Pumpkin Dal - No Croutons Required Entry

PuThis months No Croutons Required competition is hosted by Jacqueline over at Tinned Tomatoes.   The theme is 'squash' and the recipe we are submitting is Yamuna Devi's pumpkin dal.  We love this soup for the spicy and sweet combination you get from using the jaggery.  We are especially excited as it is one of the first things we have cooked in our apartment in Mysore where we are studying with our yoga teacher until the end of January.

Pumpkin Dal 

Yesterday after much investigations and wrangling we received our gas counter top cooker and it's like a Mercedes to us.

Pigeon Gas Cooker

Gas Man Installing the 'Pigeon'

Goodbye Old Cooker

And unsafe plug!

We were told various things about getting the gas, from 'no way can you get a hook up' to 'it's at your own risk' etc etc.  Finally we found someone on the main street with gas canisters in their window, the man in the shop called someone and said they would call us and sort it out.  You never know what to believe in India, sometimes simple things never materialise and somethings tough things happen easily by magic.  

After finally getting our phone sorted out, we got the call from the Gas Man, who came around with the canisters and then asked us about what kind of cooker we wanted, which we really didn't think could come from the same company.  We explained what one we wanted that we say in Loyal World (kind of small Wall Mart), the man took Adam on his scooter and returned 15 minutes later with this beauty.  And if we do not want it when we leave he will buy it back for 50%.  Basically a gas cooker rental for 3 months for around 10 pounds!  

We're off and running and have a list of things to prepare and are looking for new cookbooks here to trail out so stay tuned.

Yamuna Devi’s Pumpkin Dal (serves 4)

1 cup chana cal, toovar dal or yellow split peas

1 ½ cups pumpkin (cut into 1cm pieces)

¾ tsp tumeric

1 bay leaf

2 tbsp ghee (you can omit if feeling very health conscious)

1 ½ tsp minced ginger

1 ½ tsp minced chillies

1 tbs lemon juice

1 tsp salt

For the tempering

1 tbs ghee

1 ½ tsp cumin seeds

1 ½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp fenugreek seeds

1 ½ tbs jaggery (or brown sugar)

¾ tsp asafoetida

3 tbs fresh-chopped coriander / parsley

1. Combine all the ingredients for the dal in a saucepan with 7-8 cups water (depending on how “soupy” you want it), bring to the boil and simmer, covered for about an hour until the dal has turned to a mush. With a blender or wire whisk, beat until smooth and add the salt. Set aside.
2. In a heavy bottomed pan add the Ghee or Oil over medium heat. When hot add in quick succession the cumin, mustard and fenugreek seeds. Saute for a minute (take care not to burn the fenugreek seeds otherwise they become very bitter!)
3. Add the jaggery and stir for another minute untik it starts to caramelise and turn a golden-red.
4. Add the asafoetida and stir once or twoce, then tip the contents  of the pan into the dal and add the fresh herb to garnish.