Radish Greens & Chard Dal

Most greens from root vegetables such as radishes, carrots, and beets are edible and even nutritious. They are commonly cooked with moong dal (mung beans) and flavored with a very simple and mild mix of cumin seeds, chillies, and sometimes, coconut. My mom and grandma add a little jaggery to spinach based dals and masiyals, so it gives a mildly sweet and savory taste to the dish. 

Here's how it's done.

Rhubarb Dal with Sweet Potatoes and Chard

Every year, we get a fresh home-grown batch of rhubarbs from my husband's colleague. And every year, I wonder how to put the tart rhubarbs to good use. Over the years, I have tried making cakes, brownies, jam, pie, and crisps. Essentially, I have drowned the rhubarb with sugar, strawberries, chocolate etc. to make it palatable, because this particular batch of rhubarbs are incredibly sour. This time, I wanted to steer away from making any desserts or sweets with them. So, I searched for some savory rhubarb recipes and found a very interesting one that uses rhubarb in a lentil curry with chard and sweet potatoes. I think it's pretty clever to use rhubarbs along with sweet potatoes, so I adapted from the wonderful idea and made an authentic Indian dal, and it turned out great! Everyone in the family loved it, so I heaved a sigh of relief. Now, I finally know what to do with rhubarbs that doesn't involve sugar!

The sour rhubarb takes the place of tomatoes, tamarind, lemon etc. in the dal. And the sweet potatoes just add a subtle layer of sweetness to balance the extra sourness. If you don't have sweet potatoes and the rhubarbs are too sour, just add some jaggery or brown sugar towards the end. I also love red chard and often add them to dals. So, it went along with the rest.

I used Indian sweet-potatoes this time (shown below). They are sweeter and smaller than regular 

orange sweet potatoes.

Indian sweet-potatoes

Butternut Squash Kootu / Butternut Squash Stew

In the next few weeks/months, I am going to be continuing to post some fundamental South-Indian dishes that are common in most households. To me, some of these dishes are special for two reasons: 1) they evoke childhood memories, 2) these dishes might seem extremely basic and simple today, but I predict they will soon evolve into exotic dishes for the subsequent generations that seem to be moving farther and farther away from our home base/country. At that point in the long term, these simple staples will turn into valuable means through which people connect with their ancestry and culture. And my idealistic vision is that this space would be a reference point for the family down the road.

Anyway, that aside, I wanted to record this simple recipe. For vegetarians such as us, lentils, grams and pules are our primary sources of protein. So, almost every other meal has a generous serving of kootu - a lentil or gram based dish that is cooked with a vegetable and is very mildly spiced. 

I grew up with this kootu gracing our meals at least twice a week. Moong dal is a healthy source of protein and is much better (nutrition-wise) compared to regular yellow lentils (toor dal). This kootu is also quite versatile. Any vegetable/fruit that is a squash or a gourd (or otherwise) can be added.

Chayote & Carrot Poricha Kuzhambu

One of my mom's specialty dishes is this simple and tasty lentil based stew. Chayote is called chow-chow in Tamil. It is a pear shaped gourd (or maybe squash) that goes really well with the mild sweetness of carrots. The cooked vegetables are simmered in lentils and flavored with cumin, pepper, coconut, and curry leaves for a wonderful dish. This stew is healthy with a mix of mild spice (from black pepper) and sweetness (from the carrots). 

I can never make this poricha kuzhambu as well as she does. This is one of her signature dishes that I was looking forward to recording in this space.

Spinach Molagootal / Keerai Molagootal

Molagootal is a classic Palakkad dish. Palakkad (Palghat) is a stretch of town in the state of Kerala that lies very close to the Tamil Nadu border. So, as with towns and cities that closely nestle between two states, Palakkad has interesting confluences of Tamil and Malayalam culture and cuisine. This dish is one such a beautiful confluence that is commonly prepared by Palakkad Iyers.

This is an example of a dish that exceeds all the basic requirements of a standard pot of gravy. 

Is it nutritious? Yes! With, copious amounts of spinach and lentils!

Is it easy to make? Yes! Anybody, and I mean anybody can make a delicious pot of molagootal. 

Is it quick to prepare? Yes! If you own a pressure cooker, the total cooking time will be no more than 20 minutes - with 10 minutes of idle time to spare

Is it easy on the palate? Yes! More than easy on the palate. It is delicious! Coconuty and cuminy.

