Dalcha to Tomato Pappu: Here are some favorite dal recipes popular in Andhra, Telangana

Hyderabad: Lentils are a nutritious addition to any dish, be it soup, salad, main course, side dish or even dessert. Vegetarians get most of their protein intake from lentils.

In addition to being delicious, lentils are a rich source of fiber, vitamins, minerals, iron and potassium. Eaten intact, without the skin removed or split in half and with the husk removed for faster cooking and creamier texture, lentils are versatile as well as unique in flavor.

Germans and Filipinos love their meat and lentil soups, vegans around the world use it to make innovative dishes like pomegranate and lentil salads, Indians call it dal and use it to make different dishes like sprouted salads, special dishes for babies and invalids (moong dal khichidi), add it to their sambars and rasams, use it along with spices to temper other dishes and even make sweet dishes like chana dal payasam and moong dal halwa with it.

Although easiest when cooked in the pressure cooker, they can be soaked in warm water for quicker cooking. Easy to store and convenient to cook, dals are a hot favorite in every Indian home. Parsis make yellow dal for happy occasions and dhansak mixed with meat and 3 different lentils on the 4th day after a relative’s demise.

Jews make a special mourning dish out of lentils and eggs as they feel that the round shape symbolizes the life cycle from birth to death. Gujaratis make a sweet and sour dal with jaggery added at the end of the cooking process. The first dish ordered at any dhaba on a road trip is always dal: the steaming hot dal fry or ma ki dal to which cream and homemade butter are added.

Here are some favorite dal recipes, especially the tomato and spinach dals made all over Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, served with steamed rice and sizzling spicy fried prawns and crabs; and the world-famous Hyderabadi dish called Dalcha. You can add meat or lauki (gourd) to the dalcha or even both and add tamarind water if you like a slightly sour taste.

As far as many are concerned, the popular saying “Ghar ki murgi dal barabar” (a chicken eaten at home tastes like dal) should be re-phrased to “Ghar ki dal murgibarabar” (dal eaten at home tastes as good as the fancier chicken dish eaten at a restaurant).

MOONG DAL WITH SPINACH

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow moong dal / tur dal

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1" piece of ginger grated

1 small bunch spinach, chopped

2 tablespoons oil or ghee

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 dry red chilies broken into half

6 cloves garlic chopped very fine

A pinch of hing (asafetida)

Salt to taste

Half a lime

Preparation:

Soak the moong /tur dal in water for 15 minutes.

Put the dal, turmeric and ginger into a pressure cooker deep pan and cook for 10 minutes. Cool and mash. Transfer to another dish and heat. Add the spinach and salt to taste, stir and reduce the heat to minimum.

In another small pan, heat the oil/ghee and add the cumin seeds. Fry and then add the dry red chili, chopped garlic, and asafetida. Fry till garlic turns pale golden. Add this tadka (tempering) to the cooked, simmering dal. Serve.

TOMATO PAPPU

Ingredients

1 cup red Masoor dal (or ½ cup each of Masoor and Tur dal), soaked in water for 15 minutes

500 grams tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 green chilies finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Salt to taste

For tempering:

2 tablespoons ghee or 1 tablespoon oil

½ teaspoon each of mustard and cumin seeds

6 cloves garlic, chopped finely

4 dry red chilies, broken in half

4 curry leaves

A pinch of hing (asafetida)

Method:

Put dal in a Pressure cooker; add tomatoes, turmeric, red chili powder, onions, and green chilies.

After the cooker whistles, reduce to low heat and cook for 10 minutes. Let it cool, open the cooker and use a hand blender to mash the dal or use a spoon and stir until dal and tomatoes are mixed together. Transfer to a dish and let it simmer.

To prepare the tempering, heat ghee/oil in a frying pan, put in the chopped garlic and stir-fry until light brown. Then add red chilies and curry leaves, fry for a few seconds, put in the mustard and cumin seeds, add a pinch of hing (asafetida), mustard and cumin seeds, and stir on medium heat until they begin to pop and pour over the simmering dal.

DALCHA:

Ingredients:

250 grams Mutton but Vegetarians can use lauki(green bottle gourd) chopped in big pieces

1 cup Chana Dal

2 teaspoons Ginger-garlic paste

1 teaspoon Coriander powder

1 teaspoon Turmeric powder

1 teaspoon Chilli powder

2 Green chillies

3 Sliced onions

2 tablespoons Oil

Tamarind (optional)

Salt to taste

Method:

Cut the mutton into 1-inch cubes. Soak the chana dal in water for at least 30 minutes.

Boil the dal in a pressure cooker with 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder and enough water till tender.

Mash well and remove from the cooker.

Fry two sliced onions till they are crisp. Crush and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add the remaining sliced onion and fry till brown. Add the ginger-garlic paste, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder and fry till light brown and then add the mutton/ lauki and fry till oil separates.

Add chili powder, coriander powder and 2 cups water and cook till the mutton/lauki is tender. This takes about 20 minutes for mutton and 5 minutes for lauki.

To the mutton/lauki add the mashed dal, crushed fried onions, 1/2 cup tamarind water, or just water and salt to taste.

Simmer till completely cooked. Garnish with crushed onions. Serve with wedges of lime.

MOONG DAL HALWA

Ingredients:

2 cups yellow Moong Dal

2 cups ghee

1 cup sugar

2 cups water

4 pods of green cardamom

1 cup khoya

1 cup of raisins and finely chopped almonds

Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Method:

Wash the dal and soak in water overnight. The next morning, grind to a smooth paste without adding any water. Boil the sugar and water and make sugar syrup of one-thread consistency. Add the cardamom pods to the syrup. Cover and keep aside.

Heat the ghee in a non-stick pan. Add the moong dal paste to this ghee and stir. Cook the moong dal, stirring frequently till it begins to turn golden and release its aroma and the ghee separates from the moong dal. Add the khoya and mix well.

Cook for another 5 minutes. Remove cardamom pods from the syrup before adding the syrup and stir well. Cook on a medium flame for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the dried fruits and cook for another 2 minutes. Garnish with chopped nuts and serve with vanilla ice cream.