Patla Masoor

 I've watched a lot of Cupcake Wars on TV this December and it's got me trying all kinds of cupcakes. My problem though, is that if I keep making them, then I keep eating them. So I told a friend of mine, that every time I make cupcakes she and her husband need to come over for dinner so that we can eat them together, for dessert. Luckily, she thought this a good idea too, which brings me to today's recipe: Patla Masoor – our dinner before the cupcakes! And just so you know, the recipe I found online, for those cupcakes, isn’t worth putting up here.

What is masoor? It’s a lentil (Dal in Hindi) that is commonly used in Indian cooking, and is my husband’s favorite dal. I'm pretty sure he could eat it four days a week, every week, for a year, before asking for something else. I feel like it's the meatiest dal in flavour, which makes this a nice vegetarian dish. It can be found in different colours, and as whole lentils or split lentils. For this recipe we use whole masoor with the skin on. The packets I buy have the name ‘Masoor Matki – Whole Baby Lentils’ on them. The dal looks grayish brown, with a pink tinge.

Masoor takes extremely long to cook if you do not have a pressure cooker, so I would suggest cooking it in a slow cooker if you have one, or be prepared to boil it for at least an hour or two. Masoor also cooks faster and better if you soak it in water for a while. I'd say anything between ½ an hour and 2 hours would be a good soaking. 'Patla' means thin in Hindi, and the masoor we are making is kind of soupy. 

At the bottom of this recipe are a few notes, if you’re using a crock pot or a slow cooker then follow the instructions in the notes. To make this easier and more understandable, I’ve made the instructions into points.

2 cups masoor dal

1 large onion (chopped)

1 (heaped) tsp garlic paste

1 (heaped) tsp ginger paste

1 tsp chili powder (add more if you like it spicy)

1 tsp turmeric powder

5 (heaped) tsps BOLST'S Curry Powder (mild)

2-3 whole green chilies, with a thin slit in them (optional)

1 bunch cilantro (finely chop leaves only, discard stalks)

Salt to taste

Little Oil

Water or Stock to cook the masoor

1. In a pressure cooker, fry the onions in a little oil, till they start to turn golden brown. 

2. Then add the ginger and garlic pastes and let them cook a little (till the raw smell goes). 

3. Next put in all the spices and salt, and let them cook a little. Then add the chilies. 

4. Drain the masoor, and add into the cooker. 

5. Cover the masoor with water, there should be about 1/2 an inch of water over the masoor; put on the lid and the whistle. Turn the stove up to medium-high, and allow the whistle to blow once.

At this point, you can switch off the stove, let the steam out of the cooker, and then open it. The dal will not be fully cooked, but this gives you an opportunity to see how much water is left and to see how much cooking is still needed. Add more water, if required, then put the cooker lid, and whistle back on, and turn the stove on to medium. Allow the whistle to blow again, then switch off the stove, and leave the whistle and lid on for at least 20 minutes, or till the pressure has completely gone.

Open the cooker and check if the masoor is cooked enough, and if there is enough spice and salt in it. Cooked masoor should be soft when you take a bite, and not crunchy or hard at all. If it's not cooked, put on the whistle and cook again, making sure there is enough water in the cooker. If you feel the dal has dried up, add more water or stock, until you get the consistency desired.

6. Once cooked, add in chopped cilantro and serve hot with rice and Kachumber. 

Masoor Dal

Notes:

* IF YOU ARE USING A PRESSURE COOKER, PLEASE FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS THAT COME WITH THE COOKER. IT CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS IF NOT USED PROPERLY! My recipe instructions are written with the assumption that you know how to use one and this blog is not responsible for your use of a pressure cooker. Every cooker has a slightly different cooking time, and water absorption. If there isn't enough water in the cooker, your dal will burn and cleaning that cooker is a pain in the backside!

*To cook this in a slow cooker/ crock pot, do steps 1 to 3 in a pan, and then put all ingredients in the slow cooker. Make sure you add plenty of water or broth, because the masoor absorbs a lot of water. Once it's cooked, follow step 6.  

*I usually use stock, chicken or vegetable, instead of water to add more flavour to the dish. 

*BOLST'S Curry Powder can be bought at most Indian stores. It is a very mild powder, and if you feel like your masoor tastes very watered down, then add a little more powder at the end and let it come to a boil - that would be enough time to cook the curry powder.