Tadka Daal

Daal Or Simple Lentils Soup For Breads/Plain Rice With Tempering Can Rock Your Household Just for one reason that it can be so simple to cook and yumm to taste :) When ever I feel like making a Rocking Flavorful Daal I go with this recipe

I dont really measure the lentils I use but got into practice of casually adding it and it never went wrong :P instinct sometimes dont let you fail :D


Im Just feeling too tired with all busy schedule going around me It might b humidity killing me or simply that I need some rest for 2-3 days to get charged up lolzz. Tot of putting up blog aside for a while but dint really wanted to neglect it too. So picked up a simple recipe to talk about  and here it goes....................


You can certainly use any kind of daals/ lentils
I used combination of channa daal , yellow daal and toor daal 1/2 cups each
1 Tomato large riped
Green Chillies 2
Salt

Soak all the daals together in water for 2-3 hrs minimum to 6 hrs maximum.
Reason?? : It Helps To Release Pectin. Dried daals/lentils should be soaked overnight before cooking to reduce a type of indigestible complex sugar that causes gas. Make sure to discard the soaking liquid and cook it in fresh water. 

Many people just know soaking is required because its difficult to cook as it is but the scientific reason behind this is known to less!!
Beans like rajma/dried peas/kabuli channa etc can be soaked over night to release complete pectin and get its original size. These legumes will get doubled in size and take  better form for cooking.

Now coming back to the recipe. In a pressure cooker take soaked daals, add considerable amount of water and add in tomatoes, green chillies and salt, Pressure cook for 4-5 whistle depending upon ur cooker and cook until the daals are mashed up and soft, If still you dont get mashed up daals feel free to use daal masher or pressure cook again. Your Daal is Ready!!!!  Let the Daal Rest For a while, You might see it getting thicker. Base on this you can decide the thickness of daal you desire. Either thick ones suitable for roti/ parathas or middle ones best for rice

Now The Most Important Part Tempering/ Tadka!!

Usually I do tadka for the daal soup wholesome as much as it is cooked but this time since only my dad was suppose to eat I took 1 bowl daal and make tempering based on quantity taken.  If your doing tempering for larger quantity which was pressure cooked then adjust the tempering measurements accordingly.

Mustard - 1/4th tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/4th tsp
Red chilli -1
Garlic - 2 small pods or 1 large pod crushed or chopped
Onion small size - 1  chopped
Curry Leaves - Few
Turmeric -  a pinch or more to give nice yellow color to daal (optional) but gives good outlooks
Oil - 1tsp was enough for me

Take oil in a pan you want to make ur tadka in, let it heat, Do not over heat though!!
Add in mustard and allow it to splutter nicely once this is done
Add cumin seeds and red chilli. Dont let cumin seeds burn just a lil brown
Next Add Garlic give a mix and within 5 sec add onion. (to avoid garlic from getting burnt)
Let garlic and onion and garlic brown together add in curry leaves and put in your daal in this pan
Tttttttttuuuuuusshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh comes the sound :) I love this part ;)
Add turmeric (optional) I have added though!!
Now adjust the salt if desired add in chopped coriander leaves bring to boiling point and ur done
Your Delicious Flavorful Daal is Ready!!!!

Notes:
- Cooked Daals tend to get thicker as it cools, So thats the point when you can decide how much thickness you desire, and add in water or just use as it is depending upon your consistency choice.
- I havent used any powdered spices here. And still Daal was Simply Superb!!! Went well along with phulkas
- Since Ive added green chillies while pressure cooking daal at times that much spiciness is enough, In case you want it more spicy, you can add chopped green chillies while adding garlic and onion in tempering process
- Again ive added salt while pressure cooking!! So check for salt and adjust accordingly during tempering
- Sometimes I also add a pinch or 2 of sugar and 1/4th tsp of dry mango powder, It depends on nature of main dish with which your going to combine your daals with


We make lots of different kind of daal based gravies and temperings!!! Hopefully will add them all soon


Sending my entry to  Hosting MLLA # 59, Lisa & Susan

Mission Explore Food: Lentils, Cookcookandcook, Thoushaltcook