Cooking for a single person can be a daunting task, specially when hubby dear is out of town and you have to cook for yourself. Most of us tend to skip our lunches/dinners and even worse, snack on some junk stuff. I keep looking for some simple and easy to make recipes so that I don’t have to starve when my husband is away or when I don’t have anything interesting to make. I borrowed this recipe from my sister and believe me it is finger licking good (sorry about the cliché but it is true). You would require very basic ingredients for this dal that can be found in any kitchen. A very important point to note though…please do not make this dal if even a single item in the ingredient list is missing from your kitchen. It would change the taste of the dal completely. This dal is a crowd pleaser too and quick to make when you have a bunch of guests.
No. of servings : 2
Ingredient list:
Moong dal : 1 cup or as per requirement
Water : double the amount of dal or 2 cups as in this case
Turmeric : ½ tsp
Salt : 1 tsp
For the tempering:
Garlic cloves : 5-6 pounded slightly but not too much
Jeera/cumin seeds : ½ tsp
Green chillies : 3-4 slit in the centre or chopped roughly
Curry leaves : 6-8
Oil : 2-3 tbsp
Coriander / cilantro leaves : chopped (lots of it :P)
Boil the moong dal along with water, turmeric and salt in a pressure cooker for about 4 or 5 whistles. The moong dal should be cooked but not very soft and mushy. Allow the cooker to cool down. Mash the dal with a round bottomed ladel or spoon.
Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds to it. When they start spluttering add garlic, let it fry a bit till you get a nice aroma. Now add the curry leaves let them fry for a bit and add the cooked dal.
Check the seasoning and add salt if required. Also you can add more water to get your required consistency.
Let the dal boil for a minute till all the flavours infuse with each other.
Just before switching off the stove add the coriander leaves and your dal is ready.
You can top off the dal with a teaspoon of ghee for extra flavour.
VARIATIONS:
Use ghee instead of oil for ghee dal fry and butter for a butter dal fry
SUGGESTED SERVING:
Serve with rotis , naan or any indian bread or some jeera rice.
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