Yes, the dish looks all green and unappetizing in my pictures. Blame it on the photographer and the deviously deceptive ideas perpetrated on the harmless, good-for-you, chlorophyll!

Tomato Pappu / Tomato Dal

Tomato Pappu is a simple, comforting dal from the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. My father and his siblings grew up in Andhra Pradesh, so they regard all things connected with the state with a lot of love. Not surprisingly, their cooking is influenced by Andhra cuisine as well. My paternal grandmother was a great cook, and so are my aunts. They make the most deliciously spicy food that's a hybrid of Tamil and Telugu cooking! It's a pity my grandmother passed away when I was really young. I unfortunately haven't tasted (or remember tasting) her food, and never got to learn any of her signature recipes directly from her. My aunts are, of course, carrying on the tradition. And I have so much to learn from them!

Anyway, this pappu is a darling favorite of everyone in my family. My father and my uncles need nothing else if there is a pot of tomato pappu! My mother and I love it too, so it's often made in our household. My earliest memories of having pappu are with my grandfather. He used to eat avakkai rice (avakkai is a spicy mango pickle from Andhra Pradesh) along with pappu. Everyone in my paternal family loves spicy food. So, all our meals started with a "pickle course" - i.e., rice mixed with spicy pickles. It was such a norm at our meals, that even a spice-intolerant person like me, fell in line to follow the tradition! To this day, I love pappu with avakkai or any mango pickle. It elevates the taste of pappu and brings back warm memories.

 

This is a deceptively simple dish that seems similar to any tomato dal. But, this has its own unique blend of favors.

Dill Dal

When I first came to this country as a wide-eyed student, every trip to the grocery store with my good friend (and then flat mate) was a small expedition all by itself. We used to walk to the store - about 3 miles from our place with our empty backpacks ready to carry all the weekly produce. And then we used to walk all the way back, our backpacks stuffed and our back and shoulders straining under the load. My friend used to rightly remark that we looked like turtles with a heavy shell, walking upright. I remember one time, while crossing the road, the plastic bag I was carrying in my hand gave away and the contents spilled onto the middle of the road. I couldn't even bend down to pick up everything because of my heavy backpack crushing me. But thanks to the friendly people of the laid-back University town that I love dearly, people around helped me, while I was red with embarrassment. But despite all the physical exhaustion, I still think of those walks with fondness. I loved the bright green around me, the colorful flowers, the cool breeze, and our talks together!

Anyway, during each trip, I also learned something new at the grocery store. Such as the difference between lettuce and cabbage. And one day, Dill. I saw my friend stuffing a bag full of dill, and I was ever so curious as to how it would taste and what she would do with it. She made a sambar like dish with cooked toor dal and tamarind juice simmered with dill. And that was one of her specialty dishes! Although dill is a herb that's commonly used to just flavor or season a dish, her dal is not in the least bit overpowering. It tastes unique and very good. 

So this dal is inspired from her dish! This is for you Aparna :)

Ingredients (serves 4-6):

1. 2.25 cups dill, stems removed, and leaves finely chopped (substitute dill with any other green)
2. 1 cup uncooked toor dal / tuvaram paruppu / yellow lentils
3. 1 medium-sized onion, chopped finely
4. 2 tablespoons tomato paste (or 1 tomato)
5. 1 " ball of tamarind soaked in 1.5 cups hot water for 15 minutes
6. 2 teaspoons sambar powder (or 1 teaspoon chilli powder and 1 teaspoon coriander powder)
7. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
8. 1 teaspoon salt or as needed
9. 1 teaspoon jeera / cumin seeds
10. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preparation:

1. Cook toor dal until well cooked and mushy. If using pressure cooker, cook for 4 whistles.
2. Heat oil in a sauce pan. When hot, add jeera and wait for it to sizzle. Add onion and cook until translucent. 
3. Add sambar powder and fry for a minute. Add tomato paste/tomato, turmeric powder and salt and cook until the tomato paste/tomato leaves the sides of the pan. Takes about 7-10 minutes.
4. Add the dill leaves and fry/cook until the dill wilts and cooks - about 5 minutes.
5. Extract the juice from the tamarind pulp and add it. Add 1/2 cup of water and cook for 10 minutes or until the tamarind doesn't smell raw. 
6. Add the cooked toor dal and mix well. Add more water, if needed, to get the dal to desired consistency. Reduce the heat to low and cook the dal for 10 minutes until it incorporates the spices. 

