Peppery Masoor Dal

Boy, you learn a whole lot just by browsing the lentil section of the market. There are so many different lentils and pulses out there: Whole urad dal (blackish brown in color), Split urad dal (smaller and yellow), Toor dal, Moong (green gram), Moong dal (split green gram and yellow), Chole (regular chickpeas), Kala Chana (Brown chole), Chana dal (split kala chana), Red Rajma (kidney beans), Speckled rajma .. and I bought them all! Over the course of these culinary experiments, I have tested out several, if not all, of these lentils. I am happy to say that all of the experiments were very successful!

I actually had never even heard of masoor dal before I was married. I guess it was not particular to Gujarati cuisine, so we never tried it before. For purposes of this blog, I made masoor dal once, using the red split lentils. Did you know, though, that there is also whole masoor dal, which is brown in color? I didn't, either, until yesterday when I bought some and that is what we will be having for dinner tonight.

1 cup whole masoor dal
1 onion, chopped finely
1 green bell pepper, chopped finely* (I also had red and yellow so I added 1/3 of each)
1/2 eggplant, peeled and chopped extra finely (optional but highly recommended)*
1 small Roma tomato, chopped finely
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp green chili paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
Pinch of garam masala
Pinch of asafoetida powder
Few bits of dry red chilies
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp sugar or to taste
Salt to taste
Chopped cilantro for garnish

1. Wash masoor dal a few times under running water. Keep aside. No need to soak these lentils beforehand. That's the best part!
2. Heat oil in pot. Add the mustard seeds and let splutter fully. ** Practice safety and remove from flame so you do not burn yourself. ** Then, add the dry red chili bits, and asafoetida powder, followed by onions, ginger, garlic and green chili pastes. Return pot on stovetop and sautee until onions turn translucent.
2. Next, add the tomatoes (eggplant and bell peppers) and cook until soft, adding just a bit of water. Let cook for about 5 minutes to let all the vegetable juices come together.
3. During the 5 minutes, add the spices, including the cumin powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala, salt, and turmeric powder. Mix together.
4. Finally, add the whole masoor dal to pot along with sugar and 2 cups of water.
5. Let masoor dal come to a vigorous boil and then quickly switch to low heat and cook for about 20 minutes.
6. Garnish with lemon juice and chopped cilantro and serve hot with rotis, cool raita and a side salad.

* If you want to add some texture to the dal, you may also add either chopped spinach or chopped methi (fenugreek leaves). They do not need much cooking time so add them after the 15 minutes and let them cook for the last 5 minutes. Since I did not have spinach on hand, I added bell peppers instead as Bhavnesh prefers the dal to have a little texture. At the new open market we discovered recently, the colorful peppers are pretty cheap so we bought them. I added 1/3 of the green, red and yellow peppers to make the dal nice and colorful.
* I also had one eggplant sitting around in the fridge so I added it to the dal. It's not really necessary, but I highly recommend adding the eggplant. The eggplant along with the peppers add a very nice flavor to the dish.

One last note is that this masoor dal can also be cooked even quicker in the pressure cooker. Steps 1-4 are the same except you would cook in the pressure cooker instead of a pot. At step 5, close the pressure cooker lid and let cook for 3-4 whistles. Switch off heat, release all the pressure from cooker and garnish the dal.

Dinner tonight: Peppery Masoor Dal, Rotis, Lemon Pickle and/or Mango Pickle, and a side of Kidney Bean Salad. We are skipping the papadums lately. In one meal, you have two lentils, your basic veggies, and tons of taste. You really do not have to sacrifice much and it's super-healthy, too. Hope you enjoy!

WE rated Peppery Masoor Dal ... ***** 5 Stars ... It's a winner, folks! The taste and texture was absolutely superb. In fact, I loved it so much that I would not mind having it once every week.