Masoor Dal Tamatari | Red Lentils-Tomato Soup

Masoor Dal Tamatari | Red Lentils-Tomato Soup

Author: Rumki Paul
Course: Main
Cuisine: Bengali
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Servings: 3-4 Persons

Hello friends, today I have come with another successful kitchen experiment results of mine and I named it Masoor Dal Tamatari (Red Lentils-Tomato Soup). By reading the name itself, you must have understood that the key ingredients of this dish are healthy Red Lentils and juicy Tomatoes. It is a very easy and simple recipe. To prepare Masoor Dal Tamatari, you need very few ingredients. It gets prepared very quickly. In fact, it takes less than 30 minutes total time (Preparation time + Cooking time) to prepare this dish.

Masoor Dal Tamatari is cooked in Tomatoes, green Chillies and Ginger. I have cooked this dal in Mustard oil. It gives lot of flavour into the dal. In this recipe, I have not used any powder spices other than turmeric powder. For flavouring, I have used chopped Cilantros and famous Bengali spice Paanch Phoron .

Paanch phoron is a mixture of five whole spices with equal portions of Fenugreek seeds (Methi), Cumin seeds (Jeera), Nigella seeds (Kalonji), Fennel seeds (Saunf) and Trachyspermum Roxburghianum (Radhuni). Normally, anywhere outside of West Bengal, Radhuni is replaced by black Mustard seeds (Sorshe). In fact, the Paanch phoron I have used contains black mustard seeds.

Masoor Dal (Red Lentils) is one of the mostly prepared dal in Bengali houses. They have their own version like Sheddo Dal, Dal Bhorta, Peyaj Masoor Dal etc. All of them are very less spicy and surprisingly heavenly delicious.

Masoor Dal Tamatari is one of my own variations. One day, my husband wanted to have some food that is non-spicy but is new to taste. I came up with this Dal along with Basmati rice and Egg bhujji. He absolutely loved it. Now, it has become one of our regular Dals to take a break from rich-oily food. If you are in a mood to have some non-spicy food with plain Rice then it will be a great option for you.

I have pressure cooked the Red Lentils separately and then tempered with rest of the ingredients. It saves lot of time. You can multi-task by putting the Dal (Lentils) to pressure cook and start preparing rest of the things. But if you like to prepare it in Kadai, you can do that as well. It will just take you a bit longer to cook the Dal.

Masoor Dal Tamatari can be a great option for those houses who regularly prepare Dals. This dish goes superb with steamed Basmati Rice and with some Pickles and Papad. You can accompany the dish with Aloo bhaji or Omelette too.

Masoor Dal (Red lentils) are rich in Protein and it have low calories. It keeps the heart healthy by lowering the level of Cholesterol. It helps in nourishing our bones too. It is a very good source of Iron. Regular consumption of Red lentils can reduce many health issues. It will be a healthy addition to your regular diet.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Masoor dal (red Lentils)
• 2 Tomatoes, deseeded and sliced into 8 pieces
• 2 green Chillies
• 1 teaspoon Ginger paste
• 3 tablespoons Cilantros, chopped
• ½ teaspoon Paanch phoron
• Salt to taste
• Mustard oil for cooking
• 2½ Cups of Water

1. Wash and soak Masoor dal (red Lentils) for 10 minutes and then drain the water.
2. Put the dal in pressure cooker and add water.
3. Add some salt and pressure cook it in medium flame for 1-2 whistles.
   Tip: Number of whistles may vary due to quality, quantity and temperature.
4. Let the pressure settle down, take off the lid.
5. Add Mustard oil into the pan in high flame.
6. Once the oil is hot, put Paanch Phoron seeds.
   

7. Sauté them for few seconds till they crackle.
8. Add Tomatoes and cook it for 2 minutes in medium flame.
   

9. Add Ginger paste, green Chillies and give a nice mix.
   

10. Cook it in low flame until the raw smell of ginger goes away.
11. Add Salt, Turmeric powder and mix it well.
    

12. Cover the pan and cook it for another minute.
13. Add Masoor dal (Step 4) and give a nice mix.
    

14. Add water and stir it well.
15. Put the flame highest until it starts boiling.
16. Add Cilantros and cook it in low flame for a minute.