Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Mooli daal


When I was growing up, I hated veggies. Well who didn't ? Sometimes when my mom would get exasperated, she would try tricks to get me eat my veggies. This one was a favorite of hers - mask the vegetables in dal or rice or mix it with something that I like in small quanties.
This Dal trick is something that I use on my kids too. Basically cut the radish really small (basically grated) and add to nearly cooked arhar dal towards the end. One thing that gives this trick away is the strong smell of the boiled radish. So if you really plan to trick your kid to try it, make sure you boil the Dal and radish long before the kids come back from school. Also my usual dal tadkas do not have any ghee it, but this needs a generous amount of ghee.
Here is a copy of the recipe as written out by her in my recipe book.in the background of the picture....


Ingredients
1 small cup of Arhar/Toor Dal washed and soaked for a couple of hours
1 to 1-1/2 cup of grated Radish or mooli (I cut it larger for the picture here, it shouldn't be so large)
2 tea spoon ghee
2 tea spoon whole cumin seeds
pinch of hing
3-4 green chilies
handful of coriander leaves
Salt to taste

How To
Boil the arhar dal with salt and water. When it is nearly cooked, add grated radish and cook until both are cooked and mixed well.
Take a small separate pan,  heat it and add ghee to it.
Once it is hot, add green chilies, cumin seeds and Hing. Pour on the dal.
Garnish with coriander leaves.

Enjoy with rice or roti and feel gleeful if your kid slurps it up and asks for me. If your kid doesn't like it, there is always a next time!



44 comments:

  1. Neat!Nice idea,Somoo!BTW what is Arhar dal?Is it the same as Toor?Can we do with other veggies or just radish?you can imagine why I ask so many qns...A picky toddler in the house!!

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  2. Mothers always find ways to trick their children when they are fussy about food...smiles...
    A nice dal recipe. I add radish to cholar dal.

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  3. Wonderful dal for chapathi. I can prepare this during my lazy days:D

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  4. Goes well with both roti and chappati. U know I googled and found out what arhar dal is- Now I know it is toor dal.

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  5. I have been too one of those kids who hated anything in dal. But mom used to add something or the other. But now being a grown up I understand how important it is. Adding spinach or radishes is an excellent idea. Not only the dal becomes delicious but nutritious too.

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  6. yummy dal..i have to cook dal with veges and mix with rice and feed my son..that is the only way to give him veges..

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  7. Such a comforting dal, looks fantastic..

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  8. Padhu - I will update the post to add toor dal... Thank you.
    Yes it is a simple dal, but a little different.
    Try it and let me know if you liked it...

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  9. Simply homely recipes which would be great with rice and ghee....

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  10. Captivating and easy combo with hot rice

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  11. Will surely try this..never ate this way

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  12. This is such a wonderful post Somoo. i recently saw an episode of Nigella where she used both her grandmom's cooking scrapbooks. You must make one too

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  13. hehe nice idea somoo..I love mooli..so I wud give it a try

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  14. That is a neat trick, will try out next time.

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  15. Easy and healthy recipe with raddish,U used red or white raddish?Happy pongal to u and family...

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  16. Vrinda - I used white mooli...
    Happy Pongal everyone...

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  17. Healthy and delicious dal..perfect with roti.:)

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  18. I love mooli and dal combo,Even now I hate certain veggies,but not mooli :)

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  19. Hi Somoo, this looks a quickie and I like dal with ghee tempering, will try this. I have always made sambhar with radish till now.

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  20. I have got a lot of raddish this winter from my small veggie patch. made this Daal yesterday with some broad beans and coriander leaves. tastes real yum!!! love love love it Somoo.

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  21. Very delicious and healthy combo!!

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  22. Mooli dal looks delicious and it is perfect to eat with plain rice. I love this dal very much.

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  23. Great curry for chappati..thanks !

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  24. I do the same with my kids too, mix some veggies here and there in their favourite dishes....

    your radish dhal looks delicious and nicely garnished!!!

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  25. delicious dal to go with chappathis.you have a nice blog.you can visit my blog and give ur comments.

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  26. I like radish but in my home everyone hate for the pungent smell! The dhal reminds my mom radish sambar!

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  27. Nice way to make kids take their veggies and the dhal looks vibrant!!!

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  28. Very delicious and a healthy combination. By the way, you have a wonderful place:)

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  29. Yummy.. very good for rotis..or rice..yum!

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  30. Thats a delicious recipe.. Gotta try this soon!

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  31. Dhal and raddish seems delicious dear.

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  32. Hi Somoo hope you are enjoying with MIL. am sorry that I came here to inform you but forgot that you have an Award awaiting at my place. so sorry that I made this mistake. please collect it from http://ahomemakersdiary.blogspot.com/2010/01/2-awards-7-secrets-and-some-garden.html

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  33. simple and healthy . Would love to have it with chapatis

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  34. Nice yaa Somoo, last pic is awesome!

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  36. all well? u havent posted in a while

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  37. I have a mooli sitting in my fridge for the past 7 days and I was wondering what to do with it ! NOW I KNOW!!!

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  38. @Jhimly - have fun! Let me know how it turns out!

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