Sookhi Dal

Hello, boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! Sometimes, if I'm lucky, the people I meet (and like) on one project, I get a chance to work with again on my next. One such person, is my friend (and biryani teacher), Thinks-that-she-can-sing-but-can't. I first met Thinks-that-she-can-sing-but-can't in Solihull, in 2013, where we worked on separate projects but for the same client. We were introduced through a couple of mutual friends, one of whom was my roommate at the time, Ms. Popularity. Quite conveniently for me, since Thinks-that-she-can-sing-but-can't was on a short trip, she was vacating her room at the home of the British family she was staying with, and since I was looking for a new place, it was the perfect solution. So Thinks-that-she-can-sing-but-can't returned to India, but as luck would have it, was asked a couple of months later, to make another trip to the UK. She returned, bags in hand, and made a beeline for her old home with her trademark ear-to-ear grin, and was lovingly offered a room to live in (my landlady's formerly goth daughter's room, complete with terrifying 'graffiti'). Chuffed at her return, for the next few weeks, Thinks-that-she-can-sing-but-can't, Ms. Popularity, and I had a wonderful time. We'd cook great food, eat, feed our British family, mess with the cats, go out, and cook some more, until it was time for her to depart again (we fought loads too, but this is a happy story so we won't go into that).

The following year, after I moved back to Poona, India, I discovered that Thinks-that-she-can-sing-but-can't was not only in Poona, but also on the same project. After a few months in India, we both travelled to Istanbul for work, and following an uncomfortable living situation with her roommate, Thinks-that-she-can-sing-but-can't ended up moving in with me for a bit. She moved in over a weekend, unpacked her things (by unpacked I mean emptied her suitcases in the middle of the room and randomly flung the contents everywhere.. not literally, but you get the drift; she was as messy as I am OCD), and soon we were back to cooking great food (with me feverishly cleaning the war zone that had been my kitchen after she was done!), sipping beers on the window sill in the balcony as we looked out at the twinkling lights of the Istanbul skyline, and discussing what we'd do when we started our own restaurants. But since all good things come to an end, it was soon time for her to leave, and as she left, my house suddenly seemed emptier than it had been even when I had moved in. It wasn't a total loss though, I got to keep all her spices and ingredients (and an excellent pumice stone in the shower that is responsible for my soft, dead skin free heels), and one of the things she left behind was a packet of urad dal that I used when I first made today's dish.

For my Sookhi Dal, you will need the following:

Urad (white) dal	2 cups
Onion	1
Tomato	1
Green chillies	2-3
Garlic	2-3 cloves
Haldi (turmeric) powder	1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder	2-3 tsp
Dhaniya (coriander) powder	2-3 tsp
Jeera (cumin) powder	1 tsp
Jeera (cumin) seeds	2 tsp
Coriander leaves	handful
Salt	to taste
Oil/ghee

Prep:

1. Rinse the dal in cold water until the water runs clear.
2. Chop the onion.
3. Chop the tomato.
4. Mince the garlic.
5. Chop the chillies.
6. Roughly chop the coriander leaves.

Method:

Dal:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a saucepan/patila on.
3. Plonk the dal in.
4. Pour in 4 cups of water.
5. Sprinkle in the haldi.
6. Sprinkle in some salt.
7. Add a teaspoon of ghee/oil.
8. Crank the heat up until the water comes to a boil.
9. Drop the heat to low and put the lid on halfway.
10. Cook until the water is almost all gone.
11. Turn the gas off.

Tadka:

1. Turn on a smaller burner.
2. Bung a pan on.
3. Splash in some ghee/oil.
4. Pinch in the jeera.
5. Roll in the chillies.
6. Pop in the garlic.
7. Cook for a minute.
8. Add in the onion.
9. Cook until the onions are translucent.
10. Sprinkle in the red chilli powder, dhaniya powder, and jeera powder.
11. Mix well.
12. Plop in the tomato.
13. Mix well.
14. Cook until the ghee/oil separates from the tomato.
15. Turn the gas off.

Putting it together:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Drop the heat to low.
3. Bung the saucepan with the dal on.
4. Spoon in the tadka.
5. Throw on the coriander leaves.
6. Mix.
7. Serve.
8. Stuff face.
9. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: A squeeze of lemon as you serve it lights this dal up in wonderful ways.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!