Salt and Pepper (With a Lot of Spice!): The Dals Week 1: Marwari Panchmel Dal

I love dals. They are the main source of protein in our vegetarian kitchens and one of the most comforting foods that you can have on your plate. They are also extremely versatile and adaptable to many uses. In upma, white udad dal is used to add flavour to the bland rawa along with the other spices . My friend's mom makes this amazing farasbee chi bhaaji in which she adds yellow moong dal fried in the tadka for crunch, adding a new level of texture to the regular bhaji.

This past month I have dug out, discussed, adapted and experimented with different recipes for dals and I will blogging some gems I have discovered this whole week.

Marwari Panchmel Dal

Ingredients

1/4 cup yellow moong dal
1/4 cup green moong dal
1/4 cup chana dal
1/4 cup toor dal
1/4 cup black udad dal
1 tsp turmeric
2 bay leaves
2 tsps cumin powder

2 tbsps oil or ghee
2 tsps cumin seeds
1 tsp asafoetida powder
3-4 whole cloves
1 green chilly slit
2 dried red chillies
1 medium tomato finely chopped
2 tsps garam masala
Salt to taste
Finely chopped corriander for garnish

Method

Wash the dals thoroughly and soak all the dals in 3 cups of water for at least 2 hours. After the dals are soaked, add the turmeric powder, bay leaves, cumin powder and salt and 1-2 cups of more water. Pressure cook the dals with the spices for 3 whistles on high flame and then about 10-15 minutes on a low flame till they are done. Remove the dal mixture from the cooker and fish out the bay leaves and discard them.

The dals with the spices in the pressure cooker

In a deep cooking utensil, heat the oil or the ghee. Add the cumin seeds when the oil is heated. When the cumin seeds start turning red, add in the asafoetida powder, the cloves, the green and the red chillies. Stir these in for about 30 seconds and add in the finely chopped tomato. Let the tomato sautee till they are cooked and start releasing the oil.

The tomatoes cooked in the tadka releasing the oil

To this add the cooked dal mixture, the garam masala powder and salt as per your taste preference. Bring to a boil on high flame and then let it cook on medium flame for 5-7 minutes and then on low flame for another 10 minutes for the flavours of the spices to seep well into the dals.