Daal Series: Yellow Mung and Toor with Tomato

Daals or Lentil soups/curries are a staple side dish in Indian meals. We usually make different lentil soups/daals everyday, sometimes just one type of lentil and sometimes a couple of types together.

Here is one of our frequently made recipes. The Daals are usually cooked in a pressure cooker. They can be made in a slow cooker as well, but I have never tried the slow cooker.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup split yellow mung Daal(skinned and split green Mung)
• 1/2 cup split Toor Daal ( dark shiny split pigeon pea)
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 5 curry leaves
• pinch of asofetida
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 inch ginger finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 green chili finely chopped
• 1 tomato chopped
• salt to taste
• cilantro leaves for garnish

Directions:

• Soak the both daals together for about 2 hours. Drain the water, wash ans keep aside.
• In a pressure cooker, add the daals and 2 cups water. Add a few drops of oil and the turmeric and cook on medium heat for one whistle. Take the cooker off heat and wait for the pressure to release on its own(10 minutes)
• For the tempering, heat oil in a large pan on medium heat.
• Add the mustard seeds and wait till they splutter.
• Add in the cumin seeds and coriander seeds and mix all for a few seconds.
• Add in the asofetida and curry leaves. Watch out for oil splattering because of the curry leaves.
• After a few seconds, add in the chopped ginger garlic and chili and mix well.
• Cook the mixture till the garlic gets golden. 3-4 minutes
• Add in the tomatoes, and cook the mixture till the tomatoes lose their shape. 4-5 minutes.
• Add the cooked daals to this mixture and mix well.
• Add salt, mix and cook for 6-7 minutes until the daal is boiling nicely.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and serve hot with Chapatis, roti, Naan or Basmati Rice!