Slow Cooked Pigeon Pea Lentil

A Maharashtrian delicacy eaten with jowar bhakri, slow cooked lentil with some spices. It is called Dal Methicha Varan In Marathi. Tastes best with a tempering of green chillies and lots of garlic cloves brown and crisp. This can be kept separately and served in each serving to retain the crunch in the garlic or mixed with the dal. 

Ingredients

2 cups of pigeon pea lentil (toor dal), washed drained and kept ready

The ingredients can be crushed in a mortar pestle or they can be made into a coarse paste in the mixi jar
1/4 cup fresh scraped coconut
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
3 green chillies
4 garlic cloves
Salt to taste
Coriander for garnishing
10-15 garlic cloves whole, 3 slit green chilles, for the tempering (optional)

Method

In a pan take some oil and add mustard seeds, let them splutter then add turmeric, little more than we would regularly use, this is to give it the colour, add asafoetida, the crushed paste, saute it well till the raw smell goes away. Now add the lentil, add 2 cups of water and leave it to slow cook in the spice paste. You will have to keep checking and adding water till it cooks fully. You can cook it covered till it becomes mushy and then add salt and adjust the consistency. Enjoy with the garlic tempering, if you are a garlic lover then you are surely going to relish this one like I do. This picture below shows you the crisp garlic tempering.