A warm, nutritious dal that is loaded with winter greens and elevated with a tempering of onions, tomatoes, lots of ginger, and garlic. It is simple, rustic, comforting and perfect for cool winter nights and days when you want a quick one-pot-meal. It pairs well with rotis, rice, pulao or just alone as a stew.
What is Dal or Daal or Dhal?
Dal or Daal or Dahl is a generic term for cooked lentils, also commonly called yellow dal because of the color from use of turmeric. Dal is usually a mild, creamy lentil dish made with different deskinned lentils. Yellow Dal can be made with Toover/ Aarhar Dal (skinned Pigeon Pea Lentils), Yellow Moong Dal(skinned green moong), and Orange Masoor Dal(skinned brown lentils). This Dal recipe is cooked stovetop, we first rinse, soak and cook the lentils in a pressure cooker with turmeric and salt, then, the dal is tempered with cumin seeds, asafedita, dried fenugreek, green chilies, onions, ginger, garlic and tomatoes and finally chopped greens such as fresh fenugreek and spinach.
Ingredients
- Dal/ Lentils: For today’s recipe I used Orange Masoor Dal. It is beautifully light with a creaminess that works well with lots of greens and aromatics. However any of the dal works.(see above to understand dal)
- Fat: Traditionally for dal tadka, ghee works the best in my opinion. But I used Avocado oil, I like the neutral flavor, lightness and pairing with greens and other aromatics. Ghee makes this dal rich and a tad heavy for a midweek dinner. But I really like ghee cooked dal any other day.
- Aromatics: ginger is the dominant flavor in this dal along with garlic, cumin, asafetida, dried methi leaves, green chilli and tomatoes. Ginger adds a wonderful warm flavor that is so cozy and delicious. We’ll need about a heaped tablespoon for about one uncooked lentils.
- Greens: for this recipe we’ll use fresh fenugreek leaves and fresh spinach, both available in the winter months. Fresh fenugreek leaves can be found in Indian grocery stores and sometimes inn other Asian markets.
Consistency
Ginger Dal with Greens pairs really well with any Indian wholegrain flatbread or cooked rice, pulao, my favorite is cooked wholegrain quinoa, millet. I like mine to be a little thicker when I serve dal with roti(flatbread), and a little thinner for rice/other whole grains or to be eaten as a soup.
How to Cook Lentils Without a Pressure Cooker or Instapot?
Orange/red lentil are available everywhere and surprisingly cook easily in a regular saucepan so you’ll not need a pressure cooker or Instapot. Simply rinse the lentils thoroughly until the water runs clear a few times. Then soak the lentils for about 30 minutes. Drain. Next place the lentils in a heavy bottom pan. Add double the amount of water(of the lentils), and ½ a teaspoon of sea salt. Cover and cook till the the water comes to a boil. Remove any frothy foam that rises to the top. Then cover and drop the heat to a simmer and cook for about 20-30 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Follow the instructions as in the recipe below.
Ginger Dal with Winter Greens
Ingredients
- 1 cup red/orange split lentils(Masoor dal) rinsed, soaked for 30 minutes
- 4-6 cups spinach and fresh fenugreek washed and chopped
- 1-2 tbsp avocado oil or any neutral oil you have
- 1 tsp heaped minced garlic
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 medium-large tomatoes, chopped or crushed
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp ground coriander or garam masala
- ¾ tsp ground turmeric
- 1-2 hot green chilli or as needed
- 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
- ½ tsp asafedita
- sea salt as needed
Instructions
- Wash the lentils 2-3 times or until the water runs clear. Soak the lentils for 10-20 minutes.
- Pressure cooker Method Drain the water and the lentils to the pressure cooker along with 1½ cups of water. Close the pressure cooker and let the lentils cook for 5-7 minutes after the first whistle. Let the pressure cooker naturally cool. While the lentils are cooking prepare the ingredients you need to temper the dal. Once the pressure cooker is completely cool, open the pressure cooker. Using a hand blender or whisk mash the dal. This will make it deliciouly creamy. To cook in a pan: follow the first 2 steps. Place the lentils in a sauce pan and cook for 15-20 minutes. (See full details on cooking lentils for dal above)
Tempering
- Warm oil in a large sauce pan. Add cumin seeds, green chilies, asafetida and add finely chopped onions. Saute for 5 minutes until the onions are soft and start to brown around the edges. Add ginger garlic. Sauté until onions are golden and cooked. Next add in the finely chopped tomatoes.
- Add turmeric, coriander powder, and salt. Let the tomatoes cook on a medium heat until they start to breakdown. Now add the chopped greenn. Turn up the heat and stir until the greens start to wilt. Add the cooked lentils. Give everything a good stir..
- Add water as you need or to think the dal. Once the dal comes to a boil, add kasuri methi. Mix everything well, and allow everything to heat through. Adjust the consistency you’re pulao or wholegrains of your choice. liking by adding a little more water or simmer to thicken. Serve it with rotis, naan, rice,.
Leave a Reply