As much as I love my fish and meat, I love vegetables and dals, too. And that’s why you will find even my non-vegetarian recipes have some or the other vegetable a part of it. So, when I got to know of the dalma – Odia lentil and vegetables curry – I knew I had to make it! Odisha is a state in the east of India and this lentil curry belongs to her. The dal in this recipe is cooked along with the vegetables is lightly spiced and so comforting. And it is the vegetables that flavour the dalma. Now, since I love veggies, I may have gone overboard with including them. In other words, I have added seven different vegetables to my dalma. Nonetheless, you could stick to two or three, as well. Also, I have made a big batch of this lentil curry, hence so many veggies.
The dalma
I have adapted this dalma recipe from the one my blogger friend, Sweta Sagarika, has shared with me. She belongs from Odisha and hence there would have been nobody better, I could get the recipe from. While broadly the recipe she’s shared with me remains the same, I have made some slight modifications.
Now, I have made my dalma (Odia lentil and vegetables curry) with toor dal or split pigeon peas. However, you could also use a combination of moong dal (petit yellow lentils) and masoor dal (red lentils). Also, Sweta says, that’s here favourite combination for this recipe. Next, coming to the veggies that I have used. Like I said, since I’ve made a big batch of the dalma I have added quite a bit of them. And they are sweet potato, taro roots, flat beans, radish, drumsticks, aubergine and pumpkin. Nonetheless, you could also use raw papaya, French beans, plantains, pointed gourd etc. Furthermore, since these are cooked along with the lentils itself, the vegetables are kept chunky, when chopping. This way they don’t completely mash into the dalma, whilst cooking.
The beauty of this lentil curry, as I have realised, is the amalgamation of the dal and the veggies. These two come together so beautifully together to flavour and add body to the dalma.
Also see,
Cholar dal (Bengali chana dal)
The tempering
Once the dal and the vegetables are cooked with some salt and turmeric, the dalma gets a very fragrant tempering. And this part is my most favourite! The amazing fragrance of the tempered cumin seeds, paanch phoron, asafoetida in ghee the combination of it all, is just so good.
What to have it with
The only way to devour the Odia dalma, is with some steaming rice. You can also add a side of some pan fried aubergines – begun bhaja as well. However, I simply enjoy it fresh and hot with rice, dolloped with ghee alongside a wedge of lime! Such a comforting lunch that is. 🙂
Do let me know if you try my recipe of this heavenly lentil curry. I’d even love to see pictures, if you’ve clicked some. For now, here goes the recipe.
Eat hearty!
Dalma (Odia lentil and vegetables curry)
Equipment
- Deep cooking pot/stock pot
Ingredients
- 2 cups toor dal pigeon peans or yellow lentils
- 2 cups Indian radish (mooli) cut in 1½ inches in length
- 2 cups arbi/colocasia roots cut in 1½ inches cube
- 1 cup yellow pumpkin cut in 1½ inches cube
- 1 cup sweet potato cut in 1½ inches cube
- 1 cup flat beans cut in 1½ inches in length
- 1 cup drumsticks cut in 1½ inches in length
- 1 medium aubergine cut in 1½ inches in length
- 4 small tomatoes chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 5-6 fresh chilis slit
- 2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp sugar optional
- salt to taste
For the tempering
- 5-6 tbsp ghee
- 1 tbsp paanch phoron
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 3-4 dried red chilis
- 1 tsp hing asafoetida
- 2 tbsp Kashmiri chili powder for the colour
For garnishing
- ¼ cup coriander leaves
Instructions
- Wash the dal well and soak it in water for 15 minutes
- Drain and cook with 5 cups of water, ginger paste and turmeric powder, over medium heat
- In 15 minutes, add the radish, sweet potato, pumpkin and drumsticks along with the salt. Continue simmering
- In another 10 minutes, add the colocasia roots, egg plants and the beans. Mix well
- Once all the vegetables are well cooked along with the dal, add the chopped tomatoes and chilis along with the sugar
- Stir well and cook until the tomatoes completely soften and mix well
- Once done, switch off the heat
- In a smaller frying pan, heat the ghee until it melts and add all the tempering ingredients except the chili powder
- Once the mustard in the panch phoron has spluttered, turn the heat off and add the chili powder
- Pour this fragrant tempering over the dal along with the coriander leaves, mix well and let it sit covered for 5 minutes
- Serve the dalma (Odia lentil and vegetables curry) hot with steamed rice, some fried aubergines and a wedge of lemon. Enjoy!
Notes
- *Paanch phoron is a Bengali whole spice mix, made by mixing equal parts of mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds and onion seeds
- I have added sugar to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes. You could leave it out if you so wish
- If you feel the dal is getting too thick, you could add some more water
- You can also garnish the tempered dal with some fresh grated coconut
- For a vegan option you can make this in mustard oil
- tsp - teaspoon
- tbsp - tablespoon
