Maharashtrian Varan Recipe
'Varan' is a soul satisfying food and the quintessential recipe of Maharashtrian cuisine. It is a simple rather basic recipe prepared using toor dal (aka split pigeon peas) and other handful ingredients. It is paired with rice and dollop of ghee over the top.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup toor dal or split pigeon peas
- 1-2 tbsp ghee or clarified butter
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- salt as per taste
- water as required
Instructions
- Rinse toor dal and soak it in enough water for 4-5 hours.
- Once dal is soaked for sufficient time ; it will swell in size and cooks easily.
- I am using pressure cooker to cook soaked toor dal as it's a faster method.(Alternatively, dal can be cooked over high heat in a pan; but it is a time consuming process.)
- Transfer soaked toor dal into pressure cooker and add enough water to cover it.
- Tip in turmeric, asafoetida and salt along with little ghee. Cover the pressure cooker and cook for 4-5 whistles or until dal is cooked.
- Once pressure cooker is cooled down; open it and whisk cooked dal until smooth consistency.
- Transfer cooked dal into a pan over high-medium heat. Cook it further until thick and smooth.
- Add more salt if required and give a quick stir.
- You can serve this thick golden dal as 'Varan' with hot steamed rice. Additionally; pour a hot tempering over the dal before serving.
- For tempering; take a small pan over high heat and add ghee into it.
- Once ghee starts melting; add mustard seeds and let it crackle for few seconds. Next add cumin seeds into the hot pan. Let it splutter and pour this hot tempering over the daal.
- Our 'Varan' is ready to serve.
Notes
- Pressure cooker is preferred for faster and easier cooking.
- For perfect results; soak dal for sufficient time.
- Use of ghee is completely optional iand can be replaced with vegetable oil. But I would highly recommend to use ghee in this recipe unless any dietary restrictions.