Jeera Rice with Dal Fry

I had dal fry once at a family friend's house and loved it. It varies slightly from Gujarati dal in that it contains onions, garlic and garam masala. Also, you can use a variety of different pulses in your version. Playing it safe, I only used toor dal, but you can also use urad dal, channa dal ans/or masoor dal with toor dal.

1 cup toor dal
Pinch of asafoetida powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2-3 red chillies, broken into bits
2 tsp oil/ghee
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
small piece of ginger, grated
2 green chillies, slit
Few curry leaves
1 tomato, finely chopped
Lemon juice per taste
Salt per taste
1 tbsp Jaggery or sugar per taste
Chopped cilantro for garnish

1.Wash and soak toor dal for 30 minutes to an hour. Drain out water. Then place in pressure cooker with twice the amount of water and a bit of salt. Let cook for 3-4 whistles. Before opening pressure cooker, allow all the pressure to be released before opening. At this point, you can blend the dal if you prefer a thinner consistency or leave as is for thickness. I added a little water to make it thin.
2. Heat up oil/ghee in pot. When hot, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. After they fully pop, add the asafoetida, chopped garlic, grated ginger, red chili bits, curry leaves, followed by onions. Cook onions until they turn a golden brown color.
3. Next, add the dry spices, like turmeric, garam masala, coriander powder, red chili powder and mix well.
4. Add in the cooked dal next and let dal come to a boil for about 5 minutes. you may now add the salt, lemon juice and jaggery or sugar. Adjust seasoning per taste, then remove from heat.
5. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with jeera rice.

For the Jeera Rice, you will need:
1 cup basmati rice
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ghee
Salt per taste

1. Heat up the ghee in pan. When hot, add the cumin seeds. After the seeds crackle, add the rice. Stir fry rice until all the grains are fully coated with ghee.
2. Then, add 2 cups water and salt and bring rice to a boil. Close lid and reduce heat. Jeera rice should be cooked in 15 minutes.

I served the Dal fry with Jeera Rice and a side of Spicy Potatoes and Seasoned Yogurt. Check out the Spicy Potatoes in the next entry!