Magpie's Recipes: dal

It has been an eventful last couple of weeks that left me with very little time or energy to post. We were attacked by a horrid flu that had us all sniffling and feverish but the worst were these loud hacking coughs that went on for days. I unearthed this Ogden Nash gem which sums up exactly how we felt.
Thankfully the little jelly bean and my mom in law who is visiting us, escaped the flu and we got over it too, soon enough, just in time for the Bridge school benefit concert!
I also had a pleasant visit by an old college friend who brought me some yummy chocolate fudge and then by my best friend from school! Now eagerly awaiting my visitors this month- a cousin and then my best blogger buddie -Ria of Ria's collection! Can't wait to meet her finally!
Well in the midst of all this I have been cooking and learning from my awesome mom in law who has converted me to into being someone who now uses measurements and actually follows those pesky instructions- the consistent results you get are reward enough! No more wondering what I did wrong this time or if my curries are too salty.
Thought I would post this simple and basic recipe for cherupayar or green mung lentil that I am convinced helped to cure our colds!

I hope you have all been well. But if you have fallen a victim to the nasty flu season too, this simple and hearty lentil dish served steaming hot with rice in the water that it has been cooked in is waaay better than that can of campbells chicken soup I know you were reaching for.

Cherupayar is easy to digest and does not put additional strain on an already weakened body fighting so many evil germies. The hot steaming soup-like kanji soothes sore throats and opens up blocked nosies.

Cherupayar
Recipe source: This is an everyday kerala dish that I learnt to perfect from my mother-in-law.

2 cups Green mung
2 tsp salt
1 medium onion
1 head of garlic (about 8 pods)
4-5 curry leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric
4 tsp crushed chilly flakes
3 tsp coconut or other vegetable oil

Method
Pressure cook the mung dal in 3 and 3/4ths cup of water to which the salt has been added.
Let it whistle 6 times ( include the ssh sounds which don't sound quite as loud as a regular whistle)
If you're not using a pressure cooker, you can simply put the beans in a large pot of water and cook until soft, but this will take longer.
Meanwhile chop the onions into long thin slices or small cubes.
Slice the garlic thinly and fry in the oil on medium heat until it turns light brown.
Now add the onions and sautee until translucent.
Now add the curry leaves, turmeric, chilly flakes and stir until the raw smell leaves and you can see that the oil has separated and is glistening on the surface of the onions.
Turn the heat down to a simmer
Add the cooked green mung and stir until well mixed.

To make the rice gruel or kanji, cook 2 cups of rice in 4 cups water until rice is soft. Reserve the water and serve a ladelful of the rice still in the water along with the green mung.
Am sending this to My Legume Love Affair hosted this month at Dil se

We love our lentils, and to me a bowl of dal with rice is the perfect comfort food. Maybe because my mom used to pack dal and rice, with just a bit of ghee or pickle to school in my lunch box almost everyday. It is packed with protein and should be on every non-meat eaters meal plan, and is just plain delcious, in a homey non fussy way!
Dal is served in every home in every part of India and makes an appearance daily if not atleast once a week. In Kerala it is more commonly made with toor dar or split pigeon peas, though I prefer mung dal because it is easier to digest, soothing to the stomach and is considered "non-gas making" (Haha:) but mostly because mung dal takes less time to cook I think.
I have always thought that I make a pretty decent dal until I tasted my mom-in-law's dal and that totally blew me away. I had to make sure that I learnt the technique behind her perfect bowls of dal during her stay here. No garlic, no ginger, no bothersome frying of onions- the secret to her recipe is toasting the dal before cooking it. The result is a simple yet wonderfully flavorful, creamy and wholesome dish.

And of course I had to share it with you! This simple recipe is for the beginners to Indian cooking. Dal is pretty much a staple and this delicately flavorful dish is great served as a soup on it's own, or rice. I found that it is a perfect accompaniment to my loaf of freshly baked healthy bread. So Ms just-moved-out-of-parents-home-into-new-apartment-with-roomies/husband & kitchen this is for you! Also if you like me have been making dal for years but thought there must be something missing, here's how to make dal the right way!

Dal/ Lentil soup
Recipe source: My mother-in-law

Ingredients

2 cups mung dal
4 green chillies
1 large onion
2 whole medium tomatoes (if using a pressure cooker no need to cut) or 3 tbsp tomato paste.
2 tsp salt ( 1 tsp for each cup of dhal)
1/2 tsp chilly powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp oil

For tempering

2 dry red chillies
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 curry leaves

Method

Wash the dal quickly (without soaking) and drain the mung dal for about half an hour until the water has drained out completely.
Put a pressure cooker/ heavy bottom pan or saucepan on medium heat and add the dal, stirring occasionally to toast it.
(This step while it may take up an extra 10-15v mins is important and adds greatly to the flavour so skip only if you are in a hurry. You can also toast your dal ahead and store in an air tight container to save time later)
Lower heat to low and continue to toast the dhal until it is crisp, crunchy and a light brown colour.
Final test- when chewed the toasted dal should make a "krr krr" sound, indicating that it is well toasted.
Make sure you don't over toast. Also make sure to stir occasionally so that the dhal at the bottom does not get burnt.
While the dal is toasting, chop the onions finely and slit green chillies lengthwise.
Add the onions, green chillies, salt, chilly powder and turmeric and 1/2 tsp oil and mix well, until the masalas are well mixed with the dal.
Add 6-7 cups of boiling water, and the tomato paste/ tomatoes (If using a pressure cooker, no need to chop as they will explode and break into tiny pieces while the dal cooks )
Cover and cook until the dal is soft. ( if using a pressure cooker, just until the steam begins to build- just about 5 mins. Do not wait for a whistle else it will be overcooked and pasty)

Prepare the tempering:

Take a small saucepan and heat 1 tsp oil.
Add the mustard seeds and wait until they sputter. Turn off the heat and add the cumin seeds, curry leaves, and red chillies.
Add the tempering to the cooked dal and mix well.
Let it simmer for about 5 mins.

This delicious bowl of simple fragrant dal is going over to Legume love affair.