Urad Dal

Name: Urad Dal
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: 5 cm (2 inch) piece of ginger, grated; 1 teaspoon fennel seeds; ½ teaspoon cumin seeds; 2 tablespoons oil; coriander (cilantro) leaves; pinch of asafoetida; 2 dried chillies, broken into pieces; 4 ripe tomatoes, chopped; 1 small onion, roughly chopped; 250 g (9 oz) unskinned urad dal; ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Food of India

By Priya Wickramasinghe and Carol Selva Rajah

Published 2005

About

This type of lentil is used in the South to make dosas and idlis, but in Bengal, Gujarat and Rajasthan it is eaten regularly as a lentil stew. It is usually cooked with ginger, asafoetida and fennel seeds, an aromatic combination of spices.

Ingredients

250 g (9 oz) unskinned urad dal
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

Asia
India
Gluten-free
Spicy
Vegan

Method

Put the dal in a heavy-based saucepan and add 1 litre (4 cups) water, the turmeric, chopped tomato and onion. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until the da