Habisa Dalma

Today is Kartika Purnima - one of the holiest days of the year, and culminates a whole month of puja in the month of Kartika masa. Lots of Oriya women (not sure if men do it - I have seen grandma, mom and aunts celebrate this month) do not eat non vegetarian for the whole month. Usually they eat once during the day and one of the key item for the meal is Habisa Dalma. Here is my Aunt's version of the habisa dalama that I  love. Tomorrow is Chada Khai, the day everyone feasts on non vegetarian food. I have heard the price of mutton goes up 2-3 times for the day - talk about Supply and Demand!


Ingredients
1 cup Mung Dal
1 tin of Jackfruit (non-ripe version)
2 raw bananas - chopped into small pieces
2 Saru or Arbi - peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 table spoon ghee
1 tea spoon cumin seeds
2 red chillies
2 green chillies
2 inch ginger - grated
1 tea spoon of dry cumin seeds roasted and powdered
handful of fresh grated coconut (frozen ones, thawed work fine too)
2-3 bay leaves
Salt to taste

How to
Take a pan and heat it. Add the mung dal and dry roast it until it starts changing color (at very low heat). It takes about 10-12 min.
Remove from heat and soak the dal for 1 hr.
Take a pan, add the dal and salt and 3 times the water and let it boil for 15 min.
If the dal looks a little bit cooked, add the saru and let it cook for a few minutes.
Then add the chopped raw bananas and the cut raw jack-fruit pieces.
Once everything is cooked, adjust salt to taste. (No Tumeric is added to this dal)

Take another pan, add the ghee and let it get hot.
Add the chillies and the cumin seeds, bay leaves and the grated ginger and pour the mixture on the dal.
Add some dry roasted and powdered cumin seeds and fresh grated coconut and mix well in the dal.

Eat fresh or the next day. Add some lemon to enhance the taste of the dalma! As Satarupa says, enjoy this dalma with Arua Bhata (white rice), Aloo Bharta (Mashed potatoes), Saga and khata.