Dhal Fry (Pigeon Pea and Tomato Curry)

Ah, it is good to be back with my yummy dhal recipe and signature crappy picture.

Still stuck with some of those pigeon peas? Here is recipe #5! A staple in any North Indian meal (I think, I really wouldn't know. :-D). It is very mildly spiced and delicious. Try it out!

Ingredients
1/2 cup pigeon pea (toor dhal) - soaked overnight in water (12-14 hours, the longer the better)
3 Tomatoes
3/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/4 of an onion, finely chopped (about 2 heaping table spoons worth)
8 cloves of garlic (you could use a few lesser, but I'm obsessed with garlic)
2 tbspn of oil
Salt to taste.
A dollop of butter or ghee (which I did not add, but now that I'm typing this, it definitely would have enhanced the dish)

Directions
1. I use a pressure cooker to cook the dhal, so I'm done cooking it in 15 minutes. Should you not have this wonderful device, you could cook it stove top until really well done. It may take you over an hour.
2. Boil the tomatoes (i just cook these along with the dhal in the same pressure cooker)
3. In a saucepan, heat up some oil on medium high and add the onions. Saute for 2 mins.
4. Add the garlic, and spice powders. Saute until oil separates (or if garlic begins to brown)
5. Add the cooked dhal and tomatoes (semi mashed in) mix well. Add just enough water to make it semi-liquidy.
6. Add salt according to your taste and let it come to a boil. Add the ghee/butter at this point as well.

Serve with naan or roti, basmati rice, and raitha.

Pigeon Pea Soup version 3

Yep, you have that bag of pigeon pea that you bought and you don't know what to do with it.

Here is version 3 (vers 1 and vers 2)

Ingredients

1/2 cup of pigeon pea, soaked overnight and cooked to a mashable consistency with 1/2 a serrano (can omit the serrano)
2-3 cloves of garlic, roughly minced
1 dried red chilli pepper
1 tbspn veg. oil
salt to taste
a pinch of turmeric

Method

1. Mash the pigeon peas, add salt and turmeric powder and mix.

2. On the side in a pan heat up some oil and add the dried red pepper and garlic and let it cook on high until the garlic browns. Add this hot oil, infused with the essence and spice from garlic and chilli pepper, into the pigeon pea mixture. Mix and let it come to a boil and you're done.

Goes well with basmati rice and yoghurt and bajjes.

Caribbean Pigeon Pea Curry

Thanks to Pocketmouse, I have a bag of pigeon peas. And it occurred to me too late that I don’t like pea soup in any incarnation. So I’ve been looking for alternate recipes for pigeon peas, and it turns out that they are used a lot in the Caribbean. After hunting around for recipes, I compiled this one. Don’t let the name “Pigeon Pea” freak you out – they’re lentils.
--AnglophileLV

Caribbean Pigeon Pea Curry – serve with long grain rice

Pigeon Pea – 3/4 cup (soaked overnight in water- VERY important)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ onion chopped
4 cloves garlic crushed
1/2 sliced jalapeno
1 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
¼ tsp garlic powderdash black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt (check near complete to add more if required)
½ Cup chicken broth

1. Boil pigeon peas in water until soft, about 1-2 hours
A disgusting thick head will develop and will boil over unless you skim it off of the top. This will only happen once, so after you skim you can let the peas simmer and not worry about them rearing their ugly head again.

2. Cook the onions, garlic and jalapeno in the oil in a medium sized skillet.

3. Add the curry powder, cumin, garlic powder and pepper. Stir until everything is coated in the curry mixture.

4. Add the already cooked and drained pigeon peas and stir to coat.

5. Pour in the chicken broth and cook down until the curry is less watery and more curry-like. Taste to see if it needs salt or more curry powder and cumin. If you make too many pigeon peas, they will soak up the seasoning and the curry will be bland (this happened to me – I put in 1 cup peas instead of the 3/4ths cup, so I had to add more seasoning and chicken broth).

*Serve with long grain rice and Fry Bake

Pigeon Pea Soup Version 2 aka Varn

I like this version more than the previous one. I could eat this everyday. This is extremely simple to make and has very subtle flavoring. Pair it up with white rice and a spicy side dish, and you're set.

Serves 2 - 3
Ingredients

Pigeon Pea - 3/4 cup (soaked overnight in water)
salt to taste
cumin powder - 2
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn-1/2 tspn
ghee (optional; oil or butter is not a substitute in this case) - 1/2 tbspn
water

Method

1. Boil pigeon peas in water until mashable consistency.

2. Mash and add water until desired consistency is reached. I like mine semi-liquidy so I can enjoy it on rice.

3. To this add the turmeric, cumin powder, salt, and ghee. Mix well and bring to a boil on the stove.

4. Serve over hot white rice and that's it!

Pigeon Pea/Lentil Soup version 1 aka Dali Thoy

Another konkani staple, in my opinion. There are different ways to make this soup so if you end up buying a pound of Pigeon peas to try this one out, don't worry!

note: Pigeon peas look like split yellow peas, but they are not the same. Make sure you buy the right lentil.

Serves: 1-2
Ingredients:

Pigeon Pea - 1/2 cup, soaked in water overnight
Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
Dried Red Chilli - 1
Vegetable Oil- 1 tspn
Curry leaves - about 5
Asafoetida - 1/4 tspn (literally a pinch) (optional)
Coriander (fresh) leaves- for garnish (optional; I didn't have any when I made it this time)
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Cook the lentils until well done. I use a pressure cooker, but you could just slow cook it for hours (I'm overestimating!). This is why soaking it overnight will help a ton.

2. If possible, mash the lentils when they are well done. Add water to desired consitency. I like mine liquidy. My brother prefers his thick. So add water accordingly. Add salt. Let it slowly simmer on low heat.

3. On the side in a small wok (teeny tiny wok, can also use a pan. you just want to really season the oil) heat up the oil. To this add the mustard seeds and dried red chilli (if u dare, cut this in half, I don't reccommend this) and wait for the seeds to pop all over the place. At this point add the asafoetida and curry leaves. I would recommend adding the leaves and getting your hand out of the way. Sometimes the hot oil that's splashing hits the open flame and little bursts of fire can happen. dont panic and don't worry, just stand back.

4. Before everything burns, add this very hot delicious spicy oil to the simmering lentil solution. Its going to sputter and crackle and hiss, but that's good.

5. DONE! Serve hot over freshly cooked basmati rice and some upkari or pathrodo, and yoghurt.


Note: You could use those yellow split peas or split green peas (dried) and try this out. My dad said it was a great substitute for lentils when he couldn't find lentils.