Methi Dal | fresh fenugreek leaves cooked with pigeon peas

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Methi Dal

Dec is always the season of celebration. It starts a bit early for me as its also my bday in Dec:) As you can imagine I ate out a lot of times, ate in excess and a lot of sugary stuff. Now its time to work it off with some healthy and comfort food. After all homemade food is the best, here is the recipe for a very tasty and healthy dish - methi dal. Fresh fenugreek leaves are cooked along with split yellow pigeon peas. It tastes heavenly when served with  steaming rice and a spoonful of ghee.

Ingredients:

Yellow pigeon peas/ Toor dal : 1 cup
Fresh fenugreek leaves: 2 cups
Sliced Onion: 1/2 cup
Green chilies:6-7
Chopped Garlic : 1 tbsp
Chopped ginger: 1 tbsp
Clarified butter/ghee :1 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida: 1 big pinch

Coriander powder: 1 tbsp
Cumin powder: 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder : 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala powder : 1/4 tsp (Optional)
Lemon juice : 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash and soak toor dal in enough water for 15 mins and pressure cook with a pinch of turmeric powder and a drop of oil.

2. Clean and wash the methi leaves, roughly chop and sprinkle a little salt and keep for 10 mins. Squeeze and remove the excess water from leaves.

3. Heat ghee in a pan and add cumin seeds, when it splutters add asafoetida/hing and stir. Add in chopped ginger and garlic and sauté until the raw smell disappears

4. Mix in sliced onion and green chilies and cook until the onions are translucent.

5. Quickly mix the spices - turmeric powder, coriander and cumin powder and stir it.

6. Add the methi leaves and cook until the leaves wilt - about 2-3 mins.

7. Add cooked dal and salt and bring to boil. Continue to boil for 5-7 minutes .

8. Add garam a Masala powder if using and mix well. Finally add the freshly squeezed lemon juice and turn off the flame.

9. Keep covered for 5-10 mins so that all the flavors blend well. Serve it hot with steaming rice and a dollop of ghee.

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Dal Tadka Recipe

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Dal tadka or tempered lentils dish is very popular all over India. Restaurant menus are incomplete without this flavorful dish. It tastes great with roti/phulka or any flavored rice.

It's a dhaba (roadside eateries) style recipe where dal is pressure cooked with onion, tomato, chillies and tempered with flavorful spices. I have made this dal a lot of times and it tasted as good as from a restaurant. Here is how I make it.

Ingredients: 
Yellow Pegion Pea/Toor Dal/Togaribele: 1/2 cup
Red Pegion Pea/Masoor Dal/Masoor Bele: 1/2 cup
Medium Size Onion: 1
Medium Tomato : 2
Green Chilli: 2
Ginger: 1 inch
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder: 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala: 1/2 tsp
Kasoori Methi (Dried Fenugreek Leaves): 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Fresh Cream : 2 Tbsp (Optional)
Garlic: 4-5 cloves
Butter/Ghee: 2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp
Broken dry red chilli:  1 
Coriander Leaves : handful

Method:

1. Soak both lentils in enough water in a pressure cooker and keep aside for 15-20 minutes.
 
2. Finely Chop Onion, Tomato and Ginger and slit Green chillies lengthwise and add to the cooker.

3. Add Salt, Turmeric and few drops of oil to dal and pressure cook it for 3-4 whistles.

4. When the Dal is cooked open the lid and mash it with a ladle or a wired whisk and keep on medium flame.

5. Add Garam masala powder, Red Chilli powder, crushed Kasoori Methi leaves, Coriander leaves and Fresh cream (if using) and mix well.

6. Adjust the consistency by adding water and bring to boil and turn off the flame.

7. Heat ghee/butter in a tempering pan and add cumin seeds, chopped garlic, Asafoetida and broken dry red chilli and fry until the garlic turns to golden brown in color.

8. Pour the tempering on dal and close the lid.Garnish with remaining coriander leaves and Serve hot with flavored rice or roti/chapathi.

