Sindhi Style Tuvar Dal

 

I am usually happy with the dal versions I grew up with and to be honest was skeptical to try out new ones especially with toor dal until recently. Toor dal happens to be one of the staple items of an Indian kitchen and particularly in south India, it gets cooked on a daily basis. I have been trying to get acquainted with more regional flavors lately to avoid monotony and this Sindhi style dal from Vaishali's kitchen happens to be one such experiment. A successful one, I would like to add. This is supposedly a common dal cooked in Sindhi kitchens regularly. I am very much impressed by this flavorful dal and am seeing myself preparing this dal often hereafter.
Just for convenience, the recipe has been provided in two parts and don't get fooled by the long list of ingredients. This dal preparation is quite simple and quick. 

Part A:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup toordal
1 tomato
1 stalk of curry leaves
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp ghee

Method:
Wash toordal, tomato and curry leaves. Tomatoes can be chopped if preferred or can be cooked intact. Cook all the ingredients together adding a cup of water in a pressure cooker. Cool, puree in a blender, strain and keep aside. (If tomato is cooked whole, it can be skinned and no need to strain the puree.)

Part 2:
Ingredients:
For tadka:1 Tbsp oil, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1/8 tsp fenugreek seeds, 1/4 tsp minced fresh ginger, 1 green chillie finely minced and 2 red chillies
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp sambhar powder / rasam powder / curry powder
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup cilantro

Method:
* Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When mustard seeds start to pop, add fenugreek seeds, red chillies, ginger and green chillies. Saute for a few seconds.
*  Add chili powder, sambhar powder, cilantro leaves and 1/4 cup water to it. Bring it to a boil and add the pureed dal. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes more and turn off the stove.
* Squeeze in the lemon juice and stir well. Serve with rotis / hot, steamed rice.

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