Tuvar Dal & Jeera Riceતુવેર દાળ અને જીરા રાઈસ
A light, quick dinner: tempered toor dal with cumin rice. This is what most families cook when it is late and nobody wants an elaborate meal.
Ingredients
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- 1 cup toor dal
- 1 onion, 2 tomatoes, 1 tsp ginger-garlic
- Turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander-cumin powder, salt
- Tempering: ghee, cumin, asafoetida, dried chilli, garlic
- Rice: 1½ cups rice, 1 tsp cumin, 2 tbsp ghee
- Lemon and coriander
Method
- Pressure cook the dal with turmeric for 4 whistles and whisk smooth.
- Fry cumin, asafoetida, garlic and onion in ghee, then add tomatoes and spices and cook down.
- Add the dal, thin with water and simmer 8-10 minutes.
- For the rice, crackle cumin in ghee, add the soaked rice and 3 cups water, and cook.
- Finish the dal with lemon and coriander and serve with the cumin rice.
Tips
- Whisking the cooked dal well is what makes it silky.
- A final ghee tempering poured on at the table lifts the whole dish.
Storing and reheating
The dal keeps two or three days in the fridge and a month in the freezer. It thickens as it cools, so add hot water and give it one good boil. Jeera rice keeps two days; sprinkle water over it and steam it covered, and do not reheat rice twice. In hot weather cooked rice should not sit out more than four or five hours.
What you can swap
- Masoor dal can replace the toor. It cooks in two whistles and goes silkier, though the flavour is milder.
- Without a pressure cooker, soak the dal for an hour and simmer it covered in a pan for forty to forty-five minutes.
- Leave the garlic out if you avoid it and use a little more asafoetida, keeping the dried chilli in the tempering.
- No basmati? Any long-grain rice works, but sticky short-grain rice is wrong for jeera rice.
What to serve with it
An everyday lunch or dinner, with roti, papad, raw onion, lemon and pickle. Unlike sweet Gujarati dal this one is plain and sharp, so it gets made when the family wants a change. Many homes spoon a little raw ghee over the dal at the table.
Mistakes to avoid
- Rinse the dal two or three times until the water runs clear, and skim the froth that rises as it cooks. Skip that and the dal tastes heavy and looks cloudy.
- Do not let the cumin burn in the tempering. The moment it crackles and changes colour, add the next thing; burnt cumin makes the whole pot bitter.
- Do not put tomatoes in with the dal to pressure cook. Acid keeps the lentils from softening, so cook them into the masala instead.
- Do not stir the rice while it cooks. The grains break and go sticky. Keep it covered until the water is absorbed, then separate the grains with a fork.
Questions people ask
How do I get silky dal without a hand blender?
Whisk the hot dal hard for two or three minutes with a wooden mathni or a wire whisk as soon as the cooker opens. Hot dal breaks down easily; once it cools you will be left with whole lentils no matter how long you whisk.
Why is my jeera rice sticky?
Under-rinsed rice, too much water, or stirring during cooking. Rinse until the water runs clear, soak twenty minutes, use two cups of water to one cup of rice, and let it stand covered for five minutes after it is done.
Is this the same as Gujarati dal?
No. Gujarati dal has jaggery and tamarind in it, is deliberately thin and is eaten with rice. This one is built on an onion and tomato masala, is thicker and sharper, and works just as well with roti.
