Bala Daal

Story: Great inventions are often results of happy accidents... This daal fry recipe is the result of an experiment Bala did as a compromise.. who is Bala? are - kya baat kar rahe ho - you don't know Bala? - I had mentioned his name in the Stuffed Italian Peppers post. - What? - you don't read every post on my blog - c'mmon..

just kidding..

Bala is my (SIL's SIL)'s hubby or more conveniently referred to as my distant cousin.. :)
Bala and Shalaka (Mrs. Bala) are both foodies.... and we often cook together when they are visiting.

One day Bala was making daal fry for us with 5-6 different daals.. he couldn't find Kali Urad so he used Moth/Mataki/Turkish gram instead. Usually matki is sprouted before using it in salad or in Usal.. But it was used as is in daal fry and it turned out great! My sis - Manasi loved the taste sooo much that she insisted I make it more often..

This simple substitution made a lot of difference! The taste of Moth dominates the rest of the daals. A great way to add pizazz to the same old 'ghisi-piti' daal fry.

So keep experimenting in the kitchen... and let me know about your inventions :)

Source: Rajinder Balaraman aka Bala

Time: 1/2 hr

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup dry Moth
  
• 1 tbsp chana daal
• 2 tbsp masoor daal
• 2 tbsp moong daal (can substitute with toor daal)
  
• 1 tbsp white urad daal
  
• 1 medium size onion - sliced
  
• 1 tomatoe cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• For tadka : 2 dry red chillies, 4-5 coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 small bay leaf/tej patta
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
  
• 1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 tsp kasoori methi
  
• handful chooped coriander leaves
  

Recipe:
Add all the daals to a pressure cooker vessal and add 2 cups of water and cook for about 10 minutes or till you hear 3 whistles from the pressure cooker. Turn the heat low-medium for 5 minutes. Turn the heat off and let the daal cook till the pressure is reduced enough to open the lid.. it typically takes 3-5 minutes.


Heat ghee in a pan till it melts completely.. add tadka ingredients and mix well for about a minute. When you can smell the aroma of cumin, coriander seeds and tej patta, add sliced onions. Shallow fry onion silces till they turn brown... I like it best when they turn a bit black and crispy.


Once the onions are ready - add cooked daal and mix well with the onions. Then add about 2 cups of water and mix well. Cover the daal and bring it to a boil.

When the daal comes to a boil, add chopped tomatoe, garam masala, kasoori methi and salt to taste. Mix well and bring to a boil. Add coriander leaves for garnish and enjoy with your favorite pulao or just white rice.

just a note - in my experience this mixed daal needs more salt than our regular toor or moong daal.