Lentils (dals) are such an important part of avegetarian’s meal everyday, for all the protein it has, and for itsaccompaniment to rice and roti. And myhubby being brought up in South India, needsrice and dal every day, while I’m happy with only roti and sabji. But since I have to cookdal daily, I get really, really bored making and eating the same thingeveryday. So what I do is add variety tothe simple dal.
On dailybasis, we mostly have split pigeon peas (toordal), bengal gram (chana dal),split green gram (yellow moong dal),and sometimes I add some split orange lentils (chilkewali masoor dal) or Turkish gram/mat bean (moth/matki) to it. The lentils, the spices, the vegetables, thequantities – everything in this dal recipe is absolutely flexible. Even the procedure is flexible! Though for a simple and plain dal, itwouldn’t even have such a long list of ingredients and method.
But forone, I don’t ever make the plain dal with only the cumin seeds tadka.(What is tadka?) I’m always adding vegetablesto my dal – basic ones being tomato and spinach, making it tamatar-palak dal. Otherwise any other vegetables, for exampleif there are some veggies chopped extra from previous meal, or if some veggiesare about to rot, or sometimes just anything random. Not only does it make dal more nutritious, italso adds color. And helps me playguessing games with my husband – if he guesses the correct vegetables in thedal, he gets dessert. Hehe.
There are 3ways of cooking this mixed vegetable in yellow lentils using pressure cooker:
1) Everything altogether in the pressure cooker, let’s call itone-pot dal, and
2) Dal cooked in pressure cooker, veggies cooked in pan, let’s callit two-pot dal.
3) Dal andveggies in pressure cooker, tadka in the end, let’s call it pot-pot dal. lol.
I make Dal# 1 when I have the time to chop and prepare everything before or whilestarting to pressure cook the lentils and veggies. I make Dal # 2 when I lack time and need toprepare veggies while dal gets pressure cooked and cooled. I make Dal # 3 when I forget the tempering(tadka) at the beginning and go on throwing everything in the pressure cooker. Hehe, yes, that happens too.
It also dependson my mood; when I feel like cooking either style or whether I wish to wash theextra pan, but each of them taste equally great.
Ingredients you’ll need for making one-pot, two-pot, orpot-pot style of mixed vegetable dal – mixed vegetables in yellow lentils:
1 cup splitpigeon peas / Bengal gram / split green gramor a combination of either
2 tsp oil/clarified butter [ghee]
1 tspmustard seeds [rai] / cumin seeds [jeera] / combination of both
2–4 driedred chilies, broken [sookhi lal mirchi] *
6–10 curryleaves [kari patta] *
1 pinchasafoetida [heeng] *
1 tsp mincedgarlic / garlic paste, or to taste [lehsun] *
1 tsp gratedginger / ginger paste, or to taste [adrak] *
1 tsp choppedgreen chilies / green chili paste, or to taste [hari mirch]
AND/OR 1tsp red chili powder, or to taste [lal mirch powder]
¼ tspturmeric powder [haldi]
2-3 cupsvarious chopped vegetables [sabji]
1 tsp salt,or to taste [namak]
½ tsp sugar,or to taste [shakkar/cheeni] *
1 tsp lemonjuice, or to taste [nimbu ka ras] *
1 Tbspcilantro chopped [haradhaniya/kothmir] *
*optional
Read more on how to cook lentils in a pressure cooker.
Dal # 1: Procedure for one-pot mixed vegetable dal in a pressurecooker:
1. Rinse the 1 cupdal several times until clean. I don’tlike to wash under running water because it wastes a lot of water. Instead, I fill up water in one of my plasticcontainers and rub the lentils inside.Then discard dirty water, fill fresh tap water again. Continue this cycle about 4-5 times. Then if you have time, you can let the dalsoak in 2 cups water for anywhere between 20 minutes to 2 hours. Or you can use it right away.
2. Heat oil/ghee inpressure cooker, add mustard seeds AND/OR cumin seeds, let pop, add dry redchilies + curry leaves + asafoetida.
