Mixed Daal

When I was studying at dental school, I didn't know how to cook. My roomates were really good cooks and so I used to be their dishwasher and their vegetable cutter :) I would assist them in cooking but I rarely cooked. Chicken was the easiest to make in those days, I used to buy the ready made masala/spices boxes. You can cook all types of delicious dishes with those masalas while having no experience in cooking. 

After I got married, cooking was an unfortunate dilemma for me. My mother in law asked me to cook daal. While daal is the most easiest dish in the Asian subcontinent but I wished she had asked me to cook those ready made masala chicken recipes ;) She didn't expect that I wouldn't know how to make Daal.

Well, I called up my mum, jotted down the recipe, it seemed pretty easy. Boil the lentils, add some spices and volla! perfect daal made. I hurriedly went to the kitchen to impress my inlaws ;) I cooked the daal but it seemed more like lentils floating in yellow water. My mother in law now knew that dentists cannot cook :)

People search webpages for difficult recipes, recipes which you can cook for special occasions. But we don't tend to write about the easiest dishes assuming that people know how to cook the simple ones. So I am writing about Daal today, for all the newcomers who face difficulty in making it yet are shy to ask.

Every community has their own version of daal. You can make it in many ways and there are various types of daal. I will tell you how to make mix daal consisting of moong, masur and channa daal.

Moong daal is this little yellow lentils. It has minimal calorie and is a rich source of iron and potassium. Chana daal or Bengal gram daal is the bigger yellow lentils and are rich in dietary proteins and minerals. Masoor daal is the orange lentils and it improves bile reflux and blood circulation.

First we will take quarter cup of each daal and cook it in the pressure cooker with 1 and half cup water for 15 minutes after the first whistle. The lentils should be completely immersed in water and cooked thoroughly. It should look somewhat like this.

Now while the lentils were getting cooked. You have to make the tarka mixture to pour on the lentils. We will need garlic, tomato and green chilli..

Chop them. Take a small frypan, add oil, garlic, tomato, green chillies and spices. Turmeric, corriander powder, cumin, whole red chilli and salt. I add one chicken stock cube to give it a nice flavour. This is optional.

Add few drops of water and let it cook for about 5 minutes till the tomatoes lose their pulpiness :) It will look somewhat like this.

Add this tarka mixture to your boiled lentils. Pour half cup water and let it cook for 10 minutes till you get your desired consistency. Keep stirring to homogeneously mix all the daal and the tarka mixture. It shouldn't be too watery or too thick. Daal is like a slightly thick soup. Enjoy with chapatis, boiled rice and pickle!