the dal and i

So. I never really consciously wondered how people make the dry kind of dal, but when I did think about it, I was like, how do they get it just right? As in, how do you not get the dal too soft or pasty, how do you know how much water to boil it in? And then my mom told me, genius that she is, all you really do is you boil it till its right and then you just throw the rest of the water out. Whaaatt.

I felt sort of dumb after that.

But I'm over it now. And I made some dal the other day and it turned out pretty good, if I may say so myself.

Also, nobody ever told me Maash and Urad are the same dal? (dumb moment #2)

So. Here's what you do. You get yourself a cup or two of dal - maash, chana, whatever. You boil it in a lot of water, and wait till it's soft but not pasty and throw the water out. In a separate pan/wok you fry up some zeera/cumin seeds, kari patta/curry leaves, ginger, garlic, an onion and such, you season it with salt, haldi/turmeric and red chili powder and just add your little boiled dal to it and let everything get nice and spicy. Oh and you can add a chopped tomato too, I didn't have any. And a dash of lemon juice. And cilantro.

I love cilantro.

So the dal was a hit. Look forward to making more of it for the boy when he's off his juice fast! Insha Allah.

I'll try to write more structured and accurate recipes in the future. Promise.