Dal Fry

 

Dal fry is one of the most popular dishes in North Indian cuisine and I am sure that if we conduct a survey of the most ordered dishes in North Indian Restaurant or Dhaba, then Dal Fry will be in top 10! It is easy to prepare and requires very few ingredients from your pantry. 

Dal/ lentils are very good source of protein and hence there is huge emphasis on lentils in Indian cuisine specially for those who follow vegetarian diet. Dal Fry can be prepared using just Arhar (Toor) Dal but normally the combination with Yellow Mung Dal or Masoor Dal tastes great and also gives the dal wonderful texture. You can serve this protein packed and deliciously comforting lentil recipe with Tandoori Roti, Naan or any rice recipe. 

Ingredients-

Arhar/ Toor dal- 1 cup

Yellow Mung Dal- 1/2 cup

Oil- 1 tablespoon

Ghee/ Clarified Butter- 1 tablespoon

Onion- 1, chopped roughly

Tomatoes- 2 medium sized chopped roughly

Green Chili- 1, slit in to big pieces

Garlic- 5 to 6 big cloves or 8 small cloves, chopped finely or crushed

Ginger- 1 inch piece, chopped finely or crushed

Curry leaves- 8 to 9

Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon

Asafoetida/ Hing- 1/4 teaspoon

Turmeric powder- 1 teaspoon

Red Chili pd- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander powder- 1 and 1/2 tablespoon

Cilantro- 1/2 cup, chopped finely

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Take 1 cup Arhar (Toor) Dal in a bowl and 1/2 cup of yellow Mung dal. Rinse it at least 3 times to make sure that it is washed properly. Repeat this 2 more times.

Now take this washed dal in a pressure pan or a pressure cooker and add 2-3 cups of water.

Add 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder and cover and cook for 4 whistles. Let the pressure cooker depressurize completely before opening it.

Heat a pot on medium heat and add 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon ghee/ clarified butter.

Once the ghee has melted, add 1 teaspoon of Cumin seeds and let them crackle a bit. 

Add 5-6 cloves of garlic chopped finely, 1 inch piece of ginger chopped finely and 8-9 curry leaves.

Saute for about a minute and then add chopped onions and saute till translucent.

Once the onions are translucent, add 2 chopped tomatoes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and saute till tomatoes are almost cooked.

Once both onions and tomatoes are almost cooked, add 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 and 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder and 1 and 1/2 tablespoon coriander powder.

Mix together and then add 1 green chili slit in to big pieces and 1/4 cup chopped cilantro. 

Fry this masala together for minute or two. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.

By now our masala will be nicely fried. Now add the cooked dal and little water and mix well.

Add water to adjust the consistency of our dal. Then add salt as per taste. Remember that we had added 1/2 teaspoon salt when we added tomatoes so adjust the salt accordingly.

Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes on low to medium flame. Stir in between to make sure that the dal does not stick the bottom of pot.

Put off the flame once our dal starts boiling and keep covered till we are ready to serve it.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve it hot with Roti, Naan or Rice of your choice.

Dal Fry and Brown Rice or Jeera Rice is a comfort food we all long for in our family, specially on the days we want to have something quick and simple but still nutritious. Do give this recipe a try let me know if you liked this recipe. You can also watch the videos to see the process.

For video in English-

For video in Marathi-