Recipe- Traditional Methi Dal

Methi dal is a traditional lentil greens recipe in India with mild modifications in seasoning. Today let us see this South Indian style Vendhaya keerai paruppu kootu in a pressure cooker.

As you may know, Methi leaves (vendhaya keerai) takes a bit longer to cook compared to other soft greens. Hence to ease the process and reduce the cooking time, I do both Methi and toor dal boiling together in pressure cooker resulting in a tasty dal.

Ingredients

3 cups methi leaves (cleaned & chopped)
1 cup toor dal (soaked)
2 tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard
½ tsp cumin
3 garlic cloves
¼ tsp asafoetida
1 green chilli
1 onion
2 tomatoes
¼ tsp turmeric powder
1.5 tsp sambar powder
2 cups water
Salt (as per taste)
1 tsp ghee (optional)

Method

* Clean the keerai (Methi leaves) thoroughly with lots of water.

* Chop them finely. Alternately first chop the leaves and wash two to three times. I follow the latter method only to clean the soil completely.

* Chop onion, tomatoes and garlic.

* Soak toor dal for 20mins.

* Heat oil in a pressure cooker, season with mustard and cumin seeds.

* Let them crackle, add garlic and onions.

* Put a green chili or red chilli as per your choice and pinch of asafoetida.

* Saute onions until transparent.

* Add tomatoes and cook them soft.

* Now add the clean Methi leaves.

* Also, add turmeric powder and sambar powder.

* Put soaked toor dal and mix well with some salt.

* Add a cup of water, close the cooker and pressure cook for five whistles in high.

* Open the lid after the pressure settled, add a tsp of ghee and switch off. Adding ghee is optional but delicious.

* Serve with rice and potato fry/chips. Goes well with chapati too.