Toor Dal
I am savoring the last lovely bits of my juicy Summer fling – tomatoes, “Parting is such sweet sorrow”. Soon life will become Pumpkin everything, until then I’m stuffing tomatoes into my dishes.
Cooking tomatoes boosts their cancer-fighting abilities (Awesome!). Besides the health benefits, they added so much flavor to the Toor dal (split pigeon peas) I made for lunch today.
I gave this dal a blitz with the immersion blender, nothing too intense – just a bit. The kiddos prefer it smooth. I also enjoy adding greens to this dal, you can add a cup of fresh chopped spinach, beet greens, kale, you name it – I do this at the end when I tadka the spices, you could add it after the garlic and cook until greens are tender. In general if you like your dal thicker keep boiling, need to thin it out – add boiling water a little bit at a time. Happy Eating! XO
Instructions:
1. 1 cup toor dal (split pigeon peas) – soaked for at least an hour, or overnight
2. 2 medium tomatoes, fine dice
3. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
4. 1 teaspoon ginger, grated with a microplane
5. 2 teaspoons Himalayan pink salt
6. a few grinds of fresh black pepper
7. 5 cups of water
For the tadka
3 tablespoons ghee, coconut oil, or neutral tasting oil
6 curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
pinch of hing
Rinse dal in colander until water runs clear about 1 minute or so. Discard any stones.
Add dal, tomatoes, turmeric, ginger, salt, pepper, and 5 cups of water to a medium sized pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes to an hour until dal is very tender. Remove from heat.
Tadka (Heated ghee or oil and spices) Instructions:
1. In a small skillet heat ghee or oil over medium heat, add curry leaves; stir for 30 seconds and then add mustard seeds.
2. When mustard seeds start to pop, add garlic and hing.
3. Cook stirring frequently until garlic is golden.
4. Add garlic/spice mixture to hot dal, stir until combined and serve.