Remove from heat and serve as a side dish with rice or rotis.

Rasavaangi

Rasavaangi is a South-Indian gravy that is a slight derivative of arachu-vitta sambar and pitlai. It is much thicker than sambar, and is usually prepared with brinjals/eggplant, and is flavored with freshly ground spices and coconut in a tangy tamarind-lentil gravy. This side-dish features pretty often in our household in summer, because we always grow eggplants.

Ingredients (serves 4):

1. 1/2 medium-sized eggplant, cut into long thick strips (if using Indian brinjals, use about 5-6)
2. 2/3 cup uncooked toor dhal / tuvaram paruppu / yellow lentils
3. 1 inch ball of tamarind, soaked in 1 cup hot water for 20 minutes
4. 1.5 tablespoons bengal gram / kadala paruppu
5. 2.5 tablespoons coriander seeds / dhania
6. 3 dry red chillies
7. 1/4 cup grated/shredded coconut
8. 1 teaspoon sambar powder (optional)
9. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
10. 2 tablespoons oil (in total)
11. 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
12. 1 teaspoon ulutham paruppu / split urad dhal / split de-husked black gram
13. a few curry leaves
14. 1/8 teaspoon hing / asafoetida
15. 1 teaspoon salt, or as needed

Preparation:

1. Cook the toor dhal with just enough water until well cooked and almost mushy. Pressure cooker is ideal. 
2. Add 1 tablespoon oil to a skillet and fry the eggplant/brinjals until slightly browned. Transfer to a medium sauce-pan.
3. Extract the juice from the soaked tamarind and add it to the sauce pan with the eggplant/brinjals. If the tamarind still looks "juicy", add some more warm water, squeeze out the juice and add. Discard the pulp.
4. Add enough water to cover the eggplant. Add salt, turmeric powder and sambar powder and cook for 15 minutes until the eggplant is done and the tamarind doesn't smell raw. 
5. Meanwhile, in 1/2 tablespoon oil, fry bengal gram, coriander seeds, and red chillies until fragrant and slightly roasted. Remove from heat, add coconut and fry in the remaining heat for a couple of minutes. Set aside. When cool, grind with some water to form an almost smooth paste. 
6. Add this paste and cooked toor dal to the eggplant-tamarind mixture and mix well. Add some water if needed to bring the gravy to desired consistency, and simmer on low heat for 5-10 minutes until flavors meld together. Remove from heat.
7. In 1/2 tablespoon oil, splutter mustard seeds, add urad dhal, hing, and curry leaves and saute until dhal turns golden. Add this seasoning to the gravy and serve.

Serve with rice and enjoy!

Kohlrabi & Salsa Dhal

Necessity is the mother of invention. It is always the case in my household. Especially on those days when the refrigerator looks embarrassingly empty, save for a few odd half-filled jars and boxes.

All I wanted to make on that dreary day was some hearty, comforting dhal and rotis for dinner. I had set my mind on adding tomatoes, but of course, there were no tomatoes to be found. What I did find, however, were two half-empty jars of salsa. And no chips. I paused. The rusty gears began turning in my head. 

Salsa has tomatoes. 

And onion. 

And garlic. 

And cilantro. 

And jalapeno.

A light bulb glowed in the dull recesses of my mind. I love these rare moments. Especially when they are related to eating.

I pulled out the jars and decided to add the contents to my dhal. Without the husband knowing. And it worked! He polished the plate without realizing anything. 

If ever you want to try something slightly different with dhal, do not hesitate to add salsa to it. It boosts the flavor in a subtle and wonderful way. Plus, it saves precious time and effort involved in dicing and putting together all the ingredients. If you are wondering about the vinegar, let me assure you, it just takes the place of a drizzle of lemon juice. 

So, here's how I "recreated" dhal that evening. I used three types of dhal, added lots of flavor, and one unique vegetable.

