Swiss Chard & Tomato Dal (Lentil Soup)

Vegan Mofo Day 9:

I love making dal with greens, I think greens make dal special, yummy & nutritious. I used a combination of moong and masoor dal (red lentils), but toor dal can be used too. I pressure cook the greens and tomatoes with dal, but dal & the veggies can be cooked separately too (it just takes longer to cook)

Ingredients:
Masoor dal (Red Lentils) – 1 cup
Moong dal (split yellow colored) – ½ cup
Swiss Chard – about 3 cups, chopped roughly (half of a medium size bunch)
Tomatoes – 2, medium
Green chilies – 2, slit
Tamarind pulp – 2tbsp
Red Chili powder – ½ tsp (or more to taste)
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Salt – to taste

For tempering:
Cumin seeds – 1tsp
Mustard seeds – 1tsp
Hing (Asafoetida) – pinch
Curry leaves – 6-8
Dry Red Chili – 1-2

Method:

• Rinse dals and cook with 3-4 cups of water in pressure cooker. I put the greens, tomatoes and chilies in the pressure cooker in a separate container along with the dal. Cook on medium flame for 4-5 whistles. Wait till the pressure is completely released.
• In a saucepan, heat 1tsp oil; add the tempering ingredients and once the seeds start to splutter, add the cooked greens and mix well.
• Next add dal, turmeric, tamarind, red chili powder, salt and 1-2 cups of water (depepnding on the desired consistency). Bring to a boil and simmer on medium-low flame for 10 minutes.

Serve with steamed rice or roti or slurp it as soup.

Update on the Heating situation: We have the guys from the repair company working in the basement as I type this (it's now 8:30PM and this is officially the 18th day we are going without heat). If we are lucky we will have heat tonight, still keeping crossed and toes curled. Will update tomorrow.