Green tomato dal

This recipe has been hanging fire since late last autumn, when I had actual green tomatoes which refused to ripen. That was my fault, since I’d acquired the plant well into summer and the tomatoes simply didn’t have the time or receive the warmth to ripen and redden.

This year, though, hopefully I will be more on the ball when it comes to growing these love-apples… because honestly, they taste soooooooooo much better when eaten straight off a plant! (That is, you pick the tomato from the plant, wipe it just in case, check for holes which might indicate the presence of any prior eaters/occupants, and then pop it into your mouth. That’s the usual procedure and the only possible explanation for “eaten straight off the plant”... unless you’re a slug or a bug or a bird or any other tomato-predator.)

Organic, schmorganic… the best tomatoes are those that grow in your pot or veggie patch or garden, and that is the bottomline.



Since these tomatoes were green, I didn’t try eating them raw. Since I wasn’t in the mood for fried green tomatoes (yep, as per the Whistlestop Café) at that point either, they went into a tangy, spicy dal. I will be making it again this year… and perhaps include a trial of fried green tomatoes too.

Watch this space... but here’s a friendly heads-up because I value my readers - watch it only sporadically, just so you don’t get bored waiting! Cheers.

Recipe for: Green tomato dal



Ingredients:

1 cup whole masoor dal, soaked for 1 hour and cooked separately with 1/2 tsp turmeric
3 medium green tomatoes, chopped
1 medium ripe tomato, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 cup shredded greens (spinach/fenugreek)
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
3/4 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 green chillies, minced (or to taste)
1/2 tsp tamarind paste (more or less, depending on how sour the green tomatoes are)
Salt to taste
2 tsp ghee - reserve 1/2 tsp for garnish
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish
1/2 tsp garam masala for garnish

Method:

1. Heat 1-1/2 tsp ghee in a pan, then add the coriander powder, cumin seeds, minced green chillies and ginger-garlic paste. Stir fry for 30 seconds.



2. Add the chopped onions and fry over medium-high heat till they become soft and start turning brown.

3. Add the shredded greens now and mix well, frying till they start wilting.



4. Throw in the chopped green tomatoes, mix well.



Fry for 3-4 minutes till the tomatoes begin to soften.

5. Add the red tomatoes now, mix well, and pour in 1/4 cup water.



6. Cover the pan and let cook for 5 minutes on medium-high heat.



7. When the tomatoes have broken down and turned mushy, add the cooked whole masoor dal along with salt to taste.



8. Stir the dal in gently, without mushing it up, then taste for sourness. If required, dissolve 1/2 tsp tamarind paste in 1/4 cup water and add it to the pan.

9. Let the dal simmer for 5-7 minutes till the ingredients come together.

10. Heat the remaining 1/2 tsp ghee in a small pan and add 1/4 tsp cumin seeds (optional) and the garam masala. Fry for 10 seconds, then pour over the top of the hot dal.

11. Sprinkle coriander leaves on the dal and serve hot with rice or rotis and onion raita.

Sorrel dal

This has been possibly one of the tastiest dals I've made - and I'm not sure what gave it that extra oomph. I'm aware this is not the most inspiring of things for any cook to say... I mean, if a cook doesnt know what makes his/her recipe a hit, who would?

Still, as I said - no idea what made the dal stand out, especially as the ingredients used were (are) absolutely standard. All I can think of is that perhaps it was the sorrel, as freshly harvested as any greens could get, that made the difference. I got the leaves from my container garden two minutes before I used them. I also had a cupful of water left over from cooking green beans for Pete, so I added that to the dal instead of plain water - but I cant see that it would have made much difference. Bean cooking water is just bean cooking water, not a flavour developer. Right?

I've always thought that sorrel was the English name for gongura, the sour greens so typically used in Andhra cooking. Since I havent actually seen gongura (except in the finished dish made by someone else!) or cooked with it before, I just assumed my sorrel was gongura. Only, my mother said it couldnt be gongura because the leaves werent the right shape (this was when they were just beginning to grow).



True enough, the leaves were broad and flat rather than narrow and tapered... but they were sour. Not mouth-puckeringly so, but with a pleasant sort of sourness, rather like tamarind leaves. Since they were green and sour, I christened them gongura, and made the dal that I've been hankering after ever since I had it first at a friend's place, many many MANY moons ago. Dont anybody tell me it's not gongura... because my response will only be this: "It's a different KIND of gongura, so there."

