Curry In Kadai ~ An Indian Cooking Blog

Yumm Dal! What can i say about dal. Im not exaggerating that plain toor dal(mudda pappu) cooked till soft and mixed with hot rice( with ghee ) is the most comforting food i know of. My grandma says that its a good practice to eat the first mudda( bite ) of this plain dal rice in any meal. Need not say about the proteins and nutritions dal ( lentils ) has. For vegetarians this is the main source of protein. This tomato dal is my mother-in-law recipe and i tweaked it a little. My mother does tomato pappu in a pressure pan. I will post my moms version too. Dal curry or Dal Fry has so many variations, and i am sure this recipe would be so simple and easy even for a beginner. However there would be no compromise on taste.

For making 2 cups of dal you need,

• 1 cup cooked toordal. Pressure cook 1/2 a cup of dal with 1 cup of water for upto 3 whistles. And remove the weight( whistle ) and add tsp of ghee, salt and turmeric. Keep aside.
• 2 big ripened tomatoes
• 1 onion
  
• 5-6 green chillies
• Garam masala or Sambar powder( any brand would work, i used MTR )
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• Optional: 2 tsp lemon juice or 1 tbsp tamarind pulp. You need this step only if the tomatoes are not that ripe and sour.
  

For Tadka or tempuring,

• 1/2 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 2-3 tbsp oil
• 10 curry leaves
• Turmeric powder

How to:

• Heat ghee( butter ) or oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds
• When they start popping add curry leaves and turmeric
• Add onions, green chillies and crushed garlic
• Saute onions till golden brown and add MTR sambar powder
• Add tomatoes and cooked toor dal
• Optional: Add tamarind pulp( soaked tamarind juice )
  
• Add water and cook until the tomatoes are soft
• Adjust salt to taste
• Optional: Add lemon juice before serving
  
• Garnish with cilantro

Serve this piping hot tomato dal with plain rice, roti, chapathi or naan. This dal is so simple yet has full of flavor from tomatoes making every meal hearty and delicious!

Tags:Dal for chapathi, Tomato Dal, Tomato Pappu, Tomatoes And Lentil Curry