A simple dish with a simple name – Dal (Daal, Dhal) yet packed with proteins and the thousands of ways it can be made! There is no right or wrong way and no bad way either. The amazing thing is that if you change one little ingredients or mix a few daals, you get this amazing new creation. Here is a wonderful combination of Channa Dal and Tur Daal in perfect harmony that’ll make you get up and sing with joy. The unbelievable flavor of the Panch Puran is just an icing on the cake – oops, did we say cake, we meant icing on the daal 🙂 Thanks Russell, for this amazing recipe, we just love it!
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Toor Daal – 1 cup
Channa Daal – 1/2 cup
Green Chili – 2 or to taste, slit
Tomato – 1 large, chopped
Ginger – 1 tsp, minced
Salt – to taste
Water – 3.5 cups
Seasoning:
Oil – 1 tbsp
Panch Puran – 2 tsp
Asafoetida (hing) – 1/8th tsp
Turmeric Powder (haldi) – ½ tsp
Red Chili Powder – to taste
Jaggery – 2 tsp
Garam Masala – 2 tsp
Lemon or Lime Juice – to taste
A few curry leaves
Cilantro – for garnish
Method:
1. Wash, rinse and soak both Daals in water for one hour.
2. Drain out the water and add to Pressure Cooker.
3. Add Green Chili, Minced Ginger, Tomatoes, Salt and Turmeric.
4. Mix well and close and allow it to whistle 1 time and ten turn off the flame. (Non-whistle type of Pressure Cooker, cook for 10 minutes)
5. Allow the pressure to release naturally.
6. In a separate saucepan, heat Oil.
7. Once hot, add Panch Poron mix and allow it to sizzle and pop.
8. Add a pinch of Asafoetida, immediately after that the curry leaves.
9. Fry for just a few seconds, then pour hot mix into the dal.
10. Into the Daal, add the Jaggery and Garam Masala. Cook on medium heat.
11. Allow the Daal to cook for another 5 minutes. Adjust spices and flavors.
12. Add a dash of Lemon or Lime Juice and mix well.
13. At time of serving, garnish with Cilantro.
Dear Hetal & Anuja,
I just wanted to thank you for this great website!! Every time I cook one of your recipes it turns out great. Even when I don’t have all the ingredients and have to use some substitutes it’s delicious (:
All the best,
Annikki
Hey wonderful ladies I do not have onion seeds in the panchpuran masala will that make a big difference….thanks for one more amazing recipe pls do some fest somewhere I would love to see it happening …
Hi Shobana,
Though the kalonji do have a very unique flavor, the recipe will not be ruined without them.
I have tried to make so many dhals adding extra garlic, onions etc. This one is hands down the best one I have ever make. Thank you girls. YUMMMMM 🙂
I used panchpuran for making simple beetroot curry and it tastes amazing!! I heated some oil, added panchpuran, broken red chillies. Waited for few mins and then added cut beetroots, sprinkled some salt and allowed beetroots to get cooked. Added some coconut before serving. It is so simple but I think the sweetness of beetroot and that special but light taste of panchpuran..hmmm…can’t say enough!
Thank you guys for introducing me to this mixture of spices. I used it in upma and many other dishes instead of mustard seed and it tastes really good with every dish I have tried so far. It is a nice change for us!
Hi R,
Wow! I have some beets sitting in my fridge right now. I think I will try the panch puran with that. Thanks for sharing :).
Jan.9, 2012
I had made Dal like 2 days ago. It didn’t turn out so good. I had added too much water. Just last night, I made Dal using your recipe. It turned out so good, I had to eat 2 plates full of it. Yum. Thanks to this recipe, my Husband saw my other Dal and then when he saw this Dal he was happy too. Thank you. 🙂
Hi Mrs. Nansi,
We’re so glad that you and your husband enjoyed this daal recipe. Thanks for the feedback.
I used Panch Puran today for seasoning sambhar and it had its own yummy taste :->) My daughter just loved it and wants me to add Panch Puran everytime! Planning to use it in other dishes also. Thanks for introducing this on SMTC.
ABSOLUTELY delicious. This was my first ever time using a pressure cooker (it’s not a whistling one) and I’m glad to report that I’m extremely pleased with both pressure cooker AND this outstanding dish. I mixed my panch puran using equal quantities of all five spices, and it was perfect and balanced.
