Dal Fry - Lentils Curry - Yellow Pigeon Pea & Split Chickpea Curry

Dal (Lentils) is an undisputed staple ingredients of Indian cuisine. Its rich protein content makes it immensely popular option for vegetarians. There are many varieties to prepare Dal but for this post I would like to share my Dal Fry recipe. 


For this recipe I have used a combination of Toor dal (Yellow Pigeon Pea) & Chana dal (Split Chickpea), but you could also make this using just Toor dal only. When it comes to my family Dal is the comfort food. Serve it with Steamed or zeera rice & there is no better dish that it. 

Ingredients:  
3/4 cup of Toor dal (arar dal)
1/4 cup of Chana Dal
1 medium sized onion finely chopped
2 small tomatoes finely chopped
2-3 green chilies slit vertically (or to taste)
few curry leaves
1/2 tsp of mustard seeds (rai)
1/2 tsp of cumin seeds (zeera)
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 tsp red chili powder (or to taste)
1 tsp cumin seed powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder (or to taste)
juice of half lemon (or to taste)
few coriander leaves finely chopped
salt to taste
1 tbsp oil for cooking

Method: 

• Wash the toor dal & chana dal & then cook in 4-5 cups of water with salt & asafoetida. You can cook this dal in a pressure cooker (as I did) or  in open vessel.
• In pressure cooker, give about about 4-5 whistles & switch off the gas. Open the pressure cooker only once the steam has gone away completely. Keep this cooked dal aside.(The water & cooking time requirements are what work for me but every dal (just like rice) may have different cooking time & water needs so adjust based on what works best for you. )

 

• In another vessel heat oil, once hot add the mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add the cumin seeds followed by green chilies & curry leaves. Saute for few seconds & immediately add the onions. 
• Saute till onions are translucent. Then add the ginger garlic paste & cook till raw garlic smell disappears (approximately 2 mins)
• Now add the tomatoes & salt, cover & cook till tomatoes turn soft.  (add salt only required for this masala as we already have added salt while cooking dal)
• Add the chili powder, cumin seed powder & coriander powder & mix well. Saute for a minute.
• Add the cooked Dal followed by garam masala, lemon juice & coriander. Mix well.
• Keep on simmer for 5 mins. 

That's it, our delicious Dal Fry (Lentil's curry) is ready. Serve it hot with steamed or zeera rice

Happy Cooking!!
Shweta

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Sending this recipe to events:

Let’s Cook #19 ~ Legumes / Lentils