Thursday, January 21, 2010

Panchratan Dhal ~ Five Lentil dhal

The last few days the weather here is finally beginning to warm up a little and we are seeing day time temperatures in the mid fifties. After all that freezing and near freezing days we have seen in the last ten days or so, mid fifties or even the forties feels great.

So one of the first things we did when the weather got better was to resume our daily walks and just doing that makes me feel so much better. Exercise at home or in the gym just cannot compare to a good brisk walk outdoors, at least in my book :-) The last couple of days I have added one more reason in favor of walks....the sky. What has the sky got to do with walks,you are wondering ?  When the sky looks as brilliant as it has for the last few days here, clear and beautiful with a multitude of stars , I would say everything :-)  I have decided to make the most of this weather until the cold and the rains, that have been forecast, makes its way back into our area.

Moving on to the main reason for this post, panchratan dhal, which originates from North India. Panchratan literally means five jewels and this dhal probably got this name because of the five different lentils that  are used in making this dhal. Needless to say, this dhal in addition to being tasty , creamy and low fat is also super nutritious.It is also very quick and simple to make and has universal appeal :-)

 Panchratan Dhal ~ Five lentil dhal | Veg Inspirations

Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Panchratan dhal
1/2 cup split mung bean lentil ( moong dhal/paytham parappu)
1/2 cup split red lentil (masoor dhal)
1/2 cup split pigeon peas (tur dhal/ tuvaram parappu)
1/4 cup split black gram lentil ( udad dhal/ ulatham parappu)
1/4 cup split chick pea lentil (chana dhal/ kadalai parappu)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi/manjal podi)
2 medium onions cut fine (pyaaz/ vengayam)
3 medium tomatoes (tamatar/ thakkali)
1 tsp minced ginger (adrak/ inji)
1 tsp minced garlic (lehsun/ poondu)
3/4 tsp chilli powder (or to taste)
salt to taste (namak/ uppu)
1 Tbsp oil

For the seasoning
1 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera/ jeeragam)
5 Thai or Indian green chillies cut fine (or according to taste) (hara mirch/ pachai molagai)
1 tsp garam masala (or to taste) To make your own garam masala check out this post

For garnish
cilantro (coriander leaves/ hara dhania/ kothamalli) one handful washed and cut fine

Wash the five lentils together, drain. Soak it in sufficient water with 1/4 tsp turmeric powder for at least 30 minutes.

Pressure cook the lentils in the same water until soft. ( For me that took 5 whistles in the pressure cooker)

Alternatively in a large heavy bottomed pan, place the lentils and the water and cook on low heat adding water as required until all the lentils are cooked and soft.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pan, add onions and saute until onions are transparent.

Then add ginger and garlic and stir for a few seconds.

Then add tomatoes and saute until tomatoes are soft and mushy.

Slightly mash the lentils and add it to the sauteed onion + tomato mixture. Add water to achieve required consistency and salt to taste, and chilli powder and allow this mixture to simmer for about 10 to 15  minutes on low heat so that the flavors blend together.

In a separate small pan, heat 1 tsp oil, add cumin seeds.

When cumin seeds start to splutter add green chillies. When green chillies start to turn color, add garam masala powder to the oil, stir it into the oil a couple of times and pour this entire seasoning on the dhal.

Mix in the seasoning and allow dhal to simmer for a few additional minutes.

Remove from heat and garnish with cilantro.

Serve hot on a bed of plain rice or along with jeera rice or to go with any type of Roti/ Phulka/ Chapathi/ Indian flat bread or Kulcha/naan.

Serves approximately 5-6

Notes
You can easily halve or double this recipe to get required amount of dhal.

36 comments :

Veggie Hut said...

That was on my to do list.. will try this out soon..

Looks Yummy

Cheers

Jyoti

www.theveggiehut.blogspot.com

Rachana said...

The panchratan daal looks really tempting:) Its on my dinner menu today:)

Shama Nagarajan said...

yummy healthy dal..delicious

FH said...

Photo looks gorgeous. Perfect color and very healthy dal.

Devasena Hariharan said...

Quite a different idea! I used to do it only with moong dal.

Unknown said...

Name is totally new to me....dhal is anytime comfort food!

Hayley said...

Hey Usha

Panchratna daal is one of my faviorte...looks yummy...i can see you enjoyed this Daal, i've made very similar Daal TREVTI DAAL you can see on my blog

http://joyofcooking247.blogspot.com/2010/01/its-freezing-weather-snowing-outside.html

cheers

Preeti Kashyap said...

I love this recipe usha! Been wanting to make it for quite some time. Thanks for posting it!

kitchen queen said...

delicious yum and tempting dhal

Unknown said...

Nice to combine 5 types of dal. Looks very beautiful..

ruchikacooks said...

Looks very inviting..Five dals must add a punch!

indosungod said...

It is all perspective right, 20s to the 40s seems like mid spring weather. The dal is a jewel alright.

Anonymous said...

the name is so apt no? very neat recipe.

Priya Suresh said...

Real comforting dal..looks fantastic Usha..

Gita Jaishankar said...

Nice tempting dhal Usha...I have never yet tried this one...thanks for sharing the recipe...I'll try it soon :)

Mythreyi Dilip said...

Dal looks too delicious, combo of 5 dals sounds superb Usha:)

Soma Pradhan said...

Hightly nutritional

Unknown said...

nice healthy dal..looks yumm

Renuka Bedre - Rao said...

Hi Usha! thanks alot for dropping by n leaving lovely comment on my blog! Dal looks so inviting..Beautiful click..Loved ur blog alot.m regular visitor now!
Renuka
http://cookingyummy.blogspot.com/

Anupama said...

When I first saw the title of this post, I thought it was some kind of dhal, but once I saw the recipe, I understood it uses 5 types of dhals... how stupid can I be??!!! ;-)

I've always had some kind of strange attachment towards dhal made by mixing different varieties of lentils. This one looks just perfect and I would definitely like it :-)

Nandinis food said...

Yummy and creamy dhal! Looks comforting.

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow...that's an creamy medley of dals...looks yummy....

Priya Narasimhan said...

i make this dal quite often, but did not know it had a name..true that its easy to make and healthy.picture has come out good.

Sarah Naveen said...

Awesome click..Dal looks super yummy!!!!!

chef and her kitchen said...

you know wat I made this today and I added even palak to it..

jayanthi said...

Hi Usha,
The dal pic looks yummy, feel like eating it right out of the screen!! Just today I made moong-matki usal with more or less the same masala ingredients that you have used for your dal.

Pari Vasisht said...

The dal looks superb dear.

gtyuk said...

5 dhal curry looks absolutely smooth and comforting!!! that's a delicious pack of proteins!!! nice recipe!!

I prefer cycling, breathing some fresh air and surrounded by greens (we have got immense forests and parcs near our home) besides gym and exercising :)

lata raja said...

Rich looking delicious dhal. Plain roti with this would be such a welcome dinner with me.

Deepa G Joshi said...

wow,, what a healthy and great way to make the kids and all others to eat the other daals..lovely..

Parita said...

Healthy and delicious dal!

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

Looks very vibrant, a healthy and a proteinous dish!!!

Ana Powell said...

Sounds delicious x.

Madhavi said...

Love this dal delicious!!!

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

Dhal looks tempting and yummy...

Perspectivemedley said...

yummy Dhal:).. looks like the most perfect side dish to all kinds of mains:)

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