Quick Fix | South Indian Plain Dahl

This recipe is my first introduction to dahl and the first ever side dish I had with rotis. This was also the first few dishes to get finalized, cooked and clicked for this BM. Being a South Indian, my house was never stocked with the vital masala (garam masala, dhaniya powder and jeera powder) of the Indian cooking. But, we use jeera seeds and dhaniya extensively in our day to day cooking! And, when you have grand parents with you, then their inveterate eating manner restricts us from venturing into other regional cuisines. But when we children pester our mom for variety she could not outrightly say no to us.  so she struck a balance by giving us a dahl per se and at the same time even the elders in the family could relish it. If Onion and salt is omitted, they even got a Ekadashi palagaram ( food had during fasting).

This is a very simple dahl which does not require any recipe or instructions.  It is very elementary and stark in flavour when compared to the rich luscious North Indian dahls. When I tried this out initially I never could get my mom's taste. It was very much like the regular dahl tadka. Then while talking to her I realized that she does not fry the tomatoes in oil. Either it is pressure cooked with the dahl or she just crushes and adds to the cooked dahl and puts it in the kadai, so it gets cooked just enough until the raw smell is gone, while the dahl boils. This imparts a different taste profile entirely from that of the regular Indian dahls. The original flavour of the cooked pasi parupu is retained and the only flavour that piques this dish are the tomatoes. To reduce the cooking time drastically you can add the tomatoes and even chillies in the pressure cooker along with the dahl.

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Plain dal

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

25 mins

 

A simple elementary South Indian dahl.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 3

Author: Nisha

Ingredients

• ½ Cup Pasi Parupu | Moong dahl
• 1 medium size tomato quartered
• 2 Green chillies slit lengthwise
• Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon Ghee
• ¼ teaspoon Mustard seeds
• 3-4 Curry leaves torn
• ¼ Cup chopped Onions optional
• Coriander for garnish

Instructions

1. Pressure cook the dal with turmeric powder and keep aside. It should be soft and slightly mushy.
2. Heat oil in a Kadai | Pan over medium high heat.
3. Once the oil shimmers, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add the cumin seeds, curry leaves and fry for a second.
4. Then add the chopped onions (if using it) and sauté until it turns translucent. Else go to step 5 after step 3.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes give a quick stir and then add the cooked dahl.
6. Once the dahl comes to a boil, add salt and mix it well. Garnish it with coriander leaves and turn off the flame.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63 here.