Mooli Dal

My grad school years started my first experimentations with cooking. One of my roommates, J, used to make this mooli dal which I absolutely love. The cooking somehow reduces the pungency of the mooli and complements the dal well.

Ingredients:

1 cup toor dal, washed and soaked for 1/2 hour

1 large mooli, cut into rounds

sambhar powder, 1 tsp

turmeric, 1/2 tsp

For tadka (tempering):

1 green chilli, cut small

2-3 red chillies, broken into small pieces

cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp

mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp

In a pressure cooker, put the soaked dal, mooli, sambhar powder, and turmeric and cook for 2 whistles. This may take upto 45 mins if cooking on an open fire. When done, add some water if the dal is too thick, and return to a boil on the stove. In a separate pan, heat 1 tsp oil. When hot, add the tadka ingredients and allow seeds to brown slightly. Pour this tadka over the dal and mix well to incorporate.