Ingredients

1. Yellow cucumber (dosakaya, medium size) – 450 to 500 gms

For boiling dal

2. Toor dal (yellow split) – 3/4 cup
3. Garlic cloves (big) – 1
4. Green chillies – 5
5. Tomatoes (big) – 2 or 350 gms
6. Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
7. Cumin powder – 1/2 tsp
8. Oil – 1 tsp
9. Methi powder (fenugreek) – 1/4 tsp or little more
10. Chilli powder – 1/4 tsp
11. Water – 4 cups

Tadka

12. Oil – 2 1/2 tbsp
13. Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
14. Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
15. Dry chilli (broken) – 5
16. Curry leaves – 25
17. Garlic cloves (big, crushed/sliced) – 2
18. Onion (small, sliced) – 1

Method

1. Wash the dal and soak the toor dal for 30minutes.
2. Peel the yellow cucumber, wash and cut into half, scoop the seeds, cut into medium size or cube shape, keep it aside.
3. Chop the tomatoes, slit or half the chillies, keep it ready.
4. Add the dal in the pressure cooker with other ingredients like garlic clove (crushed), tomatoes, green chillies, all spices, water 4cups as required and a tsp of oil.
5. Mix well and pressure cook up to 4 to 5 whistles on medium flame.
6. After few minutes, when pressure is released, open the lid.
7. With the help of ghotni (an Indian wooden masher used for mashing dal) or with the help of back of the ladle, mash the dal with other ingredients.
8. Add chopped or cubed yellow cucumber, combine well with the dal and pressure cook again up to 2 whistles and switch off.
9. After few minutes, when the pressure is released, add salt as required, combine well and keep it aside for tadka (tempering).
10. Sometimes I add all the ingredients including yellow vegetable and pressure cook, which saves time, but need to be careful as yellow cucumber can easily get mashed with the dal.

Tadka(tempering)

11. Heat oil in a small kadai or any vessel for tadka, when oil gets warm , add mustard seeds, when they start crackling , add cumin seeds, dry chillies, onion(sliced) and curry leaves, stir well, few seconds.
12. Add garlic crushed or sliced and cook until onion turns golden crisp colour and garlic is light brown, switch it off.
13. Immediately add this to the dal , mix soon, and close the lid quickly, so that tadka’s aroma is not escaped and well blended with the dal. Keep the lid closed for few minutes, 5 to 10 minutes approximately and serve immediately.

Or

14. Add tadka to the pressure cooked dal and combine. Cook on slow flame for a few minutes with lid closed, till you get the consistency of your choice.
15. Serve with plain rice, drizzle of ghee on top , goes very well.

Notes

1. Those who don’t have pressure cooker can cook the dal in an open vessel first until dal is cooked and then add the vegetable.
2. For the sourness, you can add tamarind and pressure cook, it gives different taste.
3. The amount of water added in a cooker should not exceed the limit of pressure cooker, otherwise it will come out.
4. When it starts boiling a tsp of oil is added, so that boiling should not come outside the pressure cooker, the froth of dal.
5. Never add salt, in a dal during cooking, otherwise it will take more time to cook, always add salt in the last, after cooking.
6. Can decrease or increase yellow cucumber, according to taste.
7. In thadka can avoid onions and can use the rest of the ingredients.
8. Usually in every dal, my mother adds jeera – methi powder (cumin and fenugreek seeds powder), if it is not there, can add just cumin powder or can avoid it.
9. In the dal while boiling; sometimes I just add turmeric powder, tomatoes, and green chillies and boil it, and avoid other ingredients.
10. With the same ingredients can make methi (fenugreek leaves) dal, spinach dal, mango dal, kacchi mirchi ki dal (green chillies dal), gongura dal (sorrel leaves).