Do you love mangos? If yes, have you ever had a raw mango? They're really sour and are great to eat raw with a sprinkling of salt and red pepper powder, but they're also delicious in a savory dal! Here's how to make it.
Ingredients
Dal
1 1/2 cups toor dal (soaked with 2 cups water for 20-30 minutes)
1 raw mango, cut into small pieces (no need to peel)
1/2 cup white or yellow onion, diced
8-10 curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon amchur powder (optional) *
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/8 teaspoon hing
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
1 tablespoon olive oil/peanut oil
4-5 green chilis OR 1 teaspoon of red chili powder (or a combination)
1/4 teaspoon of methi (fenugreek seeds) ground
2 cups water
Salt to taste
Tempering
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chana dal
1 tablespoon split urad dal
2 dry red chilis
Instructions
1. If you're using an Instant Pot, turn it to saute mode.
a. If you're not using an Instant Pot, cook your dal with 3 cups of water until it's really creamy and tender (~30 minutes or ~15 minutes in a pressure cooker). It should be mashable.
b. Then, place a medium-large pot on your stove and turn it on medium flame.
2. Add in the oil and black mustard seeds. Once they start to splutter, add in the cumin, curry leaves, onions, and green chilis.
3. Once they are all sauteed nicely, add in the amchur, turmeric, coriander powder, hing, and methi. Add in the mango and mix through.
4. Add the toor dal and the rest of the water.
5. Turn off the saute mode, put on the lid. Cook on manual, high pressure for around 25-30 minutes (sealed position).
a. If you're not using an Instant Pot, just cook everything together for 10-15 minutes to bring everything up to a boil again with a splash of water, since your dal is already cooked.
6. For the tempering, in a separate pan, add in the oil and chana dal. Let it fry up for just a few seconds before you put in the urad dal and dry red chilis. Fry them all until golden. (Since we already added the black mustard seeds into the dal, we won't be adding that in here).
7. Once the dal is cooked and ready, add in the salt and mix well. Sprinkle on some fresh cilantro to garnish.
8. Serve with rice and a spoon of mango-ginger pickle or lime pickle.
* NOTE ON RAW MANGOES: I would highly suggest tasting your mango before throwing it into the mix. If it's even a little bit sweet or looks like it's a brighter yellow on the inside (as if it is fruiting), make sure you add at least 1/2 a teaspoon or more of amchur. I cannot stress this enough - it needs to be sour for this dal to taste good. If you can't find raw mangos (usually you can find them in your local Indian grocery store), then you can just make my Aaku Koora Pappu (made with spinach).
* NOTE ON TEMPERING: I love to keep this tempering in a little container on my counter for whenever I have pappu (dal) or koora (dry curry) because it will stay crunchy. You can keep it outside for around 1 1/2-2 weeks. It doesn't really go bad since there's no water content.
You can keep this dal in the fridge for up to 1 week. This also freezes well, but just let it thaw in the fridge the day before you want to use it. I typically don't need to freeze it though because I like having a higher ration of pappu to rice (that is to say, more pappu than rice, since it's good protein).
Enjoy!
Abhijna