The legend of lentils

Pushpesh Pant

Arguably the most famous lentil in Indian culinary lore is masoor that has spawned the adage “Ye munh aur masoor ki daal? This may be literally translated as ‘Your palate doesn’t deserve a subtle delicacy like this lentil’. As the story goes a nawab in Lucknow had kept his temperamental bawarchi waiting before he could rise from a game of chess to savour it- the only dish the chef had prepared. The offended bawarchi resigned on spot and emptied the bowl on a shrivelled stump of a tree. In a few days the deadwood sprouted new leaves and the employer was made aware of the rejuvenating properties of the masoor daal — fit enough for a discerning prince. The debauched noble in urgent need of restoratives by then ordered a search for the chef but alas all that he had to be content with was not the recipe but the mocking phrase. We have always wondered if the hype about masoor hasn’t upstaged a bit unfairly other Awadhi lentil delicacy. The khilwan dhuli urad we bring to our readers this time illustrates this very well. A delight to look at, it is a symphony of tastes and textures. Preparation is deceptively simple. The small number of steps requires high-degree of skill and patience to execute. Well worth the exertion is what we say! Enjoy.

Urad daal khilwan

Ingredients
Urad dal (husked and split)    1 cup
Milk              1 cup
Heeng           1 pinch
Ginger (fresh, scraped, washed and cut in thin stripes)
Garlic            3-4 cloves
Onion (medium-sized, 1 peeled and sliced vey fine)
Bay leaf        1
Pepper corns      4-6
Cloves          2-3
Cardamom (brown)              2
Cinnamon stick            1 inch piece
Dhaniya powder          1tsp
Yellow chilli powder            ½tsp
Red chillies (fresh, whole, wiped clean, deseed and cut in small pieces for garnish)
Dry red chilly     1 (optional)
Fresh mint leaves     1 small sprig (washed)
Salt to taste
Ghee             ¼ cup + 2tbsp

Method
Pick and wash the daal. Soak in milk for 30 minutes then drain and spread. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the onions till rich brown. Remove and reserve. Disslove heeng in ghee in the pan and add bay leaf along with cloves and other whole spices. When these begin to change colour put in the daal. Sprinkle dhaniya powder and salt and stir gently to mix. Pour in two cups of water, bring to boil and cook on medium heat till lentils are almost done but not mushy. Drain and cover tightly and keep the pan with lentils on heated tawa to finish on dum. Prepare the tempering by heating a little ghee in a ladle and frying the garlic cloves and whole red chillies (if using). Pour tempering over daal and serve after garnishing with fried onions, chopped chillies and mint leaves. You may sprinkle a little lime-juice if you like.