Thursday, April 24, 2008

Tomatillo Dal

The other day, I bought a few tomatillos for making some salsa, but then decided to go with something closer to home- a dal.

I grew up on simply fabulous Indian food and this fruit was not something I had ever seen or even heard of before. It continued to remain unfamiliar to me even after I came here. I remember seeing tomatillos in the produce section of my grocery store here and always thinking of them as green, unripe tomatoes. Thanks to blogging, I know a lot more these days and am also less afraid to experiment.


This is how I “Indianized” the tomatillos.

Ingredients:
2 medium tomatillos, husks removed, washed well and cubed
4 shallots, chopped
¾ cup toor dal (cooked)

To grind to a paste:
3 Tbsp coconut
3-4 cloves garlic
½ tsp cumin seeds
6 green chillies

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp urad dal/split pigeon peas
½ tsp chana dal/split chickpeas
½ tsp methi/fenugreek seeds
A pinch of asafoetida
4-5 curry leaves
Salt to taste.

Method:
Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients for the seasoning.


Add the shallots and cook till translucent.


Add the cubed tomatillo pieces and cover and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the pieces turn soft.


Mix the ground paste along with the cooked mixture and cook for another 3-4 minutes.


Now add the cooked dal along with the desired amounts of water (depending on the consistency desired). Bring to a boil and turn off the heat.


Serve hot with rice.
This turned out to be a very good, spicy and tangy dal. The tomatillos make a very nice addition and lend a very tart, almost lemony flavor to the dal.


Another tomatillo recipe on my blog:
Tomatillo Chutney

40 Burps:

Unknown said...

looks too delocious..

Coffee said...

I don't find tomatillos here! :( Dal sounds good!

Madhavi said...

Excellent recipe dear, loooks yummmmmmmm:)))

Uma said...

Mmm. the dal looks delicious. the picture is of tamatillo is superb. why don't you send it to click event?

Arundathi said...

those are lovely photos...

Rajitha said...

i am scared to say which pic looks better than the other..lest you get mad at me :)...so how long did it take to click these pics re...

sra said...

Don't think I've ever knowingly eaten daal with coconut in it, except in sambaar. I did make it once myself, though - an unusual combination with moong dal and coconut milk

Richa said...

slurrrrp! must taste so good w/ the coconut :) i do remember ur T chutney :)

Deepa Kuber said...

Wow thats a interesting recipe, never heard of this.. quiet easy too.

Tee said...

Looks delicious! Adding tomatillos to the dal is a great idea...normally i add tamarind /kokum to get a tangy flavor, this seems like a good alternative.

ms said...

Beautiful photograph as usual TBC. Indianize and assimilate! Did i miss your au naturel entry?

ms said...

Beautiful photograph as usual TBC. Indianize and assimilate! Did i miss your au naturel entry?

bee said...

beautiful pics.

Vanamala Hebbar said...

tomatillo chutney looks tasty..

Kalai said...

Beautiful dal, TBC! Looks a bit like kootu. Tomatillos are so wonderfully tangy! :)

Vaishali said...

Lovely dal, TBC. I sometimes pick up tomatillos to use in a version of green tomato masial. They taste wonderful.

Cynthia said...

Why do you torture me with this delicious dal!

EC said...

Nice color of the dal

Sig said...

Love that tomatillo pic... You know in Kerala we did have tomatillo plants, but nobody ate the fruit, don't know why!

Swati said...

Lovely n delicious dal..!!

Lisa Turner said...

Easy but absolutely fantastic blend of flavours! And your header picture is gorgeous!

Kajal@aapplemint said...

a wonderful new recipe for tomatillos. looks n sounds gr8.

TBC said...

Divya Vikram- Thank you.:D


Coffee- I am glad you like it.:)


Madhavi- thank you.:)


Uma- I am glad you like the picture.:) I did not send across anything for CLICK this time...


Arundhati- thank you. :-)



Rajitha- When did I get mad at ya for complimenting my pics, huh?
It did not take too long(15- 20 min), but what took more time was selecting one among the numerous shot. That is always very difficult for me.;-)

Sra- ooh moong dal and coconut milk- the stuff yummy pradhamans are made of! I don't think I 've made a curry with that combo though. Do u have a recipe for it on your blog?



Richa- it really does! :-)

I made my T chuntney- as u call it;-)- and had it with some sago khichdi for BF today. :D




Anjali- I seldom go for elaborate preparations!;-)



Tee- how have you been? I have not seen u around in a while now. I make dal with kokum following one of Trupti's(The Spice Who Loved Me) recipes. It tastes really good, doesn't it?


MS- thanks for the compliment.:)
No you did not miss my entry...I did not send one across this time.



Bee- thank you.:)



Vanamala- and it was!:-)



Kalai- That is true...yeah I could have called it a kootu too. But it would have to be of slightly thicker consistency, right?
I like tomatillos too.:-)


Vaishali- I am going to look masial up. I have heard of it before but can't quite remember now what goes into it. Do you a recipe for it over at your place?



Cynthia- 'cos that's what you do to me when I visit you! ;-)




Easycrafts- thank you.:)




Sig- thank you.:D
There are tomatillo plants in Kerala?! I did not know that.
I can understand why nobody ate the fruit though.;-)



Swati- thank you!:-)



Lisa- thank you.:-) You mean my first pic, right?
The dal is really very simple and tasty. Do try it out.



Kate / Kajal- welcome! and thank you!:-)

Vandy said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog TBC. You have a great blog here with some innovative recipes. I am sure going to try a few of these!

Court Cooks said...

I have given you a blogging with a purpos award. I really enjoy reading your blog. Thanks!

Deepa Kuber said...

Hey TBC, I have a surprise for you.. Check out my latest post.

Anonymous said...

Wow this dal looks really yummy and tangy.Nice colour.

Priya said...

Lovely pics TBC! Tomatillos have been on my list forever now ! Your dish is just teasing me to get them right now :)

Suganya said...

This dal looks YUM!.... Nice and different recipe...Really want to try this...

musical said...

Lovely idea, TBC! This gets tried soon!

TBC said...

Vandy- welcome.:)


Court cooks- welcome to my blog!
Thank you for thinking of me and for the nice words.


Anjali- thanks for thinking of me.:)



Homecooked- thank you.:)



Priya- thank you.:)



Sukanya- thnaks! :). I hope you like it as much as I did.



Musical- where are you these days? Stop researching and get cooking, girl! ;-)

Deepa Kuber said...

Hey thanks TBC, thats very sweet of you.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Amazing photo. I have never cooked with these, so it was interesting to see your take on them.

Sagari said...

deleciousssss dalll tbc

Anonymous said...

Looks great - definitely could cause a healthy burp that is compliments to the chef! :)

TBC said...

Anjali- I really do like your work a lot!:-)


Vegeyum- thank you.:) Hope you are on the mend now.
I have started using these only recently.



Sagari- thank you.:-)



JJ- thank you! that is sweet of you to say that.:D
And welcome!

Priyanka said...

TBC- this is one great recipe. I llike the idea of combining tomatillos with toor dal.Shall try it out soon.

TBC said...

Priyanka- thanks! Hope you like it too.:D

Hetal said...

lovely recipe and pics..

TBC said...

Hetal- thank you!:)

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