Paruppu - Dal

I think there is nothing special in paruppu or dal , but still if you didn't add enough ingredients, it really won't taste that much better.

Once my mother was ill and my father tried to cook..( I should say , he really just tried).He chose the paruppu as he thought that was the easiest one in cooking..He just cooked the paruppu in pressure cooker and just added some salt in it and served me with rice..I was too young to know about the ingredients, but still managed to say something was wrong..we struggled a lot that day.....my mother laughed when he explained how he really cooked dal...From that day, my mother had never asked my father to cook again.Whenever I cook dal, I remember everytime my father's tastiest dal :-D...


Ingredients:

• Thuvar Dal(thuvaram paruppu)-100 gms
• Turmeric powder-1/4 teaspoon
• Chilli powder-3/4 teaspoon
• Asafoetida- a pinch
• Garlic-3 or 4
• Small onions-3 or 4
• Salt - for taste

For seasoning:

• Oil- 2 teaspoon
• Red chillies-1 or 2
• small onions-2
• Mustard, Jeera(cumin seeds),curry

Method:

• Wash the thuvar dal and soak it in enough water for 15 minutes.
• Add the garlics , 3 small onions (without cutting), turmeric powder, chilli powder, asafoetida to the dal and cook it in pressure cooker.
• Allow it for 2 - 3 whistles.
• Drain the excess water, add enough salt and just smash the dal along with the cooked garlic and onion.
• Heat oil in pan and add the mustards cumin seeds and the curry leaves.
• When they start to splutter, add the red chillies and the( vertically) finely cut small onions and fry it till it is roasted.
• Add the smashed paruppu (dal) along with the excess drained water and allow it to boil.
• You can also add one tomato along with dal in pressure cooker, if desired.
• Serve it with hot rice or chappathi.