Sweet Potato Dal / Lentils and Sweet Potato

In my forever quest to find healthy foods that my  little boy will like,  I’ve stumbled upon many recipes that have turned out to be my favorites too. This is one of them. I’ve always been a big fan of sweet potatoes. Both, the yellow kind we used to get in India, and the orange ones in the US. My Mother always served them steamed with a simple, crushed green chili chutney. I remembered that the sweetness from the spuds and the heat from the chilies always managed to excite my then young taste buds . Hoping for the remote possibility, that Nish might similarly like the hot and sweet combo (after all I furnished the ‘X’) I decided to make a dal out of it. Roy and I loved it so much that Nish liking it became just an added bonus ;).

IMG_5822

 

Ingredients:

1 cup bengal gram / channa dal soaked in water for an hour or 2
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 – 3 tbsp refined oil
1 medium sized onion finely chopped
1tsp dry roasted and crushed cumin, or 1 1/2 tsp whole cumin
1tsp garlic finely chopped
1tsp ginger finely grated
2 –3 green chilies finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely diced
2 tsp amchoor (powdered dry mango)
1 tsp coriander powder
2 –3 sprigs chopped cilantro
2 cup sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
salt to taste

Optional Final Seasoning
2 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tsp of cumin

Directions

  • Heat oil in a pan, add, cumin and onions and sauté until onions are slightly caramelized.
  • Add crushed ginger and garlic and continue to sauté until oil separates.
  • Add tomatoes , green chilies, coriander powder and turmeric and sauté until tomatoes are mushy.
  • Add dal and sweet potatoes to the mixture in the pan.
  • Add 3 –4 cups of hot water, close the pot with a lid and let it cook. Stir occasionally. (I do this in a pressure cooker and allow it to whistle twice and let it simmer on low flame for 10 minutes)
  • When the dal is cooked the mixture gets creamy and thick. Add more hot water based on desired consistency.
  • Garnish with chopped cilantro
  • Serve with Rice or Indian Breads.

    Before garnishing with cilantro, to increase flavor roast 1 tsp of cumin  in 2 tsp of hot ghee and pour over Dal to season.

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