Black masoor daal with mint paratha

Dals (or lentils) are a very important source of protein for a vegetarian meal. Most Indian vegetarian menus, will have a lentil curry of some sort. I keep different dals in my pantry and make them alternatively. A picture of some of the dals, I usually have ...(from left to right , chole/chickpeas....soaking in water for dinner, whole green moong, whole black masoor,black eyed peas, whole black urad dal, split moong dal, split masoor dal, rajma/kidney beans, whole urad dal skin removed-- usually use this for dosas/idlis/vadas, matki and ahar dal/pigeon peas...the last one is the most common and used often almost daily. There are few more which I need to re-stock. A few of dals can be sprouted, which increases the nutritional value of the beans. You soak them in water for day, drain out the water, leave the dal in a closed container in a warm place for a day to sprout.

This post is about whole masoor dal. My older son loves non-veg and when he was four, one of my friends +gautami fed him sprouted dal, and he really liked it.......and I wonder how did he like it so much....when he was so fussy at home to eat ....my friend told me....she told him, that it's a mashed prawn dal ...see the tails... and I tricked my kid to eat the same mashed prawn dal for years... :) and it was this whole masoor dal. It is also my son's favorite amongst all dals.

A plain paratha is a perfect accompaniment to this dal with some pickles or yogurt, but I had some mint leaves lying in the fridge which were 3 days old. Brought them to make this mint chutney, but chutney tastes best, if made with fresh leaves, so I thought of adding them to the paratha dough.

Ingredients:

     For the dal:

• 3/4 cup whole masoor dal
• 1 tomato
  
• a few curry leaves
• 3/4 cloves of garlic
• 1 dried red chili
• 1 tsp maharastrian kala masala (or garam masala)
• 1 tsp ghee(or oil, I prefer the ghee flavor)
• 1/2 tsp each of cumin and mustard seeds and turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida
• salt to taste
• coriander, lemon and onion slices to garnish

   

     For the mint paratha:

• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cloves of garlic
• 1 onion
• 1 green chili
• a bunch of mint and coriander leaves
• 1 tsp each of salt and oil

Recipe:

     For the dal:

• Boil dal with enough water in a pressure cooker for 4/5 whistles till it is cooked. It should be soft and mushy. Keep it aside.

• Chop the tomato, grate the garlic.

• Heat 1 tsp of ghee in a wok. Add cumin and mustard seeds, asafoetida and turmeric.  
• Once the seeds crackle add the curry leaves, red chili and grated garlic and let it cook for a minute.
• Then add the chopped tomato, and cook till the tomato is mushy.

• Add the goda masala, stir the mix around and then add the boiled dal and some water ..(about a cup)

• Season with salt and let it boil for a while...about 5/7 minutes.
• Add, more water if you need the dal to be of thinner consistency.

• Add, half a tsp of lemon juice after turning off the heat.
• Serve hot, garnished with coriander, onion rings etc.

     For the mint parathas:

• Roughly chop the mint /coriander/chili/onion and grate the garlic. 
• Mix everything with the wheat flour. Add salt and make a soft dough using little water. Keep the dough aside for about 15 mins.
• Knead the dough with a tsp of oil and make balls out of it. 

• Roll the parathas and roast them on the griddle. (either dry, with oil or with ghee)

• Serve hot immediately or keep them in a "keep hot" casserole. 
• Roasting mint parathas gives out a very appetizing smell.... :) 

Quantity:

• 3-4 servings of dal and makes about 11-12 parathas (about 5 inches)

Notes:

• You can use sprouted dal.
• You can add chopped onion to the dal too.
• You can grind the coriander/mint leaves too, it will give nice green color to the parathas, but chopping gives out nice minty flavor.