Lemon Juice Dal

Dal (dhal, daal) refers to the variety of split legumes. The word d?l is derived from the Sanskrit verbal root dal – “to split”. 5 They include lentils, peas and pulses. These pulses are among the most important staple foods and form an important part of the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Dal is frequently eaten with rotis or chapatis in the Northern states of India, or with rice and rice made dishes such as rice-cakes (idlis), crepes (dosas), etc. in South India. Almost all types of dal come in three forms: (1) unhulled or sabut (meaning whole in Hindi), (2) split with hull left on the split halves, described as chilka (which means skin in Hindi), (3) split and hulled or dhuli (meaning washed). The manner in which it is cooked and presented varies by region. In South India, dal is primarily used to make the dish called sambar. It is also used to make pappu that is mixed with charu and rice. In addition, certain types of dal are fried and salted and eaten as a dry snack, and a variety of savory snacks are made by frying a paste made from soaked and ground dals in different combinations, to which spices, nuts, cashews, etc. may be added. There are a wide variety of dals mentioned in the recipes below. They include:

? Pigeon pea, i.e., yellow pigeon peas, is available either plain or oily. It is called thuvaram paruppu in Tamil Nadu, thuvara parippu in Kerala and is the main ingredient for the dish sambar. In Karnataka it is called togari bele and is an important ingredient in bisi bele bath. It is called kandi pappu in Telugu and is used in the preparation of a staple dish pappu charu. It is also known as Arhar dal in northern India.

? Chana dal is produced by removing the outer layer of black chickpeas and then splitting the kernel. Although machines can do this, it can be done at home by soaking the whole chickpeas and removing the loose skins by rubbing. In Karnataka it is called kadle bele. Other varieties of chickpea may be used, e.g., kabuli dal.

? Yellow split peas are much sought after by the Indian diaspora spread across the Carribean, US, besides India. It is prepared similarly to dals found in India, but may be used in recipes. The whole dried pea is called matar or matar dal in India.
? Split mung beans (mung dal) is by far the most popular. It is used in parts of South India, such as in the Tamil dish ven pongal. Roasted and lightly salted or spiced mung bean is a popular snack in most parts of India.

? Urad dal, sometimes referred to as “black gram”, is a primary ingredient in the south Indian dishes idli, adai and dosa. It is one of the main ingredients of East Indian (oriya and Bengali or Assamese) bori, sun-dried dumplings. The Punjabi version is dal makhani. It is called uddina bele in Karnataka, biulir dal in Bengali. It is rich in protein.

? Masoor dal: split red lentils. In Karnataka, it is called kempu (red) togari bele.
? Rajma dal: split kidney beans.
? Panchratna dal (Hindi/Urdu) (“five jewels”) is a mixture of five varieties of dal, which produces a dish with unique flavour.

The hulling of a pulse is intended to improve digestibility and palatability. Pulses with their outer hulls intact are also quite popular in the Indian subcontinent as the main cuisine. Over 50 different varieties of pulses are known in the Indian subcontinent.

Following ingredients are required for making Lemon Juice Dal :

• Water – 1 padi
• Pigeon Pea – ¼ padi
• Ghee – ½ palam
• Turmeric Powder – veesam 1/16 r.e
• Salt – ¼ palam
• Lemon – 2
• Ghee – ½ palam
• Red Chilly – ? palam
• Black Gram – ¼ palam
• Mustard Seed – ? palam
• Curry Leaves – ? palam
• Green Chilly – ¼ palam

• 1. Boil water in a big pot, add the pigeon pea,turmeric powder , ghee and mix it.
• 2. Then close the pot with a cover.
• 3. When the lentil has cooked completely like cotton consistency add the powdered salt.
• 4. Then mash the lentil using brass ladle. When the water in the lentil has completely absorbed and has become thick, take it off from the stove and let it cool.
• 5. Take a big size juicy lemon and cut it into halves. Remove the seeds.Then squeeze the juice into the lentil and mix it nicely.
• 6. Heat the ghee in a vessel. Add chilly,mustard seed,black gram and temper as prescribed in the recipe no. 22 (Seasoning Recipe).
• 7. Cut the green chilly into pieces and remove the curry leaves from the stalk.
• 8. When the sound has stopped from tempering add the chilly and curry leaves. When the chilly has fried nicely add the tempered items into the lentil and mix it slowly and serve.

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