Bengali arhar Dal / Bengali Style Toor Dal

Arhar dal or toor dal, in whichever name you may know it, has a very particular and distinctive taste. Not many people...I have come so far is very fond of it. But they all in a way prefer eating sambar!! Even I was sceptical of this Arhar Dal without curry leaves a little while ago...and always maintained a good distance from this one. But after cooking the toor dal a couple of times, I came to like its typical distinctive taste and flavour. It’s kind of like Avocado...you will hate it in the first but that is only for a small time. I got this recipe from the book "thakurbarir rannabanna", which is quite different from the regular arhar dal we eat. And its such a great recipe that I couldn't help sharing.

So this recipe is for all those who loves Arhar dal, and also for those...who doesn’t. In my opinion, cook this dal with care and love and give it some time...I am sure you will love it in the end, because nothing I have found so far is bad, it’s just the way we prepare and finally eat it.

Temper the oil with cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, green cardamoms, cloves, bay leaf, dry red chilli and hing / asafoetida.

Add chopped onions and saute until translucent.

Add the garlic paste and cook until the onions beocme lightly golden.

Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until pulpy.

Add red chilli powder, cumin and coriander powder and saute for 2 minutes allowing the spices to cook.

Add the boiled dal and simmeruntil you have the right consistency.

Bengali Arhar Dal / Bengali style Toor Dal

Serves 4-5

Ingredients:

1 and ½ cup of toor dal / arhar dal

1 and ½ medium onions – chopped

4 garlic cloves – minced / paste

1 tomato – finely chopped

1 dry red chill

1 tsp cumin seeds

A small cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

2 green cardamoms

2 cloves

A pinch of hing / asafoetida

2-3 green chillies – chopped

2 tbsp oil

Salt

1 tsp turmeric powder

1-2 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp cumin and coriander powder

A handful of fresh coriander leaves – chopped

Method:

Wash and rinse the dal until clear water runs out. Then soak the dal in water for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes put the dal in a pressure cooker and add in 3 cups of water.

Add the turmeric powder, salt and 1 tsp oil.

Put on the lid and cook on pressure until the cooker blows 3-4 whistles.

 Put off the flame and leave the cooker on the kitchen counter so that the pressure can vent out on its own.

Heat the rest of the oil in a kadai and add in the cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, green cardamoms, cloves, bay leaf, dry red chilli and hing / asafoetida.

Sauté them for some time or until the oil gets aromatic and then add the chopped onions to them.

Sprinkle some salt over them and cook until the onions become translucent.

Add the garlic paste to them now and cook until the onions become lightly golden.

Add the chopped tomatoes to this mixture now and cook until the tomatoes become pulpy.

Sprinkle some salt (if required) and add the red chilli powder, cumin and coriander powder and green chillies.

Toss them a little and cook for another minutes or so.

Add the cooked toor / orhor dal into the kadai with all its water.

Mix them well and let it come to a boil.

Taste and adjust the seasonings and cook until the dal comes to your desired consistency.

Add the chopped coriander leaves and put off the flame.