Methi Dal | Lentils and Fenugreen Stew
You gaaaiz! It has been way too long since I last posted I know! I am deeply apologetic for keeping y’all away from some serious food loving. I hope you’ll missed me because I sure did miss writing and cooking as much as I am used to. It’s been a big change the past few months – We have moved cities and the hubs has changed his job so we spent the last few months kind of moving, setting up, and getting acquainted to the city.
I was lucky to get transferred from my current work so atleast the work front is kind of stable for me. The move is from one big city to another. Though I am from Mumbai, moving back after so many years has been hard, but feels so good. It’s closer to home, closer to the family and just great to be around things that are familiar.
The hubs is having a relatively tougher time since he had been in Delhi for almost over a decade so adjusting to the Bombay life, the traffic, the sea of people and the crammed streets is well, tough to take in. We miss our regular restaurants and food joints in Delhi, but hey, it’s all about new discoveries and new beginnings, right?
Well, now that I am in Mumbai, I would love to explore my Maharashtrian side and maybe cook up a Marathi food storm. Hope you guys don’t mind me mixing it up a little bit?
When we moved here I was so excited about the ingredients and OH MY GOD the seafood. We live in South Bombay so there are docks near where we are at and so much fresh fish. One of these days I would love to do a post just about the fish markets and the amazing variety of great seafood that you can find here.
But today I am doing a simple, easy and very healthy Methi Dal which is essentially a green fenugreek and lentil stew. It is best eaten with some plain or jeera rice or with some nice and hot parathas. It does not take much planning, uses not more than 5-6 ingredients and is so easy to cook! My mom would make this when I’d throw tantrums to have the regular dal as a kid. This was such a great change and so tasty too!!
Ingredients:
- 3 tsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 dried red chilli (optional)
- pinch of hing / asafoetida
- 4 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 tomato, finely chopped
- ¼ tsp turmeric / haldi
- ½ tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
- salt to taste
- 1 bunch methi / fenugreek leaves, finely chopped
- 2 cups toor dal (split pigeon peas), cooked (I like to pressure cook them for 4 whistles followed by 5 min on low flame. But you can boil if if you don’t have a pressure cooked. Soak the dal for 15-20 min before you boil)
- 1 cup water, or as required
Method:
Firstly, in a large pan, heat 2-3 tsp oil. Sometimes I even like to cook this in ghee. Feel free to substitute ghee for oil. Add in 1 tsp mustard seeds, pinch of hing allowing to splutter.
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