Comfort food for any day! A vegan and gluten free recipe.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 2 servings
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian, Vegan

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup Toor Daal (Split pigeon Pea)
  • 2 cups water

Tadka/Chaunk/Tempering:

  • 2 Teaspoons organic canola oil or coconut oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seed (Raee)
  • 2 bay leaves (tejpatta)
  • a generous pinch of asafetida (hing)
  • 1 whole red chili broken into 2 (or 1 green chili chopped)
  • 3-4 Tablespoons cilantro chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 medium tomato chopped
  • 3/4 - 1 teaspoon salt or to taste

Variations:

  • Add 1/4 teaspoon paprika or 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder to the tadka
  • Add greens with the cilantro.
  • Add 2-3 tomatoes.
  • Add a teaspoon of Tamarind pulp

Method

  1. Wash and soak daal/lentils for half an hour. If not using pressure cooker then soak for atleast 4 hours.
  2. In pressure cooker or a medium deep pan, add oil and heat on medium heat.
  3. Test the heat by adding a few mustard seeds to the oil; if they crack immediately, the oil is ready.
  4. Add mustard seeds, and after a few seconds, add bay leaves and red chili/green chili, stir for 10-15 seconds.
  5. Add the chopped cilantro and cook for a minute or so until it crisps up.
  6. Add the tomatoes and turmeric. Mix well and cook covered until tomatoes are half done.(3-4 minutes)
  7. Rinse Daal and add with water and salt. Mix.
  8. Pressure cook for 2 whistles on medium, or cook covered for 20-30 minutes on medium-low, or until daal is starts to mix with the water.
  9. Serve hot with fresh cumin Rice.
  10. Add lemon juice if needed. Or serve along with some Indian Pickle/Achar.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.