cooker.]

Mash a few of the soft pumpkin chunks into the dal.

3. Swirl in the chili garlic relish

Add a tablespoon of chili garlic chutney into the boiled pumpkin masoor dal.

Gently mix it all together.

Top with more salt as needed. Discard the bay leaf.

Pumpkin masoor dal with chili garlic relish is ready. Serve hot either on its own or on the side with rice/bread.

Meal below: ghee millet, aloo sem, pumpkin masoor dal with chili garlic relish, methi gobhi, fresh carrot sticks.

Notes:

Try other pumpkin recipes too: pumpkin poi saag, pumkin za’atar with butter garlic sauce, pumpkin mangodi curry.

The post Pumpkin Masoor Dal with Chili Garlic Relish appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

Dal without salt? Did the ingredient list miss that by accident or is this dish really meant to have no salt?

Well, moong dal halwa is dal without salt, and that’s the finest dessert ever.

But there’s garlic-infused oil and tamarind in this recipe – no dessert worth its er…salt…has garlic.

Who said this is a dessert?

Guesswork much? Just follow the recipe and find out for sure.

So I did follow the recipe, with a couple of tiny adaptations. I ended up with an unusual, rich and tangy dal, the taste of which grew on me with each spoonful.

Khatti meethi masoor dal is probably not for the traditional Indian palate – if you plan to serve it to someone who picks from a restaurant menu only the dishes s/he recognizes, do so at your own risk. This dal is no turmeric-infused broth with ghee ka tadka – it is closer to a lentil-ized version of imli chutney. Khatti meethi masoor dal stands as a complete dish on its own. I had it with chapatis, but I could as well have done without the accompaniment.

You Need:

• Masoor dal (red lentils) – 3/4 cup
• Dates – 6
• Tamarind – lemon-sized ball*
• Ginger – 3/4-inch stick
• Garlic – 1 clove**
• Red chili flakes – 1/2 teaspoon***
• Bay leaf – 1
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Oil – 2 teaspoons
• Black salt (kala namak) – a pinch***
• Pomegranate seeds – 1 tablespoon
• Coriander leaves – a few sprigs

   * Substituted tamarind paste with dry tamarind.

** The original recipe called for garlic infused olive oil, which I did not have – so I used a clove of crushed garlic to flavor the oil before adding other ingredients.

*** There’s no chili or black salt in the original recipe, but I couldn’t resist adding a bit.

In the picture above (clockwise from top): Fresh coriander leaves, dates, tamarind, red chili flakes, cumin seeds, red lentils, pomegranate.

How To Make Khatti Meethi Masoor Dal:

1. Before you cook

Soak a lemon-sized ball of tamarind in 1/3 cup of water for 20 minutes. Mash to extract the pulp.

Wash red lentils in several changes of water, till the water runs clear. Soak the lentils for 30 minutes. Drain before use.

Pit the dates and chop them into small pieces.

Grate the ginger. Crush garlic.

Shell the pomegranates. Chop fresh coriander leaves.

2. On the fire

Heat two teaspoons of oil in a pan (use a pan with a close-fitting lid, we’ll come to the lid in some time). When hot, add crushed garlic and cumin seeds. As soon as the seeds crackle, add grated ginger and dry red chili flakes. Stir for a minute.

Add soaked red lentils next and give it a good stir. Follow with tamarind pulp and two and a half cups of hot water. Add the chopped dates. Bring to a boil, then set the heat to low.

Close the lid and let the pan simmer for 30 minutes undisturbed.

Take off the lid and check the consistency of the dal. Cook for a few more minutes, as long as the dal becomes as soft and thick as you’d like.

Take the dal off the heat and mix a pinch of black salt into it.

Pour khatti meethi masoor dal into serving bowls, sprinkle pomegranate seeds and fresh coriander leaves. Serve along with chapatis or on its own for a wholesome meal.

Epilogue

My internal conversation continues:

How did the dish in the source recipe turn out light-colored? With tamarind and dates in it, I get a rich brown!

Let me know how it turns out for you…and if you would rather have traditional Indian style red lentil, make masoor dal tadka.

The post Khatti Meethi Masoor Dal: Red Lentil with Tamarind and Dates appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

In case you’re wondering, tadka is the process of tempering spices in hot oil and pouring them along with the oil into a dish. I use ghee for tadka in this recipe; the aroma of ghee brings out the earthy flavor of masoor dal.

Ingredients:

Some links below are amazon.com affiliate links. The Steaming Pot will earn a small commission if you buy via the links, at no additional cost to you.

• Masoor dal (red lentil) – 1 cup
• Onion – 1
• Tomatoes – 2
• Green chili – 1
• Ginger – 1-inch stick
• Asafoetida – 1/2 teaspoon
• Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt – to taste
• Dry red chilies – 1
• Kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) – 1 tablespoon
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Ghee – 1 tablespoon

How To Make Masoor Dal Tadka:

Measure out a cup of masoor dal in a pressure cooker.

Wash the dal in several changes of water till the water runs clear. In the pressure cooker, add to the washed dal 2 cups of water, 1 chopped onion, 2 chopped tomatoes, chopped green chili, crushed ginger, turmeric powder and asafoetida powder.

Lock the lid of the cooker. Cook on high flame till one whisle, then on low flame for another 2 whistles. If not using a pressure cooker, cook in a pan covered till the dal has cooked. I like to cook masoor till the point where the dal is soft and mushes when pressed but the individual lentil grains otherwise retain their shape.

Let the pressure cooker release its steam naturally. Take the lid off, check if the thickness of dal is as you like. In case you want it thinner, add some extra water and bring the dal to a boil again.

Add salt and crushed kasoori methi to the cooked masoor dal. I give the dal a vigorous stir at this stage to blend the boiled pieces of onions and tomatoes, but take care not to pulverise my dal into paste.

Do the tadka:

In a tadka ladle, heat a tablespoon of ghee. When hot, turn the heat to low and add cumin seeds. As soon as cumin seeds splutter, turn off the heat. Immediately add a dry red chili (torn into 4-5 pieces), coriander powder, red chili powder and a teeny-tiny pinch of salt. Stir the ghee so that the masalas get cooked but don’t burn. After 20 seconds, pour the hot spiced ghee  into the dal.

Serve immediately.  My meal below: masoor dal tadka, crispy plantain and toast [yeah, I was hungry so didn’t bother to make chapatis :-)].

Tips:

Add a pinch of salt to the tadka as the fried red chili bits in the dal taste delicious with a bit of salty crunch of them. If you discard the dried red chilies after the tadka (and I urge you not to!), you could skip the tadka salting.

Related Recipes:

Try more tadka recipes:

The post Masoor Dal Tadka: Red Lentils with Ghee Tempering appeared first on The Steaming Pot.