GUJARATI DAL

In a typical Gujarati meal, roti, sabzi, dal, and rice are the main components. Generally, a sweet and tangy pigeon pea (toor dal) curry is commonly prepared, which is loved even beyond the Gujarati community. Compared to other dals, toor dal is cooked for a longer time — if not boiled properly, it doesn’t taste as good. In grand feasts or special occasions, the dal prepared (called “Vara ni Dal”) uses toor dal with a few extra ingredients than the daily version.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
1/2 cup toor dal (pigeon peas)

1 tablespoon peanuts

4 kokum

2 tablespoons jaggery

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 small tomato

1 green chili

1 sprig curry leaves

1 small piece ginger

Salt to taste

For Tempering:

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon ghee

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1 teaspoon red chili powder

2 cloves

1 small piece cinnamon

A pinch of asafoetida (hing)

Chopped coriander for garnish

Method:
Wash the toor dal and soak it for a while. Then add chopped tomato and pressure cook it.

Wash the kokum and peanuts separately and soak them in water. Prepare the green chili, ginger, and curry leaves by washing and keeping them ready.

Once the dal is cooked, blend it smooth and discard the tomato skin.

Add all dry spices, salt, green chili, ginger, kokum, and peanuts to the dal. Add water as needed and bring it to a boil.

Prepare the tempering with oil, ghee, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cloves, cinnamon, hing, and red chili powder. Add the tempering to the boiling dal.

Let it simmer until it becomes slightly thick and well combined.

Garnish with chopped coriander and switch off the heat.

Note:

Lemon juice can be used instead of kokum.

If you don’t prefer peanuts in everyday dal, you may skip them.