At this point, if you’re using onions as one of your vegetables,you add them first inside the pressure cooker to sauté until golden-brown, thenadd garlic + ginger + green chilies AND/OR red chili powder + turmeric powder +all other vegetables + your choice of dal that you rinsed.
Mix everything for a minute.Now even if you don’t sauté onions first, you can just throw all theingredients together in the pressure cooker and the dal will still turn outgreat. But I notice that sautéing thevegetables and lentils first gives a better flavor and I like it this way. Now, after you’ve mixed all well, add salt +sugar + about 2.5 cup to max 3 cups water.
3. Close the pressurecooker lid tight and well. Let the dalcook on medium heat until 3-4 whistles until done, then switch off heat. Open the lid when all the steam is out andit’s safe. Mix the dal around because itmay have settled in the bottom and some water layer on top. Add lemon juice and garnish with cilantro.
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Dal # 2: Procedurefor two-pot mixed vegetable dal using a pressure cooker and a pan:
1. The concept ofrinse and soak is same as the Procedure # 1 above. Then put the dal + 2 cup water in pressurecooker, let cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes until 3-4 whistles. Switch off heat when the dal is done, whileyou are cooking the veggies.
2. While that goes on, start to prepare all the pastes orchopped vegetables and other ingredients.Then heat oil/ghee in pan. Addmustard seeds AND/OR cumin seeds, let pop, add dry red chilies + curry leaves +asafoetida. At this point, if you’reusing onions AND/OR potato as one of your vegetables, you add them first andsauté until golden-brown, then add garlic + ginger + green chilies AND/OR redchili powder + turmeric powder + all other vegetables and cook for couple ofminutes like you would prepare a stir-fry vegetable dish. Add salt + sugar and mix.
3. At this point: a)if your dal is pressure cooked and the steam is cooled down and ready to openlid – check the consistency of dal, if you like a more liquidy dal (I don't) thenadd water and let it come to a boil, then pour the dal into the pan ofstir-fried veggies, otherwise b) switch off the heat of pan and wait until dalis pressure cooked, then adjust water, boil, pour into pan and reheat.
4. Mix the dal and veggies until well combined. Taste and adjustsalt, add lemon juice and garnish with cilantro.
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Dal # 3: Procedurefor pot-pot mixed vegetable dal using a pressure cooker and a ladle:
1. The concept ofrinsing and soaking the dal is same as the Procedure # 1 of one-pot dal above. Then put the dal + garlic + ginger + greenchilies AND/OR red chili powder + turmeric powder + all vegetables + salt +sugar + 2.5 cup water in pressure cooker, let cook on medium heat for 20-25minutes until 3-4 whistles.
2. Switch offheat and let the pressure release completely before you open the pressurecooker lid. If your dal is thick and youwant it liquidier, now is the time to add water to the dal within pressurecooker and let it come to a boil without the lid. Then leave dal in the pressure cooker ortransfer to serving bowl.
3. Now get the tadka ready. In a ladle or the smallest bowl-shaped panyou have, heat up oil. Add mustard seeds AND/OR cumin seeds, let pop, add dry red chilies+ curry leaves + asafoetida and let heat up few seconds. Quickly but gently insert this ladle/pan intothe dal. It will sizzle big time. Mix well.Taste and adjust salt, add lemon juice and garnish with cilantro.
The 1 cupraw/uncooked dal along with vegetables ends up in double the quantity and makesenough for 5-6 persons. I usually make this amount of dal at dinner, packsome in lunchbox for husband for the next day and keep some for my lunchtoo. It's great for working and busy people because you can make this dalonce and refrigerate in small containers to consume over a period of 3-4 days,or freeze and consume within 2-3 months. Dal freezes well.
Serve the warm Mixed Vegetable Dal (orif it’s Tamatar-Palak Dal) with roti and rice, at lunch or dinner, or have thedal by itself. It is nutritious and canbe consumed just like a soup. But don’tcall it “Dal Soup”, puh-leese!
What do you have to cook regularly and how do you add variety to it? Tell me!
