Name: Spicy Pigeon Peas with Tomatoes and Browned Onions (Hyderabadi Toor Dal)
Yield: Makes 4 cups
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon ground Kashmiri chiles; or ¼ teaspoon cayenne (ground red pepper) mixed with ¾ teaspoon sweet paprika; 1 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds; ½ teaspoon ground turmeric; 1 cup oily or unoily skinned split yellow pigeon peas (toovar dal), picked over for stones; 2 tablespoons Ghee or canola oil; 1 cup finely chopped red onion; 2 tablespoons Ginger Paste; 1 tablespoon Garlic Paste; 12 to 15 medium-size to large fresh curry leaves; 1 large tomato, cored and finely chopped; 1½ teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt

Preparation info

Makes
4 cups

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

660 Curries

By Raghavan Iyer

Published 2008

About

Color of the setting sun, this orange-yellow curry is smooth, creamy, and stick-to-your-ribs tasty. I like to eat curries like this with thin flatbreads like rotis or with warmed store-bought whole-wheat tortillas. For an unusual first course, serve a bowlful of this dal surrounded by slices of toasted French bread, commonly referred to as crostini. Instruct your guests to dunk the toasts in the dal and savor every crunchy, creamy bite.