So there.

Recipe for: Sorrel dal



Ingredients:

1 cup tur dal, cooked
2 cups gongura leaves, washed and sliced
1 medium onion, minced
1 tsp ginger, grated
3-4 fresh green chillies (or to taste), sliced very thin
2 tsp oil
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ghee
1-2 dry red chillies
Salt to taste
1-1/2 cups water

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, cover and let them pop. Then add the ginger, green chillies and coriander powder and fry for 30 seconds or so.



2. Throw in the onions and saute them till they begin to soften and become pale brown.



3. Now add the sorrel leaves and stir till they begin to wilt.



4. Pour in the water



and let it simmer for 4-5 minutes.



5. Then add the cooked tur dal and salt to taste, and stir.



Let the dal come to a gentle bubbling simmer.

6. In the meanwhile, heat 1 tsp ghee in a small pan. Break the dry red chillies in two or three pieces and add them to the ghee. Then add the cumin seeds and let them fry for 30 seconds till fragrant and brown.



Pour this tempering on the dal and mix.



Serve hot over rice or with chapaties.

Carrot-beet-greens medley with lentils

Couldnt think of a punchy title for what I made, so I had to settle for a descriptive one. For starters, I'm not sure whether this can be termed "thoran" or "porial" or "sundal" - it has elements of all three. I bought farm-fresh beets (with greens!) and fresh spinach (the adult kind, fully grown) at the Shrewsbury market, and I didnt quite know where to start. Had too many bookmarked recipes to choose from and vacillated between them, discovering that I was short of this or that ingredient for this or that recipe. (Indecision, as Charlie Brown says, is an awful thing.)

So eventually I ended up making a fairly simple dry "curry". I peeled and chopped two carrots and a medium size beet into small chunks, then put them in the pressure cooker along with a handful of green (or brown) lentils. Two whistles of the pressure cooker and the vegetables were cooked to perfection - retaining their shape and not too soft. Plus, the beets gave some of their lovely colour to the carrots, ending up all pink and red and orange.

The lentils could probably have cooked a little longer (or maybe they could have done with a little water, because I didnt add any!) - they were just about al dente. Still, I like them chewy and they acquired a slightly softer texture by the time I was done making the curry.

The greens I washed and dried. Then I stacked and rolled up the leaves and cut them to thin ribbons, including as much of the stem as I could. It took only a few minutes to saute/wilt them in a pan while still retaining their bright green colour. After which I added the coconut-green chilly-cumin mixture and stirred it all up. Sauteed the whole thing for a few minutes, then served it up with rice and celery thokku for a meal that was agreeably - and surprisingly - nice! The bright jewel colours of the finished product was an added bonus.

PS. Please forgive me the rather clunkily edited (background cut out) first photograph below - my first attempt with Adobe Photoshop! I hope to improve over time...

Recipe for: Carrot-beet-greens medley with lentils



Ingredients:

To pan-cook:
1 cup sliced fresh greens
Salt to taste

To pressure-cook:
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into 1-cm chunks
1 medium beet, peeled and chopped into 1-cm chunks
a generous handful of green/brown lentils

To grind together:
2-3 generous tbsp grated coconut
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
4-5 green chillies

For tempering:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
pinch of asafoetida
2 tsp oil

Method:

1. Put the lentils in a vessel with 2-3 tbsp water, then add the beets and carrots.


Pressure-cook for two whistles or till just done. Reserve.



2. Grind the coconut, cumin seeds and chillies together. Reserve.

3. Heat the oil in a pan, add the asafoetida powder, mustard seeds and urad dal. Cover the pan and let the mustard seeds splutter and the dal turns pale brown.

4. Add the sliced greens now.



Stir fry till they are wilted and nearly cooked, but still retain their colour. Add half of the ground coconut and stir in, cooking
on low heat for 2-3 minutes.

5. Now put in the cooked carrots, beets and lentils.



Add the remaining coconut masala and stir it all in, adding salt to taste.



6. Stir the curry for another minute or two, making sure it is heated through. Serve hot as a side dish with rice/sambar/thokku or roti.