Brown Lentils aka Kaali Daal (Pakistani way)

Dal is one my favorite things to cook. In Pakistan, dal is a main dish and the sides for this hearty dish include steaming hot basmati rice, fresh off the stove phulka (light roti), tandoori naan and paapar (crispy crackers). The condiments include achaar, chutney and pickled onion salad.

Pakistani way of cooking this daal makes it creamy and goes very well with spicy BBQ meat.

Note: I soak my dry lentils for minimum of 2 hours.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of Brown Dal then soak it
1/3 cup chopped red onions
1 tsp garlic/ginger paste
1 tsp cayenne powder
2 tsp of salt
0.5 tsp turmeric powder

Tempering ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp cumin seeds
10 black peppercorns
3 garlic cloves

Method:

I used my instapot to cook the daal. I added daal, onions, cayenne, salt, turmeric, ginger/garlic paste and 3.5 cups of water. I used the pressure cook option for 15 mins and then let it rest for 5-7 mins before I pressurized the pot.

In  a different pot I added butter and melted it on medium heat. Then browned sliced garlic in it, once they were golden I added cumin and black peppercorns fried those off for 30 seconds. Then added that in the cooked daal.

Mix it well and serve with the sides mentioned above.

Please let me know how it turns out.

Before soaking

After cooking :)