Khatti Meethi Daal

KHATTIMEETHI DAAL: Gujarati Daal (Sweet  Sour Lentil)

By GM for The Planet Food

During my finalyears in college, I had subscribed to a home-made dabba service: yes, thefamous tiffin meal service available on a large scale throughout the region ofMaharashtra in India. My tiffin was made by this warm elderly Gujarati lady, whointroduced me to the wonderful world of Gujarati cuisine, which is a beautifulblend of sweet and savoury foods.

Her KhattiMeethi Daal was really worth waiting for every Tuesday. The menu was prettymuch fixed, thus saving any (possibly unpleasant) surprises. I must say, I wasa little hesitant at first, as this was a strictly vegetarian meal service.However, any apprehension that I may have had, was put to rest, within thefirst week itself. I loved the food so much that many a evenings I was at mytiffin lady’s house even before she could send her staff to start thedeliveries! In the course of time, we became friendly and I was sometimes treatedto meals at her house itself (which was a very rare practice in this otherwise closedtraditionalist place).

Over the years,my favourite daal (lentil) has become the tur/ arhar daal, which is theprincipal ingredient of this dish that I’m going to prepare today. The practiceof adding sugar or jaggery in daal is not something most non-Gujarati/Maharashtrian people in India would be alright with.  In fact, I do not really have the opportunityto try this dish with too many people in my own family too as they are veryreluctant to sweeten their staple (traditionally savoury) food like daal.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup daal

• 50 Gm groundnut

• 1 Tsp mustard seeds

• 1/2 Tsp cumin seeds

• 2 Dried dates

• 50 Gm Jaggery

• 1/2 cup tamarind juice

• 1 Tsp turmeric powder

• 2 Tsp coriander powder

• 6 -7 curry leaves

• 1 piece cinnamon

• 2 tsp cloves

• 1 tsp clarified butter

• 1 tblsp chopped coriander

• 1 tsp salt

• A pinch of Asafoetida

• 2-3 chilli paste

DIRECTIONS:

•Rinse the Daaland cook in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes or till 3 whistles (2 on big flameand one on small flame is recommended)

•When the Daalis cooked add turmeric powder, salt, coriander powder, jaggery, dry dates, tamarindjuice, curry leaves, groundnut, chilli paste and boil together for at least 7to 8 minutes so the spices can cook and blend in well

•Prepare theseasoning :-Heat oil and add mustard seeds, and once the mustard seeds pop (youmay want to keep a lid handy in case the mustard seeds fly too much), addcloves, cumin seeds, cinnamon and asafoetida and then, turn the flame off

• Now add thisabove mix of spices to the cooked Daal and boil for another 5 minutes with lidof the cooker open

• Turn the gasoff and garnish with coriander leaves

Tips: This canbe served alone as a side dish or as an accompaniment with boiled rice or Chapaattis