Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Moong dal in a Maharashtrian way-Moong usal



We prepare dal in a million ways (almost-) but this idea came to my notice when I was searching for Marathi recipes to make use of Nupur's tasty Kolhapuri chutney. I had made usal a couple of weeks back. I have almost 1.5 cups of the potent chutney leftover. This dal is an easier version of usal since it requires no sprouting. I substituted 1T of the kolhapuri chutney for the Maharashtrian masala. Moong dal is fried a little in this recipe before it is cooked. This is done to keep the dal intact and not turn mushy. As you can see, although I pressure-cooked the dal, it is still whole and not a pasty mixture. It turned out very flavorful and tasted quite Maharashtrian (the masala powders give each region's dals and subzis a unique identity).

Do you know any other Maharashtrian recipes that use the chutney?

3 comments:

  1. Good idea, Looks delicious.

    Do you mean you substituted Kolhapuri chutney instead of Maharasrian goda masala? I know these 2 are Maharastrian, but am not aware of other masalas from Maharastra.

    Also, did you fry the dry moong dal, or did you soak them and fry it a bit, before cooking it?

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  2. Hi Kay- I did as per the recipe in the link. I fried it a little and then soaked it for 20 min or so.

    Goda masala is a dry masala powder. I used this thick kohlapuri chutney for the powder. There a lot of the same spices in both.

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  3. great, thanks! :)

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