Dal recipe – another vegetarian and vegan friendly recipe from Indian cuisine. This Dal is a part of everyday meal of Indian households and there are versions of recipes available. The one which I am going to share is my family recipe. This recipe is super easy and requires minimal ingredients. These ingredients are easily available and you can make this dal quickly. This yellow dal is served with plain steamed rice along with pickle or papad & it makes a perfect satiating meal combo 🙂

Following proportion is perfect for 2-3 people. So let’s checkout recipe of Dal.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup toor dal or yellow split pigeon peas

1 small onion

1/2 tomato

2-3 small green chillies

4-5 garlic cloves

few curry leaves

1/2 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Water for cooking

Salt for taste

Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

Soak the dal for 3-4 hours and then boil it in the pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles. While boiling the dal, add turmeric powder into it. Once dal is boiled, whisk it gently (refer images). If pressure cooker is not available then boil it in pan until it turns soft (refer 3rd image below).

Heat the pan on high-medium flame and add oil into it. Add mustard seeds into hot oil and when it splutters throw cumin seeds into it. Next goes asafoetida, curry leaves, finely chopped garlic and onions into the pan one by one. Stir it occasionally until onions turns translucent. Also, add green chillies and fry them.

Next, add chopped tomatoes and mix it properly along with other ingredients. Add salt and stir together. Lastly, add boiled dal into the pan and let it cook along with other ingredients. Add water to adjust the consistency as required.

Further boil the dal along with all ingredients, foam will start appearing from the sides. Let it simmer for 3-4 minutes and then switch off the heat. You can garnish it with freshly chopped coriander leaves or freshly grated coconut.

We call this yellow dal as ‘Varan’ in our regional language is ready to serve. You can enjoy it with steamed rice and some side dish. At our home, we usually serve it with rice and some fried side dish.

I hope you would love to try this recipe. If any questions or feedback let me know in the comments.