Urad Dal with Tomatoes, Spices and Coconut

This soupy, yet creamy curry is very easy to digest and was inspired from 660 Curries, a favoured book that I always browse through when I am looking for a simple, but tasty meal solution. As I have noted before, this cookbook is not vegetarian, but there are tons of creative vegetarian recipes, including ideas for appetizers, spice blends, egg curries, vegetables, legumes, rice and breads. Since I have been eating a lot of dishes with cheese lately, I wanted a vegan meal to cleanse the soul. Serve with basmati rice or Indian flat bread for a complete and satisfying dinner.

Urad Dal with Tomatoes, Spices and Coconut

Adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

1 cup of split urad dal, without skins
3 cups of water
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 inch piece of tamarind
2 tablespoons of ghee, or a mixture of butter and oil
2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
5 green chilies, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne
5 dried red chilies, crumbled
1 teaspoon of amchoor powder
1 large tomato, finely chopped
1/3 cup of dried coconut
1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt
a generous handful of dried curry leaves

Soak the tamarind pulp in 1 cup of very hot water for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour. Strain the liquid into a bowl with a fine-meshed strainer, squeezing as much liquid as possible out of the tamarind pulp. Discard the pulp and set aside the liquid.

Soak the coconut in hot water for 15 minutes, drain and set aside.

Wash the urad well in a strainer. Transfer to a large pot, along with 3 cups of water, the turmeric and the tamarind water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cover and simmer until the urad dal is tender - roughly 20 minutes.

While the urad dal is cooking, heat the ghee or butter and oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add the cumin seeds and stir and fry for a minute or so. Now add the chilies, garlic, ginger, cayenne and amchoor powder and stir and fry for a few minutes.

Add the tomatoes to the pan, along with the cocount, salt and curry leaves. Simmer until the mixture is thickened - about 5 minutes. Pour into the cooked dal, stir and simmer for about 10 minutes, adding more water if needed.

Serves 4 - 5

More urad dal recipes from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:
Urad Dal with Tomatoes
Fennel Flavoured Urad Dal Soup
Savory Rice and Urad Dal Pancakes

On the top of the reading stack: The New Vichy Syndrome: Why European Intellectuals Surrender to Barbarism by Theodore Dalrymple

Audio Accompaniment: Multila by Vladislav Delay