Dhals (Lentils)

When I think of comfort food, dhal ranks really high up along with my south Indian favorites of sambar and molagootal. There are many ways to make dhal and also different lentils that are used to make dhal. I am going to list a few different ways I cook dhal. But the basic method is as follows:

Step 1: Soak the lentils for an hour or two. Soaking the lentils helps it to cook faster.
Step 2: Pressure cook the lentils.
           Some varieties of dhal dishes call for spinach or methi (fenugreek) leaves to be boiled separately.
Step 3: Make a thalimpu (seasonings)
Step 4: Add in the cooked lentils and combine ingredients to get a delicious dhal.

Dhal can be eaten with rice or chapathis (bread).

Basic paruppu (in Tamil) or pappu (in Telugu):

This version of dhal is eaten with rice and is a staple for young children. 

Ingredients:

• Toor dhal or moong dhal - 0.5 cup
• Turmeric - a pinch 
• Water - 1 cup
• Ghee - 0.5 tsp
• Salt - per your taste

Steps:

1. Soak the dhal in water for about an hour if possible
2. Pressure cook the dhal with turmeric and salt. If cooking on the stove, simmer on low till the lentils are soft.
3. Serve with rice and ghee.

Variations: When my son, Dhruv was a toddler, I used to pressure cook the dhal with rice, ghee and a variety of vegetables like carrots, beans, peas, kale, daikon radish, spinach and zucchini. I still serve him sambar for his dosa based on this recipe. 

Spinach Dhal:

Spinach dhal is pretty versatile and can be eaten with chapathis or rice. I am going to list two ways of making it. 

Spinach dhal with onions and ginger:

Ingredients:

• Toor dhal or moong dhal - 1 cup
• Spinach - 1 packet of frozen spinach or 10 oz. of fresh spinach
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 0.5 tsp (if you do not like spicy food, leave this ingredient out or reduce the quantity)
• Mustard seeds - 0.5 tsp
• Cumin (jeera) seeds - 0.5 tsp
• Ginger - 0.5 inch piece chopped finely
• Water - 2 cups 
• Ghee - 0.5 tsp
• Salt - per your taste
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Optionally, add in 1/2 an onion chopped finely.
• Optionally, add in 1 pod of garlic chopped finely.

Steps:

1. Soak the lentils for about an hour.
2. Boil the spinach and the lentils separately. 
3. Drain the spinach and remove as much of the water as possible.
4. In a pot, allow oil to heat up and add in mustard and cumin seeds. Wait for the mustard to splutter.
5. If including onions in the recipe, add in the onions and saute till the onions are translucent.
6. Add in the ginger (and garlic) and cook for a few seconds.
7. Add in turmeric and red chilli powder.
8. Add in lentils, spinach and salt.
9. Let it simmer for a few minutes (about 5 minutes).
10. Add in the ghee for extra yumminess.

Spinach/methi dhal with ginger:

Ingredients:

• Toor dhal or moong dhal - 1 cup
• Spinach - 1 packet of frozen spinach or 10 oz. of fresh spinach. If you using fenugreek (methi) leaves instead of spinach, use one or two frozen cubes of methi. Methi is bitter so unless you have a taste for it, I would go easy on it.
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Ginger - 1 inch cube - mash it with your knife.
• Cumin (jeera) seeds - 0.5 tsp
• Water - 2 cups 
• Ghee - 1 tbsp (oil can be used instead of ghee)
• Salt - per your taste

Steps:

1. Soak the lentils in water for about half an hour to an hour.
2. Pressure cook the lentils and the spinach or methi together.
3. In a pot, add ghee, cumin seeds and ginger and saute for a minute till the ghee gets hot.
4. Add the cooked lentils-greens and turmeric and salt.
5. Once the dhal bubbles, switch off the stove. It is ready to serve!

