| LENTILS
(DALS)
Dal with rice is the national dish of India. It is also
eaten with rotis by the highest and lowest,from North India
to the South and East to West. All the amino acids absent from rice
are found in dal, which makes the combination the perfect
vegetarian protein dish. It is also easy to digest.Different dals
are popular in different parts of India. In the Punjab and
Delhi the most popular
is black urad dal, but it is cooked with an immense amount
of butter and ghee, so i am omitting it from this book. Also,
it is not ideal for eating with a curry meal. In the East the gram
dal is popular: in fact it is known as Bengal gram (chana
dal). In the Uttar Pradesh, North and Western India
moong dal is liked. It is easy to digest and as such is given
to convalescents. In Uttar Pradesh, the state in India through withic
most of the river Ganges runs and from where the besst dal dishes
come , the mosoor dal id also popular and prepared very well.
In the South,the most commonly eaten dal is the toor dal,
also known aas arhar dal. It is used for making sambhar,
a dish made of ground spices, eaten daily.These dal come
in various forms: whole or split, in the case of moong with
the skin on or off, washed or unwashed or oiled or un-oiled. Cooked
dals can be kept in the refrigerator for 2 days.
MASOOR
DAL
(UTTAR PRADESH
- STYLE)
| 9
oz (250g) pink masoor dal |
1/2-in
(1-cm) ssquare of fresh
ginger, chopped |
| 5
garlic loves |
2-3
green chillies, chopped |
1
teaspoon tamarind pulp
(optional) |
1
teaspoon coriander powder |
| salt |
1/2
teaspoon cumin powder |
| 7
oz (200g) red pumpkin, chopped |
1
teaspoon red chilli powder |
| 1
medium onion chopped |
2
teaspoons lime juice |
| 3
small tomatoes, chopped |
1
tablespoon oil or butter |
1 Wash the dal well and soak for 30 minutes.
2 Chop 3 garlic cloves and keep separate from the other 2,
which should also be chopped.
3 Soak the tamarind, if used, in 1/2 cup warm water for 30
minutes.
4 Bring 7 cup water to the boil in a cooking pot. Add the
dal, return to the boil and add 1 teaspoon salt. Also add
the pumpkin, onion, tomatoes, 3 garlilc loves, ginger, green chillies
and the coriander, cumin and red chilli powders. Cook for 30 minutes
over a moderate heat.
5 Add the tamarind waater (if used) and lime juice through
a strainer. Boil for 2 minutes, the remove from the heaat and whisk
gently with an egg beater, until the grains are completely ,asjed.
6 When ready to serve, heat the oil or butter in ladle and
fry the remaining chopped garlic for 1 minute. Add to the dal.
It is really tasty. The consistency should be like a soft porridege. |
