Sonal Singh On Sonal's Table
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being a North Indian, there are times when my soul craves some lip-smacking ‘Dhaba’ food. A Dhaba is a road side food stall that are found by the sides of most major highways in India. Most of them cater authentic and flavorful cuisine.
However, the dhaba’s in North India, I believe are a class part.
The reason is that they use ghee (clarified butter) or butter to temper the dishes. That adds bucket loads of flavor. Erm…calories too but who cares, not like we eat this food everyday.
Daal lahsuniya is a must for anyone who loves garlic. This pulses dish uses loads of them. The more the better.
DAAL LAHSUNIYA
INGREDIENTS
1 cup tur daal (soaked for about 45 minutes till they fluff up)
1 tsp turmeric powder
9-10 cloves of garlic (nice and fat), chopped
2 green chillies, slit lengthwise
2 dried red chillies
¼ tsp heeng
Salt to taste
Juice of half a lemon
1 ½ tsp mixed jeera + black mustard seeds
1 tsp chilli powder (more if you can bear it)
2 tbsp butter/ghee + 1 tsp for garnish
¾ tsp garam masala
Coriander for garnish
METHOD
- Add turmeric to the daal and pressure cook it on high heat – one whistle.
- In a pan, heat the 2 tbsp of ghee/butter. Add the jeera and mustard seeds. Add heeng and add the red and green chillies. Add 7-8 chopped cloves of garlic (reserve 2-3 for garnish). Once the garlic changes colour, add the red chilli powder (pref use kashmiri red chilli. It is less pungent and brings out great flavour + colour). Mix well. Add lemon juice + salt.
- Add the cooked daal to the tadka and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the garam masala.
- In a small tadka pan/spoon take 1 tsp of ghee/butter. Once that heats, add the remaining garlic. Let it get burnt a bit around the edges. Once done, pour the tadka over your daal and garnish with coriander leaves.
