All those of you who’ve encouraged me, please say hello to Swati, media person, executive producer, woman of today and Weekend Epicurean. Swati and I know each other through a dear friend U, and when she expressed her desire to start a food blog, iĀ told her of my tryst with blogging and how much i had grown personally from this little space i share with so many of you. When i told her of the joys of writing and finding your niche in this space, of meeting people and making friends, it didnt take her long to start her own blog.
Please stop over and send her your wishes!! Goodluck Weekend Epicurean…. may you have a beautiful journey.
Now for a an easy recipe for the blazing hot summer’s when the last thing you want to do is stand in the hot kitchen…. this recipe pretty much needs no babysitting, and is full of wonderful flavour. Makes a working night dinner with some hot steamed rice. Ok, if you are feeling indulgent, then roast some papad and add some pickle… but i ain’t going to stand in the kitchen longer than i have to light the flame under the cooker!!
Mixed Dal (serves 4)
2 tablespoons each tur (split yellow pigeon peas), Chana (split husked chickpeas), Masoor (red lentils), Whole moong (green gram with skin) and skinned moong
1 medium onion chopped
1 medium tomato chopped
1/2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste, or 1 pod garlic and small knob of ginger, roughly chopped or crushed
pinch of hing (asafetida)
pinch of turmeric
1 teaspoon of dhania jeera powder (or mix half tsp of each together)
2 slit green chillies or 1 teaspoon red chilly powder
1 1/2Ā cups of water
Salt to taste
Take all the ingredients for the dal except the salt in a pressure cooker and add the 11/2 cups water to it. (leave out the tadka stuff). Cook it for 2-3 whistles, let the steam release, mash well with the back of a ladle or with a dal masher.
For the tadka/ popu/ seasoning:
1 tablespoon ghee (or oil but it isnt the same minus the ghee)
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds, cumin seeds
10 curry leaves
2 dried red chillies
In a small tempering pan, heat the ghee or oil, add the cumin and mustard seeds and allow to splutter, add the dried red chillies and wait till they change colour to bright red, add the curry leaves now and take off the heat. Add this to the cooked and mashed dal. Mix well. Serve with plain steamed rice or rotis.
Escapades 
Hey! Thanks so much for the lovely intro babes… a lot of your friends have dropped by my blog and im really overwhelmed by all the enthusiasm and encouragement š thanks a ton for introducing me to this amazing parallel world! š
your dal looks really perfect. so inviting:)
Nice dal..let me now go say hi to swati…
thank you valli…am sure you will find swati’s blog delightful
I make this very often… use the same set of spices for 1 dal or a mix of 2,3,4 or 5 š helps breakaway from the routine š
I hear you about the tur dal rut… happens to me very often. š
remember we went to spencer’s(?) when i visited, you showed me the mixed dals….
I make something like this but adding a bit more for the lazy person inside of me. I add mixed boiled vegetables (cauliflower, peas, carrots, f.beans) and let it boil. No need to make additional vegetable with rice.
Have a good weekend..
Tejal
hmmm…am sure that tastes good …. i feel since the mixed dal already is a medley of flavours and textures, i prefer it without veggies
dal looks so yum,..:-)
thank u!!
Swati has a nice blog, fun style of writing – and another one gets added to the reader š
You remember my dal schedule- so one day of the week I can make one by mixing all the varieties š
thanks nan…. she’s the kind of girl you’d want to hang out with… thanks for adding her to reader… yes…the dal was on my part, an effort to incorporate more varieties into the daily meal plans… i was in a tur dal rut for a while!!
Dal looks yummy and easy to make..
thank you prajusha, i hope you will try it out