Kaali Daal, khari masoor ki daal or black gram lentils

 

Ingredients

• ▢½ cup khari masoor ki daal or black gram lentils also known as kaali daal or sabit masoor ki daal
• ▢½ teaspoon salt
• ▢½ teaspoon red chili powder
• ▢¼ teaspoon turmeric
• ▢½ teaspoon coriander powder
• ▢½ teaspoon garlic paste
• ▢2 teaspoon lemon juice or adjust to taste
• ▢¼ cup mint leaves
• ▢2 tablespoons oil for tempering
• ▢3 garlic cloves sliced
• ▢½ medium onion sliced

Instructions

Pressure Cooker Instructions:

• Wash lentils and soak for 30 minutes.
• Drain the soaked lentils and place in a pressure cooker with about 1 - 1 ½ cup water.
• Add salt, red chili powder, turmeric, coriander powder and garlic paste.
• Stir, and put on pressure cook for 30 minutes. If you didn’t have time to soak the daal, you can add unsoaked daal and pressure cook for 45 minutes.
• Release pressure and open the lid. Switch to saute / sear mode and whisk well or mash with a wooden spoon so that some of the lentil grains soften and break.
• At this stage you can add water or cook the daal on saute / sear mode depending on how thick or thin you want the lentils to be.
• Heat oil for tempering (tarkin a small frying pan or wok.
• Once the oil is hot, add sliced onion followed by the garlic 2 minutes later. Cook till golden brown. Make sure they don’t burn.
• Add the mint leaves and lemon juice to the daal, and stir. Let the daal cook for a minute and then pour the onion and garlic tempering over the hot lentils.
• Serve hot with rice or roti.

Stovetop instructions:

• Wash lentils and soak for 2 hours. Drain the soaked lentils, and place in a pot with water (about 3 cups water).
• Add salt, red chili powder, turmeric, coriander powder and garlic paste. Bring to a boil, and turn heat to low.
• Cook the lentils on low heat till soft, which will take about an hour.
• Once the lentils are almost tender, whisk well or stir & mash with a wooden spoon for 2 -3 minutes so that some of the lentil grains soften & break making the daal rich and creamy. You can also pulse 1 - 2 times with a hand blender. If necessary, add water and then cook for a couple of minutes till the required gravy consistency is reached.
• Add lemon juice and mint leaves, and give it a stir.
• When the lentils are almost ready heat oil for tempering (tarkin a small frying pan or wok.
• Once the oil is hot, add sliced onion followed by the garlic 2 minutes later. Cook till golden brown. Make sure they don’t burn.
• Pour the onion, garlic and the oil of the tempering (tarkover the hot lentils. Be careful as the oil will sizzle.
• Serve hot with rice or roti.

Notes

• Khari masoor ki daal is made from the whole form of masoor ki daal (or pink lentils). It is also known as sabut masoor ki daal or sabit masoor ki daal. In English it is known as brown lentils or black lentils.
• Don’t confuse these lentils with the ones used in daal makhani. The lentils used in daal makhani are made from whole black gram or sabit urad dal, which is the whole form of urad daal.
• If you don’t have or like mint leaves, you can skip them.
• In the tempering step you can use just garlic or just onion. Both add a unique flavour to the daal.