A Ton Of Protein # 3 - Lasnaachi Aamti (Garlic Dal)

In the picture : yellow - Toor dal, green - coriander leaves, white - garlic ('Lasoon' in Marathi, Knoblauch in German - do not forget to pronounce the 'k')

Garlic is something that you can't really take for granted in India, unlike in the rest of the world. There are many communities / religious groups, who do not eat garlic at all. And then there are those, who do not eat garlic on certain days, for example, when they are fasting or during Monsoon. (The rainy season is believed to lower the metabolism rate and apparently garlic makes it worse by causing flatulence. This period is called 'Chaaturmaas' in Maharashtra, literally meaning 'four months'.) Garlic is also a no-no at festival feasts and when there is a religious ceremony at home/in the family.

Which means that this Aamti/Maharashtrian Dal is prepared strictly on non-special days (which is roughly 340 days in a year). Having said that, I must mention that it is cooked practically on all 340 days at my maternal grandmother's place. My grandmother is no more, but my maternal uncles (mind you, I have five of them!) live in a kind of joint family. Meaning they have their separate houses (in Nashik, Maharashtra), but they are always found together. It is like they use their houses only for sleeping and having bath. :)

Coming back to the Aamti, they like eating it more with chapatis and less with rice. Whole chapatis are served, which are then crushed by individuals in their plates with the fingers (it is called 'kuskarleli poli' then) and mixed with the Dal till it becomes a semi-solid mass. This is how it looks before both are mixed.

Kuskarleli Poli (crushed chapati) with Lasnaachi Aamti in the centre

It is a rather common practice in Maharashtra (maybe elsewhere too?) to crush chapati and mix it with any dal, or with milk and some sugar. The latter version is eaten with gusto by the young ones. I think it is a very healthy practice without much ado, because the absorption of calcium from the milk is made easier for the body when it is accomanied by some kind of cereal. Our ancestors certainly knew more than we think they did.

Anyway, here is the recipe for Lasnaachi Aamti
Serves 3.

Ingredients:

¼ cup Toor Dal
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
½ - 1 tsp red chilli powder (Now, this Dal is not for the chicken-hearted. It is supposed to look fairly red and taste rather hot or ‘zanzaneet’ as they call it in Marathi. That's why I have served it with water in the earlier picture. :))
approx. 2 cups of warm water (Adding warm water gives a better flavour to any Dal, I feel.)
salt to taste

1 tsp oil
¼ tsp mustard seeds
6-7 medium garlic cloves (Reduce the quantity to 3-4 cloves, if they are fat, like in the picture at the end of this post)

chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

1. Pressure-cook the Toor Dal until soft.

2. Peel the garlic cloves. Slice them in the width, so that you have thin disc-like pieces.

3. Heat oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add garlic discs immediately and sauté them till they turn golden brown.

4. Add cooked Toor Dal, turmeric powder, chilli powder and water.

5. Stir the mixture well and let it come to a rolling boil. Add salt. Continue boiling the Dal on high heat for about five minutes.

6. Turn the heat off, add some coriander leaves, stir and cover the pan.

7. Garnish with some more coriander leaves, before serving with rice or chapatis/phulkas.

Lasnaachi Aamti (All the garlic pieces have sunk to the bottom, and hence not visible here. The Aamti also does not look as red as it should, because the kind of chilli powder I have here imparts a lot of heat, but no colour to the dish.) :(

Preparing it for dinner is recommended, unless you don't mind going about with the 'dragon breath'.