It was high time to put Nirvan in front of the camera, and of course he had to share his favourite recipe – Toor Dahl.
Toor Dahl, or Pigeon Pea, has been prevalent in all South Asian and Persian cooking for centuries. Today this is a staple dinner item in most South Asian households, albeit with different styles of cooking. Dahl is a healthy, light and nutrition packed dish. There are a few key features to a classic Dahl – the lentil itself, the boiling method and the all important ‘Chonk’/ ‘Tadka’ / ‘Phodni’/ ‘Thaalipu’
Toor dahl or any dahl for that matter can be eaten with rice (I recommend a long grain like Basmati) on it’s own like a soup or with a flat bread.
My final words of advice, looking at the recipe and the video you may find the number of ingredients intimidating, but in reality almost everything we are using today is a staple of all Indian dishes. Add them to your pantry once and you’ve unlocked an endless possibility of recipes.
Watch me make this delicious Indian cooking favourite below:
Nirvan’s Toor Dahl
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 cup Toor Dahl, soaked for 6 hours in water called pigeon pea lentil or split pea lentils
- 1 tsp ground red chilli powder
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp whole black mustard seeds
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp asafetida
- 1 tbsp. grated ginger
- 1 small green chilli, chopped fine
- ½ a large white onion, chopped fine
- 5-7 fresh curry leaves
- 1 tomato chopped fine
- ½ cup fresh coriander leaves cilantro
- 1 tbsp. tamarind paste or re-hydrated dried tamarind. Tomato paste also works
- 2 tbsp. ghee butter or any neutral oil also works
Instructions
- Rinse the soaked dahl then add it to a pressure cooker and cover the dahl with fresh water
- Place the pressure cooker onto the stove and heat over a medium high heat (or per the instructions). Cook the dahl in the pressure cooker for 2 whistles before remove the pressure cooker off the heat (or turning it off). Wait till the cooker has cooled completely before removing the pressure valve.
- Heat 2 tbsp. of ghee in a pot or saucepan then add the mustard seeds, asafetida, curry leaves and chopped chilli. Lower the heat at this point and let the seeds sputter
- Once the mustard seeds sputter, add the onions and a pinch of salt and sauté until soft and translucent
- Add the grated ginger and sauté
- Add the tomato, chilli powder, ground turmeric and ground coriander and mix the pot well with a pinch of salt
- Cook the tomatoes for 10 minutes with ¼ cup of water
- Now add the tamarind paste and mix through well
- Add the cooked dahl to this pot and mix through the tomato mixture. If you prefer a thicker dahl, do not add additional water. If you want a thinner dahl, add the water from the pressure cooker
- Let the dahl heat until just boiling, then let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Once ready, stir through with the fresh coriander leaves and serve fresh with roti, naan and rice
