Daal

Ingredients

1 onion
1 small bulb garlic
2 cups daal (whole moong beans or whole massor/lentils)
6 cups water (2/3 additional cups hot water, as needed)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 1/2 teaspoon coriander
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 heaping tablespoon ginger, diced

Method

1. Use the onions, garlic, and spices to make the onion-garlic paste, as detailed in a previous post.

2. When the paste is ready, add the daal, water, and spices. Cover and cook them on medium high heat until they come to a rolling boil. Adjust the heat to medium low so that the daal gets cooked slowly. Stir the daal once in a while so that it doesn’t burn or stick on the bottom of the pan.
3. Check the consistency of the daal. If it is too thick, add boiling water to thin the consistency but let it cook after adding. This makes the daal consistency more pasty.
4. Saute the reserved 1/2 onion, diced, and ginger in a little olive oil. When they are slightly darkish brown, put them in the cooked daal.

Serve hot with chapatti, boiled or fried rice.

Some useful tips:

Usually, you should not stir the whole Moong/ whole Masoor daal until it is partly cooked and broken. If you stir the daal while the seeds are still hard, some of them turn into stones (remain uncooked) no matter how much you cook later. Such stoned-seeds are unpalatable.

Daal is usually served as a complimentary dish along with other curries in a full Indian meal. However, daal and roti is a staple diet in North India and is popularly served as dinner.