Moong dal tadka | Pasi paruppu kulambu
Moong dal commonly known as pasi paruppu and cherupayar in south India is a staple food. It is a simple, soothing dish which comes together in 30 minutes. It can be had with ghee rice, plain rice, roti or even dosa.
Ingredients
- ½ cup moong dal
- 2 medium sized tomatoes
- 4 to 5 garlic cloves
- 2 green chillies
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 10 to 12 shallots or 1 big onion
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp oil
- Coriander leaves
- 1 ½ cups of water
- For tempering
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 dried red chili
- 1 sprig of curry leaves
- ¼ tsp asafoetida
Instructions
- Cooking the dal
- In a pan dry roast the moong dal till it turns aromatic. No need to brown the dal. Roasting the moong dal reduces the sliminess and blandness but it's totally optional. This is a common practice in South India.
- Wash the dal thoroughly and soak for 20 minutes. Soaking the dal is also optional but remember soaking reduces the cooking time.
- In a pressure cooker, add the washed and soaked dal, garlic cloves, chopped green chillies, chopped tomatoes and water.
- Close the pressure cooker and cook the dal in high flame for 3 whistles and simmer for 5 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally. Now dal is ready.
- Dal tadka / Dal fry / Pasi paruppu kulambu
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Add mustard seeds.
- Once the mustard seeds are crackled, add cumin seeds.
- Now add chopped shallots or onions, red chillies and curry leaves.
- Saute till the onions are browned. I had a half bajji milagai leftover, so I added it along.
- Add turmeric powder and asafoetida. Mix everything together.
- Now pour the cooked dal into the tadka mixture and mix everything together.
- Bring it to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve hot with steamed rice topped with ghee.
Notes
- Dry roasting moong dal is optional. Since dry roasting reduces the sliminess and blandness of the dal, it is a common practice in South India.
- You can use ghee for tadka instead of oil.
- Shallots can be replaced with onions. You can also avoid garlic and onions to make it a no onion no garlic recipe.
- You can adjust the consistency of the dal by adding water while simmering.
- For a North Indian touch you can add red chilli powder in tadka. But care must be taken not to burn the masala.