This particular recipe is a family tradition handed down from my grand-mother to my mother to me. Over the years, each of us has put our own personality into this recipe and what you will see if my particular twist.

This does not take long to prepare and I will often make this up in a jiffy and have this is just a soup.

Mashur Daal

Ingredients

• 1 cup red lentils (moshur/masur daal)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onions
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced onions
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chooped
• 3 green chilis, one finle chopped, the other two slice into long slices
• 1 tsp salt or equivalent amount of chicken based
• 3 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons of ghee
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1-2 tomatoes (optional)
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp paanh phoron (Bengali five spice mix)

Steps

• Wash the lentils thoroughly and then add the lentils, water, finely chopped onions, 1/2 of the garlic, the two green chilis sliced longitudinally, 1 tablespoon ghee, the optional tomatoes and all the dry spice powders (not the panch phoron) into a large pot. Make sure the pot is large enough as daal has the tendency to boil over.
• Simmer over medium heat until the lentils are tender (but still firm) ; about 15-20 minutes.
• Take a whisk and break vigorously whisk the daal for 1-2 minutes so that it begins to look like a homogeneous mix.
• Drop in the cilantro and turn the heat to medium low.
• In a separate pan, heat the remaining ghee.
• Add in the thinly sliced onions and green chili and fry until the onion starts to caramelize
• Then add in the garlic and panch phoron and stir until the panch phoron starts to sputter.
• Turn the heat to low and ladle in some of the daal into the frying pan – be careful, this will sizzle.
• Then pour in everything back into the daal making sure all the tasty bits from the frying pan makes it to the pot.
• Cover and simmer on low for a few minutes.
• Enjoy

This version is a basic version quite common in Bangladesh and is often eaten with fried eggplants or scrambled eggs.

Ingredients

• MoogdAl 1 cup
• PolAu Rice  2 cups
• Finely diced ginger 2 tsp
• Salt 1 tbsp
• Cinnamon Sticks 2/3
• Bayleaf 2 [small ones]
• Ghee 1/2 cup
• Cloves 4/5

Steps

1. Wash the rice
2. Fry the dAl separtely for a while.
3. Lightly fry in ghee the ginger and bay leaves
4. Then add the rice, dAl, and salt, fry for about 10 minutes. Medium to medium high heat
5. Add five cups of boiling water and the salt
6. As soon as the water comes up to boil, put a lid on it.
7. Simmer on low heat for 20/25 minutes
8. You could add beresta to it or you could make it spicier by adding turmeric and chilli powder. I use 1/2 tsp of the former and 1 tsp of the latter. [I like it hot]

Comments

This version is a drier version and uses Moog Daal (Mung beans) instead of the standard yellow lentils..

Ingredients

• MoogdAl 1 cup
• PolAu Rice  2 cups
• Finely diced ginger 2 tsp
• Salt 1 tbsp
• Cinnamon Sticks 2/3
• Bayleaf 2 [small ones]
• Ghee 1/2 cup
• Cloves 4/5

Procedure

1. Wash the rice
2. Fry the dAl separtely for a while.
3. Lightly fry in ghee the ginger and bay leaves
4. Then add the rice, dAl, and salt, fry for about 10 minutes. Medium to medium high heat
5. Add five cups of boiling water and the salt
6. As soon as the water comes up to boil, put a lid on it.
7. Simmer in low heat for 20/25 minutes
8. You could add beresta to it or you could make it spicier by adding turmeric and chilli powder. I use 1/2 tsp of the former and 1 tsp of the latter. [I like it hot]