Courgette and Tomato Moong Dal

I wanted to make something easy for lunch today, so I settled on Courgette and Tomato Moong Dal. It's one of the easiest dal recipes in the book - you just have to cook the dal and cook the vegetables, and then combine them.


Cooking dal is pretty painless - you just put the dal (sorted and washed, if it isn't already) into a pan with water and tumeric or whatever other spices you are using at this stage and bring it to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer till the dal is tender. Moong dal cooks really quickly, but other dals can take longer. I wanted the dal to be very broken down, so I cooked it quite hard and stirred it to make a smooth puree. You can add as much or as little water as you want - just make sure that the pan doesn't run dry and burn. Here's a picture of the cooked dal:


Although many traditional dals don't contain any vegetables, I love to put lots in mine. They're filling, tasty, healthy and make the dal go further. They also add texture and colour. Since I'm cooked the vegetables a bit before adding them to the dal, I used my wok to cook the spices in ghee. If I'm not frying up vegetables after the spices, I use my little tarka or tadka pan.


Once the mustard seeds popped and the other spices had darkened a shade, I added the onions and fried them a bit before adding the other vegetables, some more spices and salt. Then I cooked it all till the vegetables were nearly tender.


Finally I added the vegetable mixture to the dal pan and simmered it all for a few minutes. It all depends on how tender you like your vegetables.


A good helping of fresh coriander adds a lovely flavour to any dish, but I especially love it in dal. I also offered slices of lemon at the table. And there you go, you can serve it with rice, bread or just eat it all on its own for a lighter meal. Delicious!


If you like the look of this recipe, please buy my book, Mango Soup, which contains the full version of this recipe and many more: http://www.authorhouse.co.uk/Bookstore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=49169