Saturday, January 26, 2019

Shaak Wali Dal

I had cooked other dishes for this week but somehow ended up posting regional dals prepared with moong. Today's comforting and simple flavored dal called 'Shaak wali dal' comes from Gujarat. A lentil dish where you can sneak in all those 'not so favorite' kind of veggies and no fussy eater would figure out. And so this 'mixed vegetables' based dal is especially for those picky eaters or when one needs to finish off those last bits and odds from the refrigerator. Here dal and vegetables are cooked together and mashed to invisible bits to mask any vegetables used and tempered with ghee and spices. Any vegetable other than bitter gourd for the obvious reasons can be used. Onion, potato, tomato, carrots, peas, cauliflower, pumpkin, chayote, bottle gourd, zucchini are some of the vegetables that can go into this dal. Greens / Beets would be a nutritional addition if you don't mind the green/ red looking dal.  I used potato, carrot, peas and tomato and made it on a thicker side by not adding any extra water other than needed for pressure cooking. Also I added more toor dal than moong in my dal.

Recipe source: Here
Ingredients:
1/2 cup moong dal / skinned and split green gram
1/4 cup toor dal / split pigeon peas
3 cups of diced vegetables 
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. cumin powder
1 tsp. coriander powder
1 tsp. chili powder
Salt to taste
For tempering:
2 tsp. ghee / oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
2 red chillies
a Pinch of asafoetida
1 sprig of curry leaves
Lemon wedges to serve

Directions:
* Wash and rinse the dals in two exchanges of water. Pressure cook dals adding vegetables, turmeric powder and 1.5 cups of water for 4 whistles.
(Soak dals for about 30 minutes in case not using a pressure cooker for any reason. Cook dals and vegetables together in a sauce pan on medium flame adding water as needed until the dals are cooked well. Keep stirring in between.)
* When the valve pressure is gone, mash the dal and vegetables well with the back of a ladle or potato masher or a churner, until the mixture becomes homogeneous. Add the spices and 1/2 cup (or more) of water and bring it to a boil.
* Heat ghee / oil in a small pan and add cumin seeds and red chillies. When the red chillies start to brown add curry leaves and asafoetida. Turn off the stove and add the tempering over the dal and give it a stir. (Garlic can be used as well for tempering.)
* Garnish with chopped coriander leaves if preferred.
* Serve with rice or rotis, with lemon wedges on the side. 

This goes to Blogging Marathon under 'Bookmarked Recipes' Theme.

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Comments

11 comments:

  1. Ah, I love it when unknowingly we come up with a theme..:)..enjoyed all your dishes this week and this dal sound so inviting and good..

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  2. This is a nice way to sneak in veggies. I want to try this dal. My husband doesn't mind veggies in pappu charu or sambar but doesn't like veggies in dal, even the greens.

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  3. Great way to use all veggies , the dal sounds wholesome and delicious .

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  4. My kids eat all kinds of dal recipes, so this is a great way to sneak in veggies for them. Dal looks so thick and delicious.

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  5. The dal looks really smooth and delicious. I like the idea of using up leftovers too with this dal

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  6. Interesting to just mash all the veggies into this dal. Super idea. I shall try next time.

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  7. very nutritious dal with the veggies sneaked in. Love the bright yellow color of it.

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  8. That's a good idea of mashing all the veggies, must try it sometime. Lovely share.

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  9. Dal looks very nice and smooth. Adding veggies to dal that too mashed ones is a great idea. Good one.

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  10. This is the perfect dal recipe for kids who hate veggies. That is a brilliant idea to mash the veggies with dal. Looks absolutely inviting.

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  11. The dal looks so smooth and creamy. A good way to add vegetables in your diet.

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