Toor Daal Fry
(split pigeon peas/yellow lentil Soup)
Ingredients
split pigeon peas (toor daal) - one cup
water - enough to cover toor daal (split pigeon peas/ yellow lentils)
turmeric - 1/2 teaspoon
asafoetida - 1/2 teaspoon
vegetable oil - 1 tablespoon
onion- 1/2 small, finely chopped
ginger - 1 teaspoon (paste)
garlic - 1 teaspoon (paste)
green chillies - 1-2 small , finely chopped
curry leaves - 4-5
tomatoes - 1 small
sugar - 1/2 tablespoon
salt to taste
cilantro to garnish
Recipe
for cooking lentils/ daal -
1. Place the yellow lentils in a large bowl and fill it with cold water. Swish the lentils around, pour off the milky residue and repeat the procedure 3-4 time till you get clean washing water. Drain the lentils and set aside.
2. Place lentils in a medium sized nonstick cookware and cover with enough water. Generally, the measurement of water to lentils is - 1/2 cup lentils - 1-1/2 cups of water.
3. Bring it to boil over moderate heat for first 5-7 minutes and then simmer. Cook it uncover. If you cook it with the lid on, water may spill out of the pot. Stir constantly to avoid froth gathering . Cook it for 15/20 minutes or until soft.
You can cook toor daal (split pigeon peas) in a pressure cooker instead of a nonstick cookware.
4. When done, add turmeric and asafoetida to the cooked lentils. Mix well with wire whisk.
for seasoning -
5. Heat vegetable oil in a pan. Add chopped onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies and curry leaves. Fry till the onions turn light brown.
6. Add cooked lentils to it. If you want you can add some water to it but make sure that the daal should not be very watery. It should be thick . Also add tomatoes, sugar and salt to taste.
7. Garnish with chopped cilantro, serve hot with steamed rice or jeera fried rice.
Tip
For variation, you can use mung daal (split green gram) along with toor daal (split pigeon peas) in equal parts and cook. Mixing of mung daal helps you get thicker consistency and also tastes good.