Easy Side-dish: Tomato Dhal Curry

This recipe comes from Sojourner,from the US.

Being a bachelor and an amateur cook, I’ve found tomato fry to be a quick curry / side-dish especially for Rotis and Chapattis.

This one adds a bit more masala with toor dal and chana dhal along with a dash of chopped onions to go in the curry.

It makes an exciting option to go with Rice or Roti varieties. Try this recipe for breakfast or dinner.

Tomato Dhal Curry

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups water (3 times the amount of dahl)
• 3/4 cups dry toor dahl (not the oily kind)
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• 1/2 teaspoon chana dahl
• 1/2 teaspoon urud dahl
• 1 dry red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• half dozen curry (neem) leaves
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 large onion
• 2 green chilis (optional)
• 4 Roma or paste-style tomatoes or one 16 oz can of chopped tomatoes
• fresh coriander leaves

Directions:

1. Cook the toor dahl in 3 times as much water.

2. Add the salt at this time.

3. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or until the dahl is soft and has absorbed most of the water. It should still be a bit soupy. Watch carefully for overboiling at the beginning and sticking or scorching at the end.

4. While the dahl is cooking, mix together the curry powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and turmeric and set aside in a small bowl.

5. Chop the onions and the (optional) green chilis and set aside in a bowl. It’s important to do this ahead of time because you’ll need to add them quickly when it’s time.

6. When the dahl is done cooking, or at least nearly so, take a large fry pan and heat the oil.

7. When the oil is moderately hot, add the chana dahl and the urad dahl.

8. When the urad dahl just begins to brown, add the cumin seeds.

9. Wait just a tiny bit (like 30 seconds) and add the mustard seeds. The heat is critical at this point; it should be high enough to begin to brown the cumin seeds, but not so high they burn before you can finish the next steps.

10. When the mustard seeds begin to pop (turn up the heat a bit at a time until they do) immediately add the curry leaves and the crumbled red pepper. WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE TOUCHING YOUR FACE AFTER HANDLING DRIED RED PEPPER OR FRESH CHILIS. It’s also a bad idea to take a whiff of what’s cooking at this point - the volatile oils in the dried red chilis will vaporize when they hit the oil.

11. Quickly stir in the onions and (optional) chilis, prepared and waiting for this step.

12. Stir in the dry spice mix.

13. When the onions just begin to soften add the tomatoes.

14. Cook a few minutes until the tomatoes just begin to soften.

15. Add the cooked vegetables and spices to the cooked dahl.

16. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

17. Add a Tablespoon of chopped coriander or garnish at the table.

18. Serve over rice – basmati style rice is best.

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Photo credit and copyright: tofu