Aaji's Chana Daal

I loved this dish as a child and  still love it. I love it so much, my mom makes it everytime I visit :) It's my grandmom's recipe. A much treasured one and a hit amongst the younger lot as well. It's slightly sweet, a bit pungent, a bit sour....just can't stop at one bowl:)

I am putting down 2 ways to make this.  The first one is for the ones who enjoy their time in the kitchen. The second is for people who are always short  of time and want the same flavours in a short time:) The ingredients stay the same. 

Here's how you make this delicacy (longer version)

Ingredients

1 cup Chana Dal (split lentils) 

1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder

1/2 teaspoon Red chili powder

1 teaspoon Garam Masala ( If your garam masala has chili powder, reduce the quantity of chili powder.)

1/2 tea cup desiccated or fresh grated coconut (frozen is fine too)

1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg powder

8 cashewnuts broken into pieces 

1 teaspoon grated jaggery

1 teaspoon tamarind paste

Salt to taste

For tempering:

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon asafoetida powder

4-5 curry leaves

1 teaspoon  oil ( I use ground nut oil for this dish but you can use sunflower or even ghee)

Method 

Wash the chana dal by changing water 3-4 times. Then soak it for 2 hours in hot water with a pinch of asafoetida, salt and turmeric. 

After 2 hours, add cashewnuts and some more water and allow it to boil. 

Once it is semi-cooked, add tamarind and jaggery along with chili powder and garam masala. 

Allow to cook completely. Check if you  need to add more salt. This is a matter of personal preference. I don't put too much salt in my food. For this dish and its proportions I use 1 and 1/4 teaspoon. 

In a separate vessel, dry roast the coconut till dark brown. Add nutmeg to this and pour into  the daal. 

Now on the tempering -

Add oil. 

Once hot, add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida and then once this mix starts sputtering, add into the oil. 

Cover and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. 

Switch off the gas. 

Allow to rest for 10 minutes. 

Serve hot on rice with a dollop of ghee on top and a squeeze of lime if required. 

Option 2 (shorter version using the pressure cooker)

Wash the daal well. 

Soak the daal and the ingredients you would put step-by-step all at once (including the roasted coconut + nutmeg), more water ( of course as daal absorbs water) in a deep pressure cooker friendly vessel. Allow to soak for 40 minutes. I generally do this after getting home from work while I freshen up and do other errands. 

Pressure cook for  30 minutes. I use a WMF cooker so I use the second setting. 

Once the daal is cooked. Do the tempering and add into the vessel. Mix well, Serve. 

Goes well with steamed rice, rotis or bread!