Wonderful dish, one of my new favorites. Thanks so much!
Thanks for the feedback Sally! Congrats on successfully using a pressure cooker :).
Hi,
I love your recipes especially the eggless date and walnut cake. Is it possible for you’ll to put up some Jain recipes.
Thanks
Hi Sunita,
Thanks for your feedback. If we get our hands on some really good Jain recipes, we’ll surely put them up.
🙂
i dont have jaggery plus asafoetida. would it be okay if i eliminate those two ingredients? And you said jaggery would maeke the dish a little bit sweeter so can i use sugar instead?
Hi Hyunju,
Yes, you can substitute the Jaggery/Gur with either sugar or brown sugar and skip the Asafoetida/Hing. The sugar provides a balance of flavors so you need very little. Enjoy 🙂
Hi Hetal & Anuja,
I tried this Dal, & came out GREAT !!!! My husband liked it very much. The Panch Puran is Awesome !!!
Thanks,
Hi Rashmi,
We love the flavor of the Panch Puran as wel! 🙂 l
Ive a really nice recipe to send u. Shall I do so via these message boards, as u do not appear to have contact email. BTW your site is great, my first port of call for ideas. I Love cooking!
Hi Ferhana,
You can email us hetal@34.233.61.50 or anuja@34.233.61.50.
Hey will you plz let me knw how to prepare garam masala???
Here is the video: https://34.233.61.50/odds-ends/basic-garam-masala.html
Hi I don’t have a pressure cooker, so can I use normal pan on cooker?
Yes, you can make this recipe in a regular pot but the cooking time will be longer and you will have to keep adding more water as needed.
hi
I tried this recipe last night. Turned out good.. Thanks. 🙂
Hi Hetal & Anuja ,
can we have this dish with chappati or do we have to mix it with rice ??
Hi Aish,
Either way, it works well.
Hi Hetal & Anuja ,
can we have this dish with chappati or do we have to mix it with rice ??
Hello my neme is kavitha. how are you both?:-) do you have a cooking books.
Hi Kavitha,
Currently we do not have any cookbooks.
The dal was wonderful. Thank you.
I love making daal combinations. It just intensifies the flavors of usual 1 dal recipes 🙂
Hi Hetal & Anuja , chai Masala Recipe please. Thanks.
Dear ladies,
Can u pls tell me whether this panch puran masala is available in indian groceries ? i m n USA.
Anuja, i like ur costumes very much..u r pretty and hetal looks smart..!
Hi Sandhya,
Yes, you will definitely find panch puran masala in Indian stores.
Hi Hetal & Anuja ,
Both of u r doing a gr8 help by trying out the recipes together & letting us know about it ,so that even we can enjoy those.
I posted these questions in the naan recipe but i didnt get reply…maybe that is outdated .Please answer these questions for me. thanks.
** I am planning to buy a pizza stone for this recipe.I have question regarding prehheating.I read in a website that if we preheat the oven & then later place pizzastone for cooking the naan ,the stone will get a crack & it is safe to heat the oven & pizzastone together.But in ur recipe u have asked to preheat oven for 550 F degree & then place the naan on top of the stone.Can u please clarify this?
** My oven has only temperature settings till 500 F .Do i have to keep it for little longer?How longer do u think?
Answering these questions would be a gr8 help to me.Thank u.
Somi : There are many recipes where they mix that way. There is something called “Panch Dal’ where a little of all dal is mixed and cooked. It has a distinct flavour.
Hetal/Anuja: 3 points I noticed
1) I have noticed Toor dal doesnt cook if we add salt/tamaring before cooking. Has that happened with u ?
2)Safety by experience: When you put the cooker on just clsoe it and boil it until u see some steam get off the whistle and then put the weight on. IT so happens that sometimes ppl overfill the cooker and it comes off from thr whistle. This clogs the whistle. The use the weight after there is team process helps the nozzle clear off.
3) Hetal: Generally we all have the habit of hitting the spoon before we lay the spoon aside on a spoon-rest. It causes dents on the cooker and the pressure cooker under-performs. The steam gets let out from these dents since eventually there will be a lot of them on it 🙂
Just thought I’d point that out since many viewers just follow your video to the details of dotting the I and crossing the T.
