Toor Dal (Split Yellow Pigeon Peas)

Ingredients

• Pigeon peas

  (red gram), mature seeds, raw

  1 cup or 205g

• Tomatoes

  Orange, raw

  2 tomato or 222g

• Turmeric

  Spices, ground

  ¼ tsp or 0.6g

• Salt

  Table

  ½ tsp or 3g

• Peanuts

  Valencia, raw

  ¼ cup or 37g

• oz Ghee

  Swad

  55g

• Curry

  HP

  100g

• Cinnamon

  Spices, ground

  300g

• Chile

  Patak's

  300g

• Mustard seed

  Spices, ground

  ¼ tsp or 0.5g

Directions

1. Prepare the dal: Soak the pigeon peas in a large bowl of warm water for about 1 hour. (They will have swelled a little.) Thoroughly rinse the soaked pigeon peas with fresh water, then tip the drained pigeon peas into a pot.
2. Add tomatoes, turmeric, salt and 5 cups water, and bring to a boil over high. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until very tender, 25 to 30 minutes.
3. Use an immersion blender to puree some of the dal, leaving some intact and getting some very smooth, or whisk vigorously to break up some of the soft dal. Stir in the peanuts and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the dal is very tender, about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust with salt. If the dal has become too thick for your liking, stir in a splash of water.
4. Prepare the tempering: In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the ghee. When hot, carefully add all of the tempering ingredients (the mustard seeds will sputter!) and swirl the pan until you can smell all the toasted spices, about 30 seconds. Pour everything over the hot dal.