This is a recipe I fall back on as a twice or thrice weekly meal. It is the same recipe, same measurement of spices, using a variety of different dal and vegetables. The first two recipes include grinding the coconut-rasam mixture, while the third does not, making it a quicker dish to prepare. It’s a good example of how one recipe can be used in many variations to give a totally different dish.
In these three recipes, I alternate between using mung beans(whole moong dal), toor dal and split yellow moong dal. The rasam powder can be replaced with sambar powder in all dishes.
whole mung beans with tomatoes & chard
Preparation 40 minutes
Serves 3 – 4
ingredients
½ cup/100g mung beans(whole moong dal)
4 cups water/1-litre
1 medium tomato(100g), finely chopped
1 cup/50g tightly packed chard leaves (can use kale/fenugreek)
2 heaped Tbsp brown sugar/jaggery
1 heaped tsp rock salt
rasam-coconut mix
¼ cup/20g dried shredded unsweetened coconut
1½ heaped tsp rasam powder (mildly spiced)
½ – 1 tsp tamarind paste
1½ cups/375ml water
voggarane
2 tsp ghee
½ heaped tsp black mustard seeds
⅛ heaped tsp asafoetida powder
10 fresh curry leaves
⅛ heaped tsp turmeric powder
preparation
1. In a heavy-based saucepan, wash the dal until the water runs clear, drain, pour in 4 cups water into the saucepan and bring to boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a rapid simmer.
2. After 10 minutes, add the tomatoes – simmer until dal is soft and has broken down – approximately 30 minutes.
prepare the rasam-coconut mix
3. In an upright blender, add the dried coconut, rasam powder, tamarind, and ¾ cup water, blend for 1 minute, until smooth, then add to dal rinsing the blender clean with the remaining ¾ cup water.
prepare the voggarane
4. In a small pan over medium heat, heat the ghee, add mustard seeds; when the seeds turn grey and pop, add the curry leaves, asafoetida and turmeric powder, swishing the pan around for the spices to fry evenly.
5. Pour the voggarane into the dal, add salt, jaggery and stir in the chopped chard leaves. Allow to sit for 5 minutes for the flavours to settle, the chard to soften and dal to thicken slightly. Taste adding more sweet, tamarind or salt.
Serve with rice, yoghurt and drizzle with a spoon of ghee.
split moong dal with charred okra & fenugreek
Preparation – 40 minutes
Serves 3 – 4
This dish requires frying the vegetables, in this case, the okra, in the voggarane until nicely charred, then stirring it through the cooked dal when ready to serve. I like to keep 1 cup of the okra aside to use as garnish. This method of cooking works very nicely with green beans as well.
ingredients
½ cup/100g split yellow moong dal
3 cups/750ml water
2 heaped Tbsp sugar/jaggery
1 heaped tsp rock salt
rasam-coconut mix
¼ cup/20g dried shredded unsweetened coconut
1½ heaped tsp rasam powder (moderately spiced)
½ – 1 tsp tamarind paste
1½ cups/375ml water
voggarane
3 Tbsp peanut oil
½ heaped tsp black mustard seeds
1 heaped Tbsp channa dal
1 heaped tsp urad dal
400g okra
⅛ heaped tsp asafoetida powder
15 fresh curry leaves
⅛ heaped tsp turmeric powder
2 cups fresh fenugreek/kale/ coriander leaves – chopped
preparation
1. In a heavy-based saucepan, wash the dal until the water runs clear, drain, pour in 3 cups water and bring to boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a rapid simmer – simmer until dal is soft and has broken down – approximately 30 minutes.
2. Top, tail the okra and cut into 1 cm pieces and measure out the remaining ingredients – set aside.
prepare the rasam-coconut mix
3. In an upright blender, add the rasam powder, tamarind, dried coconut and ¾ cup water, blend for 1 minute, until smooth, add to the dal rinsing the blender clean with the remaining ¾ cup water.
prepare the voggarane
4. In a skillet over medium-high heat, add oil and mustard seeds; when the seeds turn grey and pop, add the channa and urad dal, fry until both dals are golden-brown.
5. Add the okra and keep everything moving in the pan until all the okra starts to char around the edges – approximately 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and fold in the chopped fenugreek leaves.
6. Set aside 1 cup of the cooked okra for garnishing and stir the remaining into the dal. Taste adding more sweet, sour or salt.
This dish is best served immediately as the okra can become gooey, otherwise, keep the okra and dal separate until ready to serve. Serve with rice and drizzle with ghee.
toor dal with carrots and green beans
Preparation 40 minutes
Serves 3 – 4
This is the same procedure, using a different dal and vegetables, however, the rasam and coconut are added directly into the dish, no grinding required.
ingredients
½ cup/100g dal (¼ cup toor dal + ¼ cup split moong dal)
4 cups /1-litre water
1 medium/100g carrot – finely chopped
1½ cups finely chopped beans (can use cabbage in Winter)
¼ cup/20g dried shredded coconut
1 ½ heaped tsp rasam powder (mildly spiced)
½ – 1 tsp tamarind paste
2 heaped Tbsp sugar/jaggery
1 heaped tsp rock salt
¼ cup coriander leaves, chopped
voggarane
2 tsp ghee
½ heaped tsp black mustard seeds
⅛ heaped tsp asafoetida powder
10 fresh curry leaves
⅛ heaped tsp turmeric powder
preparation
1. In a heavy-based saucepan, wash dal until the water runs clear, drain, then pour in 4 cups water, bring to boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a rapid simmer.
2. After 10 minutes, add the carrot and green beans, simmer until dal is soft and has broken down – approximately 30 minutes.
3. Stir in the coconut, rasam powder, tamarind, salt and jaggery, mix to combine well – simmer for 4 -5 minutes.
prepare the voggarane
4. In a small pan over medium heat, add the ghee and mustard seeds; when the seeds turn grey and pop, add the asafoetida, curry leaves and turmeric, swishing the pan for the spices to fry evenly.
5. Pour the voggarane into the dal, and stir in the coriander. Allow to sit for 10 minutes for the flavours to settle and dal to thicken slightly. Serve with rice and drizzle with ghee.
