Special Dal with vegetables

How to make Special Dal (with Ridge Gourd)

                I like to add vegetables in my dal, so i can sneak in atleast one more serving of vegetables during dinner/lunch. You can omit the vegetable altogether or substitute the Ridge Gourd (Peerkangai) with any other vegetable of your choice. Vegetables with a high water content works well for this dal, ex: Bottle Gourd (Sorakkai), Chayote Squash (Chow-Chow or Bangalore Brinjal),Spinach or other greens. As a plus, you can also use the peel/skin of the Ridge Gourd to make a yummy Chutney/Thuvayal.

Ingredients

Cooked Toor Dal - 1 cup, Mashed
1 large Ridge gourd - peeled & cubed

1 big Onion - sliced

1 Tomato - Chopped

6-8 pods of Garlic - sliced

Oil - 1 Tbsp

Tomato paste - 1.5 tsp

Garam Masala powder - a pinch

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Cumin powder - 1 tsp

Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp

Water - 500 ml

Salt to taste

Besan/Gram Flour - 1 tsp

Chopped Coriander leaves - for Garnish

For Tempering-

Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1tsp

Kashmiri Red Chillies - 2, broken into halves

Jeera - 1tsp

• Wash & peel the Ridge Gourd with a peeler. If the seeds are soft, you can ignore them; if they happen to be hard, you will have to remove those seeds & discard.
• Chop all other vegetables as mentioned.
• Heat a pan/kadai with 2 tbsp of oil. When it gets hot, add the mustard seeds, wait for it to splutter, then add the Jeera & Red Chillies & fry them on medium heat.
• Next add the chopped Garlic & saute it till light brown. Next goes the Onions & saute them until it gets translucent in color. Now you can add the Ridge Gourd & tomatoes along with the salt & cook it covered for 5-10 minutes. The salt helps in cooking the vegetables faster.
• Once the vegetables are cooked, you can add all the powders except Garam Masala powder. Stir & add tomato paste/ Tomato puree. If you do not have it on hand, you could substitute it with additional juicy tomatoes.
• Add water. In a small cup dissolve 1 tsp of besan in cold water & add it to the dal.
• Taste & add chopped coriander leaves.
• Serve hot with Rotis or Rice. I like to have this dal like a chunky soup/stew in the winter. It can be a meal by itself along with a salad.

Tips:

1.If you add besan directly to the hot dal, it will form into lumps.

2.You can also save the peel to make Peerkangai Thuvayal/Ridge gourd peel chutney for Idli/Dosa.