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September 11, 2007

Dali Saar



I have talked endlessly about my mixed parentage and to some extent about dali saar too. Growing up in Madras, we had different cuisines arrive at the dinner table or in the lunch box. The variety did not include global foods the way it does today (Chinese, Thai, Lebanese, etc), but we had quite a spread.



On a typical day, we'd see the sambar-rasam routine or the dali saar-masla randeyi routine. For some reason, I formed a strong bond with rasam and discovered a love for dali saar. Sambar (which S loves) and I are civil and even friendly at times, but the love affair really hasn't taken off.






Dal is an integral part of konkani cuisine and appears on the table in several forms, the most popular ones being dali saar and dali toy. The preparation is pretty much the same and the former is a little more liquidy than the latter. Given my fixation on rasam, it is anyone's guess which version I love.


This is one dish that comes to the rescue on many weeknights.


1/2 cup Toor Dal

1 tsp Green Chilli Paste

1 tsp Ginger Paste

Salt to taste

A pinch of Turmeric Powder (optional)


For the tempering:

1 tsp Oil or Ghee

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

7-8 Curry Leaves

1 Red Chilli or 1 tsp Chilli Flakes


Pressure cook the toor dal with the chilli and ginger pastes (and turmeric, if using) and 1 1/2 cups of water. Alternatively, you can cook the dal with a couple of slit green chillies and a 1" piece of chopped ginger.


When cooked, beat the dal well and add another cup of water. Add the salt and bring the mixture to a boil.


In a small kadhai, heat the oil or ghee, add the mustard seeds and asafoetida, and when the mustard splutters, add the red chilli and curry leaves. Add this to the dal mixture.


Serve hot with rice and a kosumbari or crisps on a busy day or make an elaborate meal with sheet (rice), dali saar or dali toy (dal), upkari (steamed vegetable) or talasani (fried or roasted vegetable), masla randeyi (coconut gravy item), kosumbari (salad) and dhayi (curd) or taak (buttermilk) and phodiyo when you have the time.


This is off to dear
Asha for the RCI Karnataka event.

28 comments:

Menu Today said...

Hi,
I make rasam everyday.Thanks for sharing your version of dal rasam recipe.

Raaga said...

@Menu: Anytime... though, let me warn you that this isn't a rasam... just a watery dal :-)

sunita said...

You must have lost count of your number of entries for RCI :D

Raaga said...

Oh Sunita, its OK if I do... as long as Asha doesn't :-) what say??

FH said...

Not a chance of missing any of your recipes girl.If I do, send me a letter bomb!!:D
Dali Saar looks yum! Konkani recipes are so delicious.After I do the round up,I will have to start cooking one by one!:))
Thanks Raaga.

Raaga said...

@Ashakka: I know you won't miss out any one... need any help with the round up?

Wow... I'd love to have you try out my recipes :-)

Latha Narasimhan said...

I too love rasam! I feel turmeric should be used for colour and health!

I have asked asha to start a new blog for RCI to accomodate our recipes!!:))I am sending only 5 and lakshmi 3!!

Raaga said...

@Latha: Well... this isn't exactly rasam :-) just a watery dal :-)

Ashakka will have to start a blog for RCI... true true... Ashakka are you listening??

Viji said...

Nice recipe Raaga. Viji

Padma said...

Raaga, I was wondering that why your dal is not yellow like mine, but seeing your ingredients made me sigh of relief, I thought u used curd in this to get that pale yellow color. Sometimes its so delightful to eat with those natural colour of dal...truly you are blessed with so many cultural feasts....

As Asha said the list of recipe to make from your blog keep on increasing...nice konkani recipes. I simply love the coconut flavor in most of them...

Raaga said...

@Viji: Thanks :-)

@Padma: I forget very often to add turmeric to my dal... but since I put turmeric into just about everything else, I don't mind :-)

I hope you try some stuff :)

Bong Mom said...

This will be a big hit at my home for sure. I make aMoong Dal with mustard-curry leaves tadka and everyone loves that

TBC said...

I have some frozen dal in my freezer so I'll make this today. I normally make it a little differently but will try it your way.
I love rasam too:-)

Sig said...

My relationship with sambar is exactly the same as yours, very civil... but rasam and I don't see eye-to-eye :)... Since this is not rasam, but daal, I think I'd love it... It looks very refreshing... Lucky you are only making veg dishes, otherwise I'd have ran out of choices for RCI and would've had to come after one of your recipes ;)

Bhawna said...

HI Raaga, toor daal is amazing, can serve in so many ways. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

Priyanka said...

Thats quite a different version of the dal....loved the capsicum phodiyo...you have cooked up so many different varieties for RCI...:)

Chef Jeena said...

Great recipe Raaga I love the pics. :)

Roopa said...

Belle saaru as we call it is one of the very comforting dish :) nice entry raaga!

Anonymous said...

Raaga, this is almost Daali toy except that we do not cook ginger while boiling the daal. Wonderful entry though!

Sreelu said...

Raaga dear, I love dali saar, man this is a life saver after a long day of work, easy to cook and yummy to eat. Nice entry

Cynthia said...

Yeah :) it's no mystery which one you love :)

bee said...

you should post more amchi gele recipes, raaga. they looks so refreshing and unique.

Raaga said...

@Sandeepa: Most things that we make have a mustard curry leaves tadka. And there's hing too... so when Amma says, "Usual phanna (tempering)" I know it is karbevu sasam hing (curry leaves, mustard and asafoetida)!!

Raaga said...

@TBC: I hope you tried it and I hope even more that you liked it :-)

@Sig: Event or no event, I only cook vegetarian food. You should meet my neighbour... she can drink as much rasam as I can make... maybe you'll convert... who knows :-)

@Bhawna: Welcome :-) Anytime :-)

Raaga said...

@Priyanka: Glad you liked them... I'm posting just everyday food :-)

@Jeena: Simple everyday food :-)

@Roopa: Truly comforting.

@Red: Yeah :-)

@Sreelu: It is a life saver... ready quickly and comforting to eat.

Raaga said...

@Cynthia: I'm an open book :-)

@Bee: I just posted the next one for you :-)

marriedtoadesi.com said...

Very educational! I want to learn more about all those dishes you mentioned!!! Post away dear singing chef!
Your mixed background is SO cool.

Kanch

Anu said...

Wow!what an interesting dal recipe..When i saw the pic i thought it was kadhi, but read on and figured i should try this variation :-)