Tomato Pulao

Yum! My mom is one of the best cooks ever!! Her tomato rice is my favorite. I have made an upgraded version to marry the tomato rice with a biryani. Biryani is pretty labor intensive and also takes a lot of time to cook (about 3 hours). I have stolen aspects from both dishes to make a tomato pulao that does not take long to cook and still has all the flavors of a biryani. Paired with raita this is an awesome dish that can be enjoyed over many meals.

This recipe will feed upto 5 people so halve the quantities if making it for 2-3 people.

Ingredients

1. Bay leaf - 1
2. Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 tsp
3. Cardamom - 3
4. Cloves - 6
5. Cinnamon - 1 big stick
6. Onions - 1 big (finely chopped)
7. Ginger - 1 inch  (finely chopped) 
8. Garlic - 6 pods  (finely chopped)
9. Tomatoes - 6   (finely chopped)
10. Ghee - 2 tbsps
11. Turmeric powder - 1tsp
12. Red chilli powder - 2 tsps (you might want to tone down the spice)
13. Coriander (dhanya) powder - 1 tsp
14. Shaan Bombay Biriyani masala - 1 tbsp
15. Green chillies - 2-3 (slit lengthwise)
16. Mint leaves - about 20 leaves
17. Coriander leaves - about 1/3 of a bunch
18. Basmati rice - 2 cups 
19. A pinch of saffron in 2-3 tbsps of milk
20. Salt - per your taste
21. Olive oil - 2 tbsps
22. Water - 4 cups

Procedure:

1. Soak rice in water for about 45 minutes.
2. In oil in a pan (kadai), lightly saute the cinnamon, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves and bay leaf.
3. Add in the onions and saute till the onions are fully cooked (become translucent).
4. Add in the ginger and garlic and saute for a minute. 
5. Add a tbsp of ghee before adding the turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder and biryani masala.
6. Let the onion-masala mixture cook for about a 1 minute on lower heat before adding in the tomatoes and green chillies.
7. Add in the chopped cilantro and mint leaves.
8. Close the lid and let the mixture cook for a bit till the tomatoes get pastey.
9. Put onion-tomato mixture and 1 tsp of ghee in a rice cooker with basmati rice (water is 1 cup rice: 2 cups of water) and add in the saffron milk to it and let it cook!!  

Peas pulao (Flavored rice with peas)

This recipe is my mother-in-law’s invention and is absolutely delicious. It has been in instant hit whenever I have made it. Can be paired with north-indian or even some south indian curries (like egg masala or kormas). This is great dish to take to a potluck or when having friends over. This is not a spicy dish. My husband, Janardhan, loves to eat it with his favorite palak paneer.

Ingredients:

• Basmati rice – 1 cup
• Water – 2 cups
• Onions – ½ an onion finely chopped (the dish can be made without the onions as well).
• Ginger – 1 inch piece
• Garlic – 1-2 pods of garlic finely chopped. 

Alternatively (use ginger-garlic paste). I personally prefer fresh ginger and garlic.

• Bay leaf – 1
• Cumin seeds (aka jeera) – 1 tsp
• Cloves – 2 or 3
• Cinnamon – 1 stick
• Cardamom – 1
•  Peas – fresh or frozen about ½ to 1 cup. Add more or less based on your preference.  I use half a packet of frozen peas since I always to tend to have it on hand.
• Salt (per your preference)
• Olive oil – 1 or 2 tbsps of oil
• Ghee (optional) – 1 tsp.

Steps:

1. Soak 1 cup of basmati rice in 2 cups of water for about 15-20 minutes.
2. In a cooking pan, heat oil.
3.  Add in the cumin seeds and bay leaf.
4.  Add in the cloves, cinnamon and cardamom.
5. Allow the spices to cook for about 30 seconds and add in the finely chopped onion.
6. When the onions become translucent, reduce the heat and add in the ginger and garlic. Cook for a minute.
7. Add in the peas and salt. Cook for a couple of minutes.
8. Add the mixture into the electric or pressure  cooker along with the rice and ghee.  If you are cooking the rice in a pot on the stove top, add the rice, water and ghee to the onion-spice mixture and cover till the water boils and then simmer at reduced heat till the rice is fully cooked.