Name: Sweet Split Green Lentils and Yellow Peas (Mug Chana Nu Dal)
Yield: Makes 5 cups
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: 10 to 15 medium-size to large fresh curry leaves; ½ teaspoon ground turmeric; 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes; ¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems; ¼ cup crumbled (or chopped) jaggery or firmly packed dark brown sugar; ½ teaspoon ground asafetida; 1 teaspoon cayenne (ground red pepper); 1½ teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt; 2 tablespoons Ghee or canola oil; 2 teaspoons cumin seeds; 1 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds; ½ cup skinned split green lentils (yellow in this form, moong dal), picked over for stones; ¼ cup yellow split peas (chana dal), picked over for stones

Preparation info

Makes
5 cups

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

660 Curries

By Raghavan Iyer

Published 2008

About

The 16th to 18th centuries witnessed much economic success in Surat, a port city within the state of Gujarat, in northwestern India. Inundated by invaders, both foreign and national, this town bore more than its fair share of woes prior to that period. The British East India Company had set roots there before they moved their presence to the other well-known port, Bombay (now Mumbai), in the latter half of the 1600s. True, the quality of its diamonds made Surat appealing, but its varied cul