Dal Varieties

1.                                                     Dal Maharani

Ingredients:

• Red gram dal [Tuvar dal] - 1/2 cup
• Coconut [Grated] - 1/2 cup
• Ginger - 1 inch piece
• Garlic - 5 flakes
• Onions - 2 or 3
• Green Chillies - 4
• Tomatoes - 2
• Lemon - 1.

To garnish:

• Curry leaves
• Coriander leaves
• Salt - As required
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Jeera - 1/2 tsp.

Method:

Cut onions, slice tomatoes & slit green chilles into two. Grind coconut, ginger & garlic together. Cook dal in pressure cooker with enough water & turmeric powder. Heat oil & fry onions till it becomes transparent. Add chillies, tomatoes & fry for few more mins. Mix cooked dal with mixture [grained] & salt. Cook till the raw smell goes. Toast jeera in hot ghee & add it along with curry leaves & coriander leaves to the dal. Serve hot for phulkas, steamed rice with squeezed lime.

Variation:

Use masoor dal instead of tuvar dal. Fry fenugreek seeds & few red chillies along with jeera.
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2.                                                   Pancharatna Dal

Ingredients:

• Bengal gram - 1 handful
• Gram - 1 handful [Payatham parupu]
• Broken black gram - 1 handful
• Red gram dal - 1 handful
• Lentil [Masoor dal] - 1 handful
• Red tomato - 3
• Onions - 3
• Ginger garlic - 1 tbl sp [Finely chopped]
• Cumin seeds - 1 sp
• Ghee - 2 tbl sp
• Lemon - 1
• Red chillie powder - 1 sp
• Salt - As per taste
• Finely chopped coriander leaves - 2 tbl sp.

Method:

Wash all the dals & keep aside. Then take one pressure pan, pour 2 sp of ghee & add cumin seeds. When it splutters, add onion, ginger garlic & fry for 5 mins in low flame. When the onion turns into golden colour, add salt, turmeric powder, chillie powder & mix well. Then add the dal to that along with 4 cups of water. Close the lid & wait for the whistles to come. After 2 whistles, simmer the gas & keep the dal in the gas for 15 mins. Then remove the dal from the gas. After the pressure cools down, open  the lid & mix well. Add the lemon juice & coriander leaves. Serve this dal with jeera rice or with pulkas.

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3.                                                              Dal Fry

Ingredients:

• Red gram dal - 1 / 2 cup
• Masoor dal [ mysore paruppu ] - 1 / 2 cup
• Salt - as per taste
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 sp
• Greeen chillie - 2 [ slit ]
• Ginger - 1 / 2 inch piece
• Garlic flakes - 2
• Red tomato - 1 [ big, cut into pieces ]
• Curry leaves - little
• Onion - 1 [ cut into dices ]
• Coriander leaves - little
• Sugar - 1 / 4 sp
• Oil - 1 tabl . sp
• Ghee - 1 tabl . sp
• Cumin seeds - 1 sp.
 

Method :

Wash the dals in clean water. Take one pressure cooker keep on the gas, pour oil, ghee together add cuminseeds, when it splutter add onion, ginger, garlic to that fry for 5 mints in lower flame till the onion turns into gloden brown add the dals,salt, turmeric, green chilli, curry leaves, coriander leaves & mix well. Add enough water, along with little sugar [ it gives more taste. ] Close the cooker & wait for 4 whistle to come.Then  remove the cooker from the gas. After the pressure goes open the cooker & mash the dal with spoon. Your dal fry is ready to eat. Serve with hot pulkas, steamed rice.