Good points! Even my mom says adding salt to toor dal before cooking makes it not cook properly. I have heard that others say too. But on online videos I see salt is added and dal cooks well. So not sure if there are different kinds in toor dal and hence different results!
i think it has nothing to do with adding salt or not.
but if u can soad ur daal in advance that will help.
if required soak for at least an hour or more.than put it in pressure cooker.
sometimes depends on daal as well no matter what u do it takes long time to cook..
Hi Sonia,
Thanks for the tips! Many people say not to add salt to toor daal, but in my experience (using a pressure cooker), I did not see any difference. It may be true if you are using a pot on a stove.
I don’t know — for some people adding salt works. It never works for me or my mother.
About the cooker thing, she stepped away for 2 min when the cooker burst open and broke the bulb of the house. She realized it was due to clogging of the whistle.
About the dents, it happened with my mom…:)
Sonia,
Regarding the dents – my husband was given the same advice by the manager at the Prestige Service Center.Since then, we use wooden ladles for cooking/stirring and the steel ones only to serve.My rims of cooker & pressure pan are dent free.
He was also advised to make sure that the gasket is super clean (no food particles sticking to it) before using it.The gasket needs to be rinsed and dried after every use ,and it will serve you longer.
Oh,I agree with the “weight” and whistle point too. In fact my mum insists that I use the “weight” only after I notice a steady flow of steam from the cooker -not even when the drops of water spit out.So I wait for that to happen and generally use up the time in between to wash up/ clean the prep area.
KA, that gasket suggestion was a good one. Pressure cookers are of great help in the kitchen
but certains tips really need to be kept in mind.
BTW wooden ladles do not create dents ?
About the weight and the whistle thing, I am a little paranoid about it 🙂
This daal is indded very nice but you can mix other daals in 2 portions & cook, just as nice, it is the panch pooran that is really the icing on the cake, I wish alot more people would try out this seasoning with different vegs..just as great.
Hi Hetal and Anuja
yet another simple and awesome recipe. Thanks. Wanted to ask you’ll that this “Panchpuran” – in what anounts do we add them. I mean the Rai, jeera and onion seeds are ok .. but the fenugreek seeds are very bitter .. and also the fennel seeds have a strong flavour. So is it just by taste .. or does the dal need that intense flavour??
Hi Bindu,
This was a viewer submitted recipe so we followed it exactly. You can add how much ever you like. Usually, the proportion of fenugreek seeds is far less than the other seeds so it won’t be too overpowering.
Hey Thanks Hetal for the reply … actually I could not wait .. so I made it before I could get the reply … yes I did reduce the fenugreek seeds. The dal is simple and very tasty. wow !!
A combination of 5 spices. You get it readymade in Indian Store. Else just make it at home.
http://www.bongcookbook.com/2007/06/my-spice-panch-phoron.html
what is punch puran?
I googled it, it says combination of 5 seasoning spice – mustard, fenel, jeera, methi & nigella.
I don’t know what is Nigella Called in Tamil. Any tamil speaking people pls help.
I DONT KNOW COZ M NOT TAMIL BUT NIGELLA IS ONION SEED ITS BLACK IN COLOUR AND IS AVAILABLE IN PANCH PURAN MASALA. HOPE IT HELPS.
Thanx Rupa, i guess onion seed is Kolanji.
Is NIGELLA LAWSON an onion seed-and-garlic spice?
Nigella is onion seed. Nigella Lawson is a cookery show host on a cooking channel. She is a human not a seed.
yes it is called mangraill,kalonji in hindi and onion seeds or nigella in english.
enjoy.
For Tamil speaking ppl Kalonji = Vengaya vidai
http://www.indiaexpress.com/bangalore/burp/glossary.html
nigella means kalunji or onion seeds
nigella means onion seeds or kalonji.
its kalonji………..these all r the spices that we use to make aam ka aachar
Nigella is kala jeera/black cumin seeds.
Hi Sowmya,
Nigella is known as kalonji or onion seeds. Black cumin (kala jeera/shahi jeera) is different in look and taste.