Below mentioned is the fool proof way of cooking, edible dal, without causing any injury to self or the kitchen, and well of course even to the consumers of the dal !
Absolutely Essential Ingredients (Please go thru the list below and procure all the items. There is no point in trying to substitute any of the things mentioned below, and if you do so please do at your own risk)
One pressure cooker which works (any brand is ok, lets not get into any campaign here!)
One non-stick pan. If non-stick pan it is not available, do not fret. You can still make the dal.Just take any other pan/kadai or similar looking thing but please make sure that it is clean. Yes, you need to make the effort and clean it. Period.
One Clean Spatula. Well you can use your hand, but it is advisable to use this so that you avoid causing any injury to self.
One Cup Tuvarl/Toor Dal/Yellow Split Lentil (found in any Indian store. If you do not find it, ask the store assistant, just do not pick up any dal, otherwise the results are not guaranteed!)
One teaspoon of Oil/Ghee (Preferred: peanut / sunflower/vegetable oil. Not Preferred: olive / coconut oil)
Half teaspoon of Mustard Seeds/Rai (Appearance: very small, black, round balls)
One stalk of curry leaves (use only the leaves not the stalk)
2/3 Dry Red Chilies (Found in any Indian store. Again, ask if you are not sure!)
1/4 tea spoon of turmeric (try not to use more than this quantity, otherwise the dal will taste like turmeric instead of dal)
a pinch of hing/Asafoetida(its ok if you don’t have this, it is only for flavor)
1 tea spoon of salt (on an average approximately, 1 cup dal = 1 tsp salt. Always remember, you can add more later if it is not according to your taste. Food is edible with less salt, but impossibly horrible with too much salt)
Now that you have procured all the items, here is the cooking process
Cooking Process:
Step 1 : Pressure cookers are usually sold with a container which can be placed inside them. Take that container only. If that container is soiled and you are not in a mood for cleaning, its ok.Or, if you are not able to find that container in the kitchen, it’s perfectly ok.You can take some other container and try to fit it into the cooker. But make sure that you can take it out once you have inserted it into the cooker. OH! Another thing with the container, do not use plastic or glass. Now that you have successfully found the container lets proceed to the next step
Step 2 : Add the dal to the container , add enough water such that whole of dal is immersed in the water. Usually the equation is 1 cup dal = 2 cups water. Do not add too much water; otherwise, it will overflow into the cooker from the container.
Step 3: Close the cooker tight shut, place the weight on it. I wonder why it is called 'weight' when the weight of the cooker is more than the weight itself!
Step 4: Place the cooker on the stove and very important, ignite/start the stove.
Step 5: Leave the cooker alone and let the dal cook. Things you can do while the dal cooks, talking on the phone, watching TV, feel good that you have covered the first 4 steps successfully etc...
Step 6: Whistles are an indication that the food is being cooked and the pressure cooker is doing its job. Pressure cooker is just like humans, you need to acknowledge it for all the cooking that it does. If you keep letting it do its job for you and you don’t care, it is going to explode. The maximum number of whistles which it can emit to reach its stress levels is around 9/10 whistels.Then it goes BOOM!, there now do you feel my presence , is says !.So do a good deed and once the pressure cooker emits 2/3 whistles. Switch off the stove.
Step 7 : WAIT ! Wait till the cooker completely cools down and then, only then, open the lid. If you open it before, let me tell you there will be lots of hot water and vapor breezing all over the kitchen.If hate to clean the mess, then have patience till the cooker cools down.The way you open the lid of the cooker is also very important. Do not open it towards you, otherwise you will have to literally 'face the steam’!. Open it away from you!
Step 8: If the hard yellow dal has not changed into a semi-molten state, you are very unfortunate. You need to repeat the steps 2-7 again.
Step 9 : Place the Pan on the stove and ignite it , the stove that is.Let the pan heat up and if there is any water in the pan let it evaporate. Now add oil/ghee to it and wait till it heats up.No, you do not have to wait till there are fumes coming out of the pan,just enough heat so that if you place your palm above the pan,you should feel the heat. Do NOT touch the oil in the pan to check if the oil is heated!Another important thing,switch on the exhaust NOW, if you have not done so earlier.Otherwise you will have the whole house, not only the kitchen smelling of dal.
Step 10 : Now comes the tricky part,you need to add some spluttery stuff into the hot oil without burning yourself AND without causing the fire alarm start to off.The best way is to collect the mustard seeds+curry leaves+red chilies+hing+tumeric into a plate and then add all of them at once into the oil.Wait till it splutters, which it should within seconds.This splutters a lot so keep distance. do not put your face or hands too near otherwise , well, you know what is going to happen.Use spatula to move these around in the pan, once they are considerable fried.Add the dal to the pan,be careful do not spill , otherwise more cleaning.Add salt and mix the dal.Let it boil for 2minutes and switch off the stove,lest the dal is overcooked/burnt and all you efforts go vain!
Voila! Your dal is ready in 10 easy steps!!!
Eating Process :
You can eat this with hot boiled white rice or with rotis/chapatis etc.But wait , let the dal cool so that it is in a edible temperature, otherwise you will burn your tongue!
Acknowledgements: Self. The above mentioned process has been mastered by the author after numerous experiments in the kitchen.
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