Garlic & cumin flavored lentils...

Cooking lentils is fun. I love trying out different ingredients with lentils and my all time favorite is lentils with garlic- Garlic flavor works like magic with lentils. No matter how much you love eating from outside and trying different restaurants, there are times when you want to eat a simple dinner at home, nothing fancy….Garlic dal/Garlic lentils is my comfort food and I can cook them without much sweat.  The recipe is simple & would leave you wanting for more. Nothing else to dilute the garlic flavor- no fancy ingredients- just plain old garlic sauteed in butter (clarified butter) with a hint of cumin.

You can always improvise the recipe and add onions or tomatoes and cook the lentils with garam masala. But if you are fond of garlic and want the flavor of garlic to shine through, then this recipe is a winner!

Garlic & Cumin infused lentils

Ingredients

• 1 cup toor dal (yellow Pigeon peas)
• 1 cup mung dal (mung bean/ golden gram)
• 8-10 garlic cloves (chopped)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• Clarified butter/butter for cooking
• 2 green chillies (chopped fine)

Instructions

1. Pressure cook the lentils till they are soft.
2. In a pan add butter and once melted add cumin seeds.
3. As the cumin seeds begin to sputter saute garlic & green chillies.
4. Add the cooked dal/lentils mixture to the pan and cook on a low flame for few minutes. (add a bit of water to make it soupy).
5. Adjust salt according to taste and serve hot with chopped coriander for garnish.

Published @ Honest Cooking - http://honestcooking.com/2011/11/03/garlic-and-cumin-flavored-lentils/

Buttery green mung bean! (Mung dal)

It's easy to cook, packed with proteins and you can create something special with them- Mung dal both yellow and green are used in Indian kitchen extensively. To be honest, as a kid, I always used to be baffled with different dals. My mom used to have big jars of them and would act like a magician mixing potions and creating different cuisines with different dals. I remember watching her with wide eyes thinking how the hell I am going to remember the names and how the hell am I going to know which one to use for which dish...I have come a long way and I love all my dals.  


This recipe is different- I used my dal makhni recipe with mung bean and it tasted really special. Confused? Ok, Dal Makhni is a very popular dish that is served in Indian restaurants. The catch is Dal makhni is made with whole black gram (sabut urad dal) & red kidney beans. But I used green mung beans with the same ingredients and loved the outcome! Go ahead and indulge yourself in buttery lentils with Indian spices....

What do we need?

Green mung dal- 1 cup
Grated ginger- 11/2 inch piece
Butter/clarified butter (ghee)
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Onion- 1 medium sized (chopped)
2 medium sized tomatoes (chopped)
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing
Garlic - chopped (5-6 cloves)
Salt according to taste

How did I make it?


Soak mung dal in water for at least a couple of hours. Drain and pressure cook it with half portion of the grated ginger till they become soft (reserve the other half portion of grated ginger for later use). Melt butter in a pan. Add cumin seeds. As they start to change color, add onions. Fry onions till they become golden brown. Add garlic, remaining ginger and tomatoes. Cook till the tomatoes are mashed and has mixed well with the rest of the ingredients. Add cooked dal to this. Add around one cup of water and adjust salt according to your taste. Mix red chilli powder, garam masala powder and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Add fresh cream (optional) and mix well. Cook your dal on a low flame for 5 minutes. Serve with rotis/rice. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Note: This dal is the easiest to cook and takes only a couple of whistles with the pressure cooker. You can get this dish out on the table within half an hour.