Notes:
1.You can add Bengal gram (Chana dal) along with yellow and red Pegion pea or make it with just one of the lentils.

2.Cream is optional but it gives a smooth texture to dal and enhances the taste.
3.Squeeze in a tsp of lemon juice if the tomatoes are not sour enough.
4.Adjust the red chilli powder and garam masala powder according to your spice preference.

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Tovve | Bele saru | Simple Dal Recipe

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Tovve refers to Dal preparation without adding any saaru/rasam powder. It must be the easiest and quickest dal recipe and tastes wonderful. We need only a handful of ingredients to prepare this comfort food. 

Nothing can replace mother's love and food :-) It reminds me of amma and home sweet home. One of my favorites from my mother's everyday recipes. This week I plan to share some of the dishes that I learnt from my mother's kitchen.

 

Here is the stepwise instruction to make Togaribele Tovve.

Ingredients:

Togaribele / Toor dal: 1 cup

Ghee/coconut oil: 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds: 1 tsp

Asafoetida/hing: 1/4 tsp

Green chillies : 5-6

Curry leaves : 1 sprig

Ginger: 2 inches

Turmeric : 1/2 tsp

Tamarind : a marble size.

Salt to taste

Chopped Coriander leaves: 2 tbsp

Method: 

1. Wash and soak dal in enough water for 15 minutes and pressure cook with a pinch of turmeric and few drops of oil.

2. Slit green chillies and finely chop the ginger. Soak tamarind in warm water and extract juice and keep aside

3. Heat oil/ghee in a pot and add mustard seeds, when it splutters add asafoetida and stir.

4. Add curry leaves, ginger and green chillies and sauté until raw smell of ginger disappears.

5. Mix in turmeric powder and add tamarind juice and bring to boil

6. Lightly mash the cooked dal and add to the tempering, add salt and boil for 4-5 minutes.

7. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice, ghee, pickle and happala (papad)

Notes:
1. Another variation of Tovve is to add onion and tomato to the tempering. Once the ginger is sauteed you can add finely chopped onion and fry until it's golden brown in color and then add tomatoes and continue with step 5. Adjust the amount of tamarind if you are adding tomatoes. 

2. Consistency of Tovve is not too thick or very watery. It's in between. It goes well with idli also. Some restaurants in Udupi serve this delicious combination of Idli-Tovve.

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Ragi mudde - Soppina saru : finger-millet balls and dill curry

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Dill leaves, sabbasige soppu in Kannada is also known as dill weed, this is a green herb with wiry, thread-like leaves that grow in clusters. It has a strong, distinctive taste that is like a combination of fennel, anise and celery. Dill leaves are highly nutritious with many anti oxidants, vitamins and dietary fibers.

Here is a simple recipe of a comfort food that's dill curry and finger millet balls aka Ragi mudde.

Dill curry /Soppina saru: 

Ingredients:

Dill leaves :3 cups

Yellow Pegion peas (togaribele/Toor dal) : 1 cup

Dry red chillies : 4-5

Peppercorn : 1 tsp

Coriander seeds : 1 tsp

Cumin seeds : 1 tsp

Small onion : 1

Garlic : 4-5 cloves

Dry coconut : 2 tsp

Tamarind : 1 small marble size

Oil: 1 tsp

Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Jaggery : 1 tsp

Method:

1. Wash and cook toor dal with a pinch of turmeric and few drops of oil.

2. Clean and wash dill leaves, remove hard stems and finely chop the leaves and keep aside. 

3. In a mixer jar add red chillies, coriander - cumin seeds, peppercorns, garlic, onion, dry coconut and tamarind and a little water and grind to a coarse paste.

4. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pot and add cumin seeds.

5. When the cumin seeds sizzle,  mix in ground masala and jaggery and sauté until the oil separates.

6. Add chopped dill leaves and 1/2 cup water and cook until the leaves wither, takes about 2-3 minutes.

7. Now add cooked dal and salt and bring to boil. Turn off after 4-5 minutes

For tempering:

Clarified butter /ghee : 1 tsp

Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida : 1 big pinch

Broken dry red chili : 1

Curry leaves : 1 spring.

