Tomato Daal

Basmati Rice, Tomato Daal, Fried Mutton

It saddens me to say that daal is truly underrated and not appreciated enough. After all, ask any desi kid if they’d rather have daal chaaval or a plate of biryani for dinner and see what they say.

With that being said, however, daal is the quintessential indian curry. It is not merely spiced boiled lentils or whatever these Whole Foods people claim it to be. (If you are one of those Whole Foods people, I’m totally kidding.)

Daal is vibrant. Daal is complex. Daal is tangy. Daal is comforting. Daal is culture.

This is what I grew up eating. It’s simple goodness and it pairs up with almost everything – rice, roti, different vegetable curries, meat curries, etc. There are so many different varieties of daals that you can make. But tomato daal has to be my favorite, and the one most often cooked in my household.

To make this daal, I use mysoor lentils  – they’re the little orange variety. I rinse them well, boil them in a pot of water along with some ginger, garlic, chilies, chilli powder, and turmeric. Then I use a hand-held blender to whiz it all up.

Mysoor Lentils

The final step is to temper the spices. I take a few tablespoons of oil in a small pan, add some amazing aromatics and spices – sliced garlic, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, asoefetida, curry leaves, dried red chili, toast them up and add it to the mysoor lentils. This step is traditional in south Asian cooking and really brings out the intensity of all those flavors – not to mention the aroma is incredible.

Spices to be Tempered – Dried Chilies, Curry Leaves, Cumin Seeds, Mustard Seeds

And there you have it. It’s a one-pot wonder, a health-food, a traditional food, a side curry, a main curry, and most importantly something that everyone will enjoy.

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Tomato Daal

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup lentils (mysoor variety)
• 2 tomatoes
• 1/2 small onion
• 11/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste or 4-5 cloves of garlic with a knob of ginger
• 2 serrano chillies
• 3.5 cups water
• 3/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cilantro (for garnish)

Spices/Aromatics to be Tempered:

• 7-8 curry leaves
• 3 dried chillies
• 3/4 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 garlic cloves (sliced)
• pinch of asoefitida
• 3-4 tbsp oil

Instructions

1. Rinse lentils thoroughly under cold water.
   

2. Roughly chop your onions and tomatoes. If you don't already have ginger-garlic paste on hand, you can just add in 3-4 cloves of garlic and a small knob of ginger (it all gets blended up at the end).
   

3. In a pot, add in your lentils, turmeric, chilli powder, ginger-garlic paste, onions, tomatoes and water. Turn the heat to high. Bring to a boil.
   

4. Lower heat to medium. Cover loosely with a lid and let simmer until lentils are soft.
   

5. Once the lentils are done, add in your salt and turn off the heat. Check for consistency. If daal is too watery for your liking, cook longer until more water evaporates. If daal is too thick, add water. The 3.5 cups of water in the instructions is just a general guideline - add more or less depending on your taste!
   

6. Using a hand-held immersion blender, a regular blender, or a food processor blend the daal until it is liquid.
   

   
   

7.  In a small sauce pan, add in your oil and turn the temperature to high. Allow the pan to get nice and hot.
   

8. Add in your garlic slices. Wait 30 seconds. Now add in cumin and mustard seeds.
   

9. Your mustard seeds should start to pop. Add in your curry leaves, dried chilies, and asafoetida.
   

10. Allow spices to cook in the oil for about a minute or so. Once the garlic is brown and the chillies have darkened, take off the heat right away. Be careful not to burn the garlic!
    

11. Add your tempered oil to the daal right away and stir. Garnish with cilantro. Your daal is ready to be served!