Ingredients (serves 6-8):

1. 1/3 cup uncooked thoor dhal / yellow lentils / thuvaram paruppu
2. 1/3 cup uncooked moong dhal / payatham paruppu
3. 1/3 cup uncooked black-eyed beans
4. 1 small-medium onion, finely chopped
5. 1 cup salsa (or, if you would rather save the salsa for chips, use 2 tomatoes, 3 cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup coriander leaves/cilantro, and the juice of 1 lemon)
6. 2 inch block of ginger
7. 2 green chillies (if the salsa is mildly spiced)
8. 1 Kohlrabi / squash / pumpkin, peeled & diced (kohlrabi is a very interesting and flavorful vegetable that belongs to the cabbage family. It goes very well in Indian dhals)
9. 5 cups water
10. 2 teaspoons dhania powder / coriander powder
11. 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
12. 1.5 teaspoons salt (or as needed)
13. 1 tablespoon ghee / clarified butter (it's ok, this amount is harmless. It amps up the flavor like you would never believe)
14. 2 teaspoons cumin seeds / jeera
15. 1/4 teaspoon hing / asafoetida

Preparation:

1. Grind the salsa (or tomatoes, garlic, and coriander leaves) along with ginger and green chillies. Set aside. 
2. Wash and drain the three kinds of dhals (the thoor dhal, moong dhal and black-eyed beans). Add everything to a pressure cooker (it's so much faster) along with the onion, water, the ground puree (from above), turmeric powder, coriander powder, salt, and diced kohlrabi . Stir well. Close the pressure cooker and cook on medium heat for 6-7 whistles. Turn off the heat and wait for the pressure to come down. If you are not using a pressure cooker, just cook everything on a stove top. You just need a lot of patience.
3. When the pressure cooker is safe to handle (when all the pressure is released and settled), open it carefully. If you want to add more water at this point, add more water and stir everything together. Check for seasonings.
4. Heat the ghee. When it is hot, add the cumin seeds and hing and stir it around for a few seconds. Add this aromatic seasoning to the dhal and mix well. If you didn't use salsa, this is the time to squeeze some lemon juice.

 Serve hot with rotis or rice. This is so easy to prepare (you literally dump everything in the pressure cooker and let it do its thing), and very flavorful.  I know the picture looks bland and boring, but you should attribute that to my poor photography skills alone and nothing else. Trust me.

Beet-Greens Masiyal

When beets are harvested fresh with their greens, it's a sight to take in. The fresh dewy green of the leaves and the striking maroon red of the beets is a contrastingly beautiful, appetizing treat for the eyes. Organic beets are often sold with their leafy greens. When they are available, we often gravitate towards them. This time, my father-in-law wanted to know if the fresh leafy greens could also be cooked. I did some research online and found that the greens were indeed edible! I am always amazed at how thrifty and resourceful the previous generations are! All this while it didn't even occur to me to cook the greens. I was mindlessly tossing them away to use just the beets.

So here is how my in-laws cooked the beet-greens. 

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups washed and cut beet-greens
2. 1/2 cup split yellow moong dhal / payatham paruppu
3. 1 teaspoon salt
4. 1 teaspoon jeera / cumin seeds
5. 1 teaspoon rice flour
6. 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
7. 1 teaspoon split urad dhal / ulutham paruppu
8. 1/8 teaspoon hing / asafoetida
9. 2 dry red chillies
10. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil / olive oil

Preparation:

1. Soak the moong dhal for half an hour (optional). Cook the moong dhal with about 1 cup of water until it is half way done.
2. Add the half-cooked moong dhal to the washed and cut greens. Cook with 1/2 cup of water and salt until the greens and the dhal are completely cooked.
3. Add a teaspoon of slightly crushed jeera to the masiyal. 
4. Thicken the masiyal by mixing rice powder with 1/2 tablespoon water (or slightly more) and whisking the mixture into the masiyal. Simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.
5. Finally, heat oil in a small pan. Splutter mustard seeds when hot, and add split urad dhal, hing, and red chillies. Saute for a minute until the urad dhal begins to change color slightly. Add the garnish to the greens and mix well. 

Remove from heat and serve with rice or roti. Masiyal is another kind of gravy with mashed/cooked greens. 

The beet greens taste quite good! They are mildly sweet and easy on the palate. The whole dish is mildly spiced and extremely healthy.

Dhal Makhani

Dhal Makhani is a creamy, buttery gravy made with whole black gram. Originally, it is made with a generous amount of butter and cream. But for everyday cooking, the butter is substituted with olive oil, and the cream is substituted with some milk. Despite the substitutions, it makes for a homey, hardy side-dish. It's nice to experiment with different pulses and grams and not be stuck with yellow lentils all the time. 

