Mango Dal

Dal is a very healthy food, particularly for the vegetarians.  It is the good combination either with rice or chapathi. With most of the vegs. we can prepare dal. Some use moong dal some use chana dal. But we andhra people use tuar dal (kandhi pappu). Once the raw mango enters the market, we start preparing various combinations with it.

Ingredients:

- tuar dal                      1 cup
- grated mango            1/2 cup
- onion                         1 medium
- chilies                        1
-turmeric                      1/4 tsp
- fenugreek powder      pinch(opt)
- garlic                          1-4 cloves(opt)
- salt
-red  chili powder         1/4 tsp


Tarka:

1 tsp oil
1 tsp split urad dal
1 red chilli (optional)
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera
2 curry leaves
pinch of hing (opt)

Procedure:

- take the dal in a small pressure cooker as it is tough to cook directly. wash it and pour 2 cups of water and soak for 1/2 hr.
- now add chopped vegs and all other ingredients except salt and red chili powder . put whistle and cook on medium flame for 3 whistles.
- when its time to remove the whistle, remove the lid, add salt, red chili powder and tarka and cook on high flame till the bubbles come. 
-turn off the flame and serve it.

tarka:
-take oil in a small pan (khadai) and heat it. Add  urad dal, mustard seeds, jeera, red chilli one by one. Fry them till the urad dal turns into light yellow colour. Now add curry leaves and hing. Add it to dal.

Tips:

- if there is no time to soak, add 1tsp of oil or ghee to the dal before adding vegs.
- dont mix the veg before cooking. just keep it one the dal.
- depending upon your taste change the water quantity. You can add water even at the time of boiling.
- if there is no time to add tarka, skip it. But at that time dont forget to add oil, preferably at the time of cooking dal.
- dont skip to keep it on the flame after removing the lid, to get better taste.
- you can add sugar also if you like sweetness.
-for mango dal red chili powder gives best taste than green chili. So you may skip green chili butnt red chili powder.