Dal and Potato Sauce

by Kathleen Morrison

Servings: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 cup moong, toor or urhad dal, or green or yellow split peas
8 cups water
1 tsp. salt
2 potatoes, peeled and cut up into sm. chunks
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 dash chili powder, or green chilies, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash the legumes and bring to a boil in a very large pot in the 8 cups of water with the salt. They really foam up and will surely boil over in anything but a very big pot. Cook for 15 minutes, then add the potatoes. Cook until the legumes and potatoes are very soft, another 20 to 30 minutes.*

If you like your green onions raw, add them at the very end; otherwise, let them cook a couple of minutes in the pot. Add the chili powder or finely chopped chilies.

CHEF COMMENTS

This is slightly adapted from an Indian cookbook by Yogi Vithaldas. He considers it soup, but it can just as well be a sauce.

*I don't like things too lumpy, so I smooshed the potatoes against the sides of the pot with a big spoon when they got real soft.

You can have this as is, as soup, or poured over rice as a sauce. In fact, we did both -- had some in bowls as a first course, then poured some over rice and a green veggie (I think it was sliced zucchinis and onions) as the main course. It tasted great both ways. This made an ample quantity for 3, with a good amount left over for a couple of days' lunches.

Tagged: dal, indian add tags

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