Serves: 4
Ingredients for Dal Fry:
- Split pigeon peas/Toor dal – 1/2 cup
- Clarified butter/ Ghee – 2 tablespoons
- Cinnamon – 3″, broken
- Cardamom – 4
- Cloves – 2
- Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
- Bay leaf – 1
- Onions – 3, sliced not too thin
- Tomatoes – 2, chopped
- Green chillies – 2, chopped
- Turmeric powder -1/4 teaspoon
- Chilli Powder – 1/4 teaspoon
- Garlic – 6 cloves, crushed coarse or sliced into slivers
- Dry Red chilli – 1 whole
- Coriander leaves for garnish
- Salt to taste
Method for Dal Fry:
- Cook the lentils with a pinch of turmeric powder and salt until mushy and set aside.
- To a deep casserole or kadhai on medium flame add one tablespoon of ghee, followed by cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cumin seeds, bay leaf and fry until fragrant.
- Add the sliced onions, fry until the onion and garlic turn a light brown.
- Next, add the tomatoes, green chillies, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Fry for a minute.
- Stir in the cooked lentils, mix well, bring the dal to a boil, and set aside.
- To a frying pan/ kadhai on medium heat add the rest of the ghee and toss in the whole red chilli and garlic slivers and fry until the garlic turns a golden brown. Pour this seasoning into the prepared dal and cover.
- Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Ingredients for the Ghee Rice:
- Basmati rice – 1 cup, washed, soaked for 30 minutes and well-drained
- Ghee – 5 tablespoons
- Raisins – 2 tablespoons
- Broken nuts – 2 tablespoons (I’ve used cashew)
- Onion – 2, sliced thin
- Cinnamon – 4″
- Cardamom -5
- Cloves – 5
- Star anise – 1 whole
- Mace – 1 big blade
- Fennel seeds- ¼ teaspoon
- Cumin seeds – ¼ teaspoon
- Hot water – 2 cups
- Salt to taste
Method for the Ghee Rice:
- To a deep casserole with a well-fitting lid on medium heat, add one tablespoon of ghee and fry the nuts and raisins and set aside.
- To the same casserole, add the sliced onions and fry until golden brown. Remove the onions and set aside.
- Add the rest of the ghee, to the same casserole, followed by cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise, mace, fennel seeds and cumin seeds. Fry until fragrant.
- Add the washed, soaked and well-drained rice and toss around for about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir the salt into the hot water, add it to the rice and bring the rice to a boil.
- Turn down the heat to a minimum, cover and cook until the rice has absorbed all the water and is cooked.
Note:
- Dal cooked in ghee tastes delicious. However if you do not have ghee you can use butter.