At one of the restaurants here, I tasted kidney beans (rajma) in dhal makhani and really liked the combination. So I've added some rajma with this version.

Ingredients (serves 6)

1. 1 cup  de-husked whole black gram - whole black urad dhal
2. 1/2 cup kidney beans - rajma beans
3. 1 big onion, chopped
4. 1/2 cup tomato paste or 1.5 cups tomato puree
5. 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
6. 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
7. 1.5 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste (better if it's freshly prepared with 4 cloves of garlic and a 1 inch block of ginger)
8. 1 bay leaf
9. 1 cinnamon stick
10. 3 whole cloves
11. 1 teaspoon cumin powder
12. 1.5 teaspoons coriander powder
13. 1 teaspoon garam masala
14. 1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
15. 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
16. 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
17. 1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves - kasuri methi
18. 2 tablespoons olive oil
19. 1 cup milk (fat free, 2%) or half-and-half
20. Salt as needed 
21. A few sprigs of cilantro
22. a squeeze of lemon juice

Preparation

1. Soak the black gram and kidney beans for 8-10 hours with enough water to cover the beans. Do not cover the soaking beans with a lid.
2. When the gram has soaked and plumped, rinse them and cook them well with as much water as needed until they are mushy. It takes at least 45 minutes to cook the gram without the aid of a pressure cooker. Do not worry about overcooking the gram... the more cooked, the better. When the gram is cooked, mash them with a ladle to make them mushy and soft. 
3. Meanwhile, as the gram cooks, heat oil (and a little bit of butter, if you prefer) in a separate pan. Add bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, cumin seeds, and fennel seeds to the oil. 
4. When the cumin seeds begin to sizzle, add the chopped onion and saute on medium heat until the onions turn translucent and begin to fry. 
5. Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute. 
6. Add turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala, and chilli powder (optional) and saute for a minute. 
7. Add the tomato paste (or puree) and mix it into the spices and onion-ginger-garlic mixture. If using tomato paste, add 1/4 - 1/2 cup of water to dilute the paste. Add salt, cover the pan and let the tomato paste incorporate with the spices.
8. After 5-10 minutes of periodic checking and stirring, notice if the tomato gravy is well incorporated with the spices. There should be no raw tomato smell, that's the most important cue. 
9. Add the gravy to the cooked & mashed gram. Add more water if required, check for seasonings (salt, chilli), make adjustments, and let the whole thing simmer for 20 minutes. Periodically check if the gravy needs more water, and stir to make to sure the gram doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. 
10. Finally, add the kasuri methi (dried methi leaves) and cardamom powder. Stir well. Top it off with a cup of milk (or cream, if you want to be indulgent). Stir well. 
11. After a couple of minutes, remove from heat and granish with cilantro. Before serving, squeeze a little bit of lemon juice to unify all the flavors. 
12. Serve with rice or roti. 

Dhal Makhani gets better with time. Black gram is quite bland, so the more they simmer and settle with the spices, the better they taste. 

Asadu Kootu / Eggplant Kootu

We were lucky to reap a lot of brinjals (or rather eggplants) this Summer and Fall. So, for the entire months of September and October, I had to think of every kind of eggplant-based dish to use all the ripe bounty. One of the recipes that I found in Meenakshi ammal’s cookbook sounded interesting, primarily because of its unique name - Asadu Kootu. “Kootu” means dhal in Tamil (a dish that is predominantly made with lentils and pulses), and “Asadu” loosely translates to silly or someone indulging in bad-behavior. Naughty, misbehaving kids are usually chided with the term. So, it’s very intriguing as to why a dish would be named so! I still don’t know the reason, but the recipe itself was easy to follow and quite similar to most Tamil kootus. But, I added a few extra ingredients, and used different measures of almost everything. So, here's my adapted recipe.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup of uncooked Thoor dhal
2. 4 brinjals/medium Chinese eggplants (I was desperate to use as much eggplant as I could) - cut the eggplants into thin, long pieces.
3. 1.5 teaspoons of sambar powder (my addition to the recipe)
4. A small lime-sized ball of tamarind
5. 2 pinches of Kasuri Methi (dried methi leaves; again, this is just my addition)
6. 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
7. 1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
8. 1 teaspoon of salt (more or less)
9. 3 green chillies
10. A small piece of ginger - finely minced
11. Coriander/cilantro leaves for garnishing
12. 1 tablespoon of olive oil/vegetable oil
13. Freshly prepared ground spice powder from the following ingredients that are dry roasted, and then ground to a powder (you can roast the ingredients separately to avoid over--burning or under-roasting; roast until the ingredients turn light brown)
1. 2 tablespoons of coriander powder
2. 1 tablespoons of channa dhal / bengal gram dhal
3. 1 teaspoon of toor dhal
4. 2 teaspoons of split urad dhal
5. ½ teaspoon of black pepper
6. 2-3 dried red chillies
7. ½ teaspoon of Hing

