Yellow Dal with Raw Mango and Methi Saag

After a trip out of India, I yearn for simple home-cooked food. I mostly cook myself some greens, yellow dal and rice and that really makes me feel I have come home. This recipe is meant for the complete novice. This is how home-cooked arhar dal and methi saag taste in U.P.

Methi Saag for Dummies

Ingredients:

Fresh Methis saag 1 large bunch cleaned and chopped fine
2-3 Potatoes diced
1 Tablespoon oil (I normally use olive oil, but any vegetable oil is ok, and mustard oil gives it a nice zing)
Salt to taste

For Tadka:
1 teaspoon cummin (Jeera) seeds
1 teaspoon methi (fenugreek) seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
chopped garlic - any quantity you are comfortable with (I use 4-5 cloves, because I like garlic v v much)
chopped ginger - any quantity you are comfortable with (about 1/2 inch should do)
chopped green chillies - any quantity you are comfortable with (I use lots, but 2 or maybe even 1 should do fine)

Tadka ingredients:


Clean the methi saag


Chop finely (I use kitchen scissors to do the deed)


Take a kadhai/ wok. Heat and add the oil. Wait until oil starts smoking, add the cummin, mustard and methi seeds, let them sputter, add the chopped garlic, ginger and chillies (in that order). When the garlic starts turning golden brown, add the diced potatoes.


Don't worry if you burn your tadka, I often do and believe me, the carbon's good for you. Heh! Reduce the heat to low. Cook until the potatoes are 3/4th cooked. Add the chopped methi, cover and cook for another 4 minutes on low.


Add salt, cover and cook again for 3-4 minutes until it looks like this or the potatoes are done. If you have looked closely enough you will observe that the potatoes got slightly burnt. That's because I was also watching TV and almost forgot I was cooking.


Done!

Arhar (Yellow) Dal with raw mango for Dummies

Ingredients
1 cup arhar dal (makes enough for 2-3 people)
1 big raw mango - peeled
salt to taste
turmeric powder about 2 pinches
water - enough to cover dal + 2 cups

For tadka:
Ghee 1 tablespoon (I use olive oil and its not bad at all)
1 heaped teaspoon cummin seeds
2-3 garlic cloves chopped (optional)
1-2 green chillies chopped/ sliced (optional)

Cut 2 slices off the 2 sides of the raw mango so that you have 3 longitudinal slices of mango, 2 without and one with the seed. Add mango, arhar dal, water, salt and turmeric in a pressure cooker. Cook until 3 whistles. Let the pressure subside. In a wok/ kadhai add the ghee and heat until smoking point. Add the cummin seeds, let them sputter, add garlic. Cook until golden brown, add chillies and then the cooked dal. Let it come to a boil. Take off burner.