Daali thoy is the most basic and most loved dish in Konkan cuisine. So it was the first recipe I posted on this blog. Konkanis just cannot live without this simple daal . When I posted this first recipe, I thought there is only one way of making this dish. But within few days I was very clear that the daali thoy I know is what we follow in North Kanara . There were many more variations to it and a particular thing that caught my attention was Goan daali thoy which Shubhada mentioned in her comment.
Adding coconut milk to this dish was very new to me, but I knew it would taste great since we both are great fans of coconut. I had never tasted this before but I thought my husband might have tasted it. So when I asked him, he said, “Goan daali thoy is very different with whitish color. It tastes slightly different. It is very tasty”. I gave it a try and it was absolutely tasty. Ready made coconut milk cans came to my rescue here, because I would never have made it from scratch at home. Thanks Shubhada for sending me this recipe.
Ingredients: 3/4 cup toor daal 2 tbl spns thick coconut milk(fresh coconut milk is preferred) 1/2 tea spn chopped ginger 3-4 green chilies 2 red chilies 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds A pinch asafoetida 4-5 curry leaves 1/2 tea spn sugar(optional) Ghee Salt
Method: Cook toor daal with ginger and green chilies in cooker till it is soft. (I added turmeric to the daal when I cooked it, but it is not added traditionally). Take out the daal and cook. Add coconut milk, salt and sugar(if using. I didn’t add it). Heat ghee and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, broken red chilies, curry leaves and asafoetida. Add this seasoning to the daal . Serve hot with rice.
Serves : 2-3 Preparation time : 20mins
AvrekaLu being the most popular beans found in Bangalore, it is used to cook almost all kinds of dishes from upma to dosa to gravies. As I mentioned in avrekaLu huLi post, since my husband loves these beans, I have started cooking this more and more. My biggest headache these days is to come up with a delicious and fast cooking lunch which can be cooked literally in 10-15mins. Since I cook both breakfast and lunch in the morning, I start for office by 7.30AM and I can’t get up before 6.00AM, I try to cook something that has minimum number of steps in it.
When we were working together in Bangalore, my friend and ex-colleague Poornima used to bring a delicious avrekaLu chitranna in her lunch box. I used to love it a lot but had no idea how to make it. So I followed the same steps as normal chitranna , and it turned out to be very delicious. Now I make this once a week and we love it. Since it is a healthy dish and can be prepared very fast, it is a win-win situation for me.
Ingredients: 3/4 cup avrekaLu 1 cup rice A pinch turmeric A pinch asafoetida 4-5 green chilies 4-5 curry leaves 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds 1/2 tea spn urad dal 1-2 tbl spns lemon juice 2-3 strands coriander leaves 1/2 cup onion Ghee /oil Salt
Method: Cook rice till it is cooked and grains are separate. I usually add a drop of oil, this prevents sticking of grains to each other. Cook avrekaLu in minimum amount of water. I cook both together in pressure cooker. Heat ghee /oil and add mustard seeds, urad dal . When they start popping, add green chilies, turmeric, curry leaves and asafoetida. Fry for sometime and then add onion and fry till they turn slightly brownish. Mix lemon juice and immediately add rice, salt and cooked beans (if lemon juice is heated for long, it turns bitter. So do not heat it for long). Stir very well. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serves : 2-3 Preparation time : 15mins