Preparation:

1. Cook the thoor dhal till it is soft and mushy (pressure cooking is ideal and fast; cover the thoor dhal with 1 inch of extra water on top)
2. Extract tamarind juice by the following process - immerse the tamarind in 1 cup of hot water for 5-10 minutes. When the water is cool to touch, squeeze the pulp to get out all the juice. Strain the pulp, add more water (about 1/2 cup) to it and perform a second round of juice extraction. Throw away the final tamarind pieces.
3. In a pan, add a tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot, splutter mustard seeds, green chillies. Add turmeric powder and ginger, and saute for a few seconds.
4. Add the brinjal pieces and stir/fry for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the extracted tamarind juice, salt, sambar powder and let the brinjals steam and cook in the spiced tamarind juice. You may cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for 15 minutes, until the eggplants are tender, and the tamarind water comes to a couple of boils. The boiling is also to ensure that the raw, pungent smell of tamarind dissipates.
6. At this point, add the cooked dhal and stir well. Add a cup of water if needed to dilute the mixture. Add the freshly prepared spice powder and mix well. Allow the kootu to come to a boil. Then reduce the heat and let it steep and simmer with a couple of pinches of Kasuri methi. The goal is to remove any raw smell of the dhal, so simmer till the flavors infuse (15 minutes or so).
7. Turn off the heat and garnish with coriander/cilantro leaves.

This dish goes well with rice and rotis. It is a mix of sambar and kootu. 

Spinach Dhal

No Indian’s meal is really complete without some dhal (pulses/lentils) in it. Especially so, for a vegetarian. Dhal is our major source of protein, so dhal-based dishes are both healthy and comforting. Dhal + vegetables is a double-healthy dish, or so I tell myself. So, here is the basic method that I follow - it’s borrowed from both the North and South-Indian versions of dhal. You may substitute the spinach with any kind of vegetable/s of your choice.

Ingredients:

1. Uncooked Moong dhal - 1.5 cups
2. Cut/torn spinach - 3 cups (spinach wilts and shrinks when it is cooked)
3. 1 medium onion - diced
4. a small piece of ginger, finely minced
5. 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
6. 1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
7. 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
8. 1.5 teaspoons of sambar powder (or curry powder, or any spice-powder of your choice; this is also optional)
9. 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
10. 1 teaspoon of salt (or more depending on your taste)
11. ¼ teaspoon of hing
12. 2-3 dried red chillies (depending on your tolerance to spice)
13. 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil/vegetable oil
14. some cilantro/coriander leaves for garnishing

Preparation:

1. Cook the moong dhal with enough water (there should be 1-2 inches of water above the dhal) till it is mushy and soft.
2. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, splutter some mustard seeds. Next add, some cumin seeds, hing, turmeric powder, and red chillies and saute for a few seconds. Add the ginger pieces and the onion and saute on medium heat until the onion turns translucent.
3. Next, add the minced garlic and continue to saute for a minute or two.
4. Add the cut spinach leaves and saute till the spinach begins to wilt. When the spinach begins to wilt, add salt and sambar powder and mix well. Allow the spinach to cook (you may close the pan with a lid to aid the cooking)
5. When the spinach is cooked, add the cooked dhal and mix it well with the spiced spinach. You may add a couple of cups to water to adjust the consistency of the dhal to your liking. The resulting dhal continues to thicken as it cools and stores.
6. Let the dhal simmer with the spinach until there is no raw smell of the cooked dhal. Put a lid on the pan, reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer for 10-15 minutes.
7. Taste the dhal to check for seasonings. Finally, remove it from heat and garnish it with coriander/cilantro leaves.

Dhal can be had with steamed/cooked rice, or had as a side-dish to roti.