8. In a small tempering pan, heat clarified butter and add mustard seeds, when it crackles add asafoetida, curry leaves and broken red chilli and fry.

9. Add this tempering to the curry and close the lid. Let it sit for 5 minutes so that all the flavors are combined well.

10. Serve hot with Ragi balls or plain rice.

Ragi balls:

Finger-millet or Ragi balls or Ragi mudde is a very popular dish in south Karnataka. It's made by cooking Ragi flour with hot water until there is soft dough like consistency. It's then rolled into balls served with soppina saru/huli (spinach/greens curries). Nonvegetarian also relish with chicken/mutton curries.

Ingredients:

Ragi/finger-millet flour : 3 cups

Salt: 1 tsp

Water: 6 cups

Oil: 1 tsp (optional)

Method: 

1. In a thick bottomed pot add water and bring to boil, add salt and oil.

2. Reduce the flame and start adding the Ragi flour slowly and keep mixing it continuously until cooked. It will take about 8-10 minutes. 

3.Taste a small pinch of dough, if it feels rubbery let it cook for another 2-3 minutes. 

4. Remove it on a wet cloth and let it cool down a bit.

5. Wet your fingers and palm with water and take a big pinch of dough and make mudde/balls. Take care not to burn your fingers. Serve hot with dill curry.

Notes:

1. You can make the curry with Indian spinach (palak) or round spinach (dantina soppu).

2. You can skip the ghee tempering totally, but it enhances the taste of the curry.

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Garlic dal

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Garlic Dal is one of the easiest and quickest recipes. Preparing the gravy takes only 5 minutes. A perfect blend of garlic and aromatic spices combined with dal gives it a unique taste. It goes very well with jeera rice (cumin rice) or any flavored rice. 

Ingredients:
Pegion peas (toor dal/togari bele): 1 cup
Turmeric: 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice : 1 tbs
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Sliced Garlic: 1 pod
Coriander leaves
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder: 1/4 tsp
Oil: 2 tb

Method:
1. Cook dal with turmeric, few drops of oil and enough water in pressure cooker.
2. Heat butter in a pan and add cumin seeds and fry.
3. Add sliced garlic and sauté until the raw smell disappears.
4. Add turmeric and fry garlic until it turns golden in color.
5. Add chopped coriander leaves and add red chilli powder, coriander and cumin powder  and garam masala powder and mix it quickly. Keep the flame low so the spices don't burn.
6. Add dal and salt and mix well
7. Bring it to boil and garnish with coriander leaves
8. optional: Add a tempering of sliced garlic and dry chillies on top.

9. Serve hot with rice of your choice :)

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Dal Fry

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Dal fry is a famous dish in roadside eateries. It goes well with both roti and rice. Here is my simple recipe.

Ingredients:

Split Pigeon peas/ Togari bele/ toor dal: 1cup

Butter:2 tbsp

Garlic: 6-8 cloves

Ginger: 1inch

Onion: 1 medium

Green chillies: 3-4

Cumin: 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder: 1 tbsp

Cumin powder: 1 tsp

Garam masala: 1/4 tsp

Lemon juice: 2 tsp

Coriander leaves: 2 tsp for garnishing

Method:

1. Soak dal in enough water for 15 minutes and pressure cook.

2. Fine Chop garlic, ginger, chillies and onion.

3. Heat butter in a wok and add cumin seeds and fry.

4. Next add in chopped garlic and chillies and sauté until garlic is golden in color

5. Then add chopped onion and ginger and fry until onions are cooked well.

6. Mix in turmeric, coriander powder and cumin powder and sauté for a min on low flame

7. Add cooked Pegion pea/dal, add salt and bring to boil

8. Mix in garam masala powder and let it simmer covered for 5 minutes and turn off the gas.

9. Add lemon juice and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

10. Serve hot with plain or flavored rice or with roti.

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