Recipe for Rajasthani Panchmel Dal / Panch Kuti Dal for Tata I-Shakti T20 Tadka

This is the concluding recipe in the ongoing series - Tata I-Shakti T20 Tadka. These recipes are a fusion between the two Indian states / cities that are playing each other in the IPL2015 - T20 matches. 

This one is for the match between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knightriders this evening. 

Panchmel Dal or Panchkuti Dal is a traditional Rajasthani recipe that uses a mix of five lentils - prepared with a simple tempering of cumin, cloves and cinnamon and a few spice powders. It is often served as a part of dal-baati-choorma, which is a hallmark dish from Rajasthan - along with baati which is a flaky crisp round bread and choorma - a sweetened version of the same breads. You can have this dal with plain rice or rotis too!

Panch Phoron - a Bengali five spice mix

The Kolkata twist to this dal recipe is a generous flavouring using the traditional panch phoron - a mix of five spices, used in Bengali cooking. The panch phoron consists of black mustard seeds (rai), cumin seeds (jeera), fennel seeds (saunf), nigella seeds (kalonji) and fenugreek seeds (methi). In some recipes, radhuni (celery seeds) are used instead of mustard seeds. I've added it both in the sauteeing of masalas and in the final tadka. To give it a more Bengali flavour, you can use mustard oil for the tempering. Traditionally, liberal doses of ghee is used in the making of this Rajasthani Dal.

Recipe for Panchmel Dal with PanchPhoron Tadka

Serves 6

Prep time: 1 hour including soaking time

Cooking time: Under 30 minutes

Ingredients

1/4 cup Tata I-Shakti Toor Dal

1/4 cup Tata I-Shakti Chana Dal

1/4 cup Tata I-Shakti split Green Moong

1/4 cup Tata I-Shakti split udad dal

1/4 cup Tata I-Shakti Masoor Dal

4 cups water

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2 tbsp oil or ghee

big pinch of asafoetida

1 tsp cumin seeds

4-5 cloves

2 small pieces of cinnamon sticks

1.5 tsp panchphoron (mix of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, nigella seeds, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds)

4 green chillies + 1 inch piece of ginger ground into paste~ 1.5 tbsp

3 large tomatoes, finely chopped

2 tsp coriander powder (dhania powder)

1 tsp cumin powder (jeera powder)

1-2 tsp red chilli powder

salt to taste

handful of finely chopped coriander

For tempering:

2 tbsp mustard oil OR ghee OR rice bran oil

pinch of asafoetida

3-4 dried red chillies

1 tsp of panch phoron

Preparation

Measure out all the dals and wash and soak in plenty of water for one hour.

Directions

1. Drain the soaked dal. Place in pressure cooker with 4 cups water, turmeric and salt.
2. After one whistle, keep flame on minimum for 7-8 minutes. Switch off and allow to cool.
3. Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp oil in a deep kadai.
4. Add asafoetida, cumin seeds, cinnamon and cloves. Once cumin seeds splutter, add 1.5 tsp of panch phoron. Stir for 10-20 seconds until the spices turn aromatic.
5. Add the ginger-green chilli paste and saute for 30 seconds. 
6. Add chopped tomatoes, pinch of salt, stir on high flame for 1 minute.
7. Keep covered on low flame for 3-5 minutes until completely mushy.
8. Add spice powders - cumin powder, coriander powder, chilli powder and saute on low flame until the oil separates out. 
9. Add the cooked dal to this, adding some water if required, salt to taste and finely chopped coriander. Bring to a simmer.
10. Add garam masala powder at the final stage, stir and remove into a serving bowl.
11. For the tempering, heat mustard oil / ghee / rice bran oil in a small tempering ladle. Add the asafoetida, dried red chillies, panch phoron and transfer over the dal.
12. Garnish with few coriander leaves.
13. Serve hot with steamed rice, rotis or as a part of Rajasthani dal-baati-choorma.

Note:

If you plan to serve this dal after some time, make it sufficiently thin as it keeps getting thicker with time. 

Health Quotient: 

Panchmel Dal

Lentils are a fiber rich protein source. In this recipe, a mix of five lentils of different colours add a variety of phytonutrients and antioxidants to the diet. The fiber ensures that you stay full for longer and fiber is an essential part of a healthy diet. 
The Tata I-Shakti dals used in this recipe, after one hour of soaking, cooked to a smooth consistency, and cooked to a considerably good volume. Because of the masoor, moong and chana dal, this dal has a tendency to turn quite thick so you may want to thin it as per your liking with required quantity of water.
To make it vegan recipe of Rajasthani Dal / Panchmel Dal, use vegetable oil instead of ghee.

Do check out the other vegetarian/vegan protein-rich Tata I-Shakti lentil recipes in this series:
Recipe for Crispy Chana Dal Chaat (Vegan, Gluten free)
Recipe for Paruppusili stuffed Dal Parathas  (Vegan if oil is used to cook parathas)
Recipe for Misal Masala Dosa (Gluten-free, Vegan)

Recipe for Moong Dal Cheela with crunchy peanut-chilli-sesame topping (Gluten-free, Vegan)

Recipe for Pesarattu with Alu Chokha / Alu Bhate filling (Gluten-free, Vegan)

Recipe for Karnataka Sambar with Masoor Dal (Gluten-free, Vegan)

(c) Nandita Iyer 2006-2015

Posted in: Veg-Recipes