Lucknowi Dal

Blogging Marathon# 45: Week 2/ Day 1
Theme: North Indian Side dishes
Dish: Lucknowi Dal

We are starting our second week of Blogging Marathon# 45 today. My theme for this week is 'North Indian Side Dishes' and I have 3 delicious sides planned for the next 3 days.
First up is Lucknowi Dal. Dal is a quintessential dish on almost all Indian menus. Dal/ lentils are one of the best sources of protein for vegetarians and I always plan at least protein based dish for all my meals.
As I was looking for some North Indian dal recipes, I found this interesting and different dal on Farrukh's blog. It is a no-onion, no-tomato recipe, but has one very unusual ingredient in it, Milk. I was initially skeptical how this dal would taste, but it tasted really good. I didn't really taste the milk, but it added a nice creaminess to the dish. My kids and even my husband really liked this dal. I will be making this dal often especially when I'm running out of tomatoes and onions.

This dal comes together in no time if you use your pressure cooker to cook the dal. After that all it needs is a flavorful tadka/ tempering and a quick simmer along with milk. It is a simple everyday dal, but it is special enough to serve to company as well.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:

Toor dal - 1cup
Garlic - 3 cloves, finely minced
Green Chilies - 2, slit
Milk - ½cup
Cumin seeds - 1tsp
Dried Red chilies - 2~3
Turmeric - ½tsp
Coriander leaves - 2~3tbsp, finely chopped
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Pressure cook dal along with green chilies, turmeric, salt and enough water. I cook for about 4~5 whistles for a perfectly cooked dal (number of whistles may vary depending on your pressure cooker). Make sure not to add too much water.
• Once the dal is cooked and the pressure releases, open the lid and simmer the dal for 2~3 minutes.
• Heat 2tbsp ghee in a small saucepan; add cumin seeds, garlic and red chilies. Once the garlic turns golden, add it to the simmering dal. Cover the dal to precent the flavor fo tadka to escape.
• After a minute, uncover and add the milk. Simmer for 2~3 minutes.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve warm with rice or roti.

Lets check what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 45.