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Nirvan's Toor Dahl

The Miniature Life
This is comfort food at its best!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4 people

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
Keyword Indian Food