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Sabut Masoor (Whole lentil) Recipe

In Punjab, Sabut Masoor are served over cumin rice for lunch specially during summer. The seeds in India are slightly smaller than those sold in US grocery stores

Ingredients

Basic Cooking

1. Sabut Masoor (Whole Lentil): 1 cup

2. Water: 4½ cup
3. Salt: ¼ teaspoon
4. Powdered hot Cayenne pepper: ¼ teaspoon
5. Amchoor (Dried sour mango powder): ¼ teaspoon

6. Sugar: Pinch

Tarka Jeera

1. Ghee: 2 teaspoons
2. Cumin seeds: ½ teaspoon

Tarka Onion

1. Ghee: 2 Tablespoons
2. Fresh onion, peeled, sliced thin: ½ cup
3. Fresh Serrano (Green hot chili pepper), chopped: 2
4. Fresh ginger root, peeled, chopped: ½"
5. Garlic peeled sliced thin: 4 Cloves

Finish

1. Butter: 4 Tablespoons

Method

There are five different cooking phases

1. Pre-cooking phase

Wash and rinse seeds thoroughly in plenty of water. Drain.
2. Basic cooking
a) Put washed seeds, water, salt, cayenne pepper in a pot. Let the water come to a boil. Turn down heat and let it cook on low to medium heat for about 20 minutes or till the seeds start to turn tender.
b) Stir in Amchoor and Sugar.

c) Turn down heat to very low.

3. Jeera Tarka or Tempering.
Heat Ghee in a heavy frying pan. Add Cumin seeds. Fry till they start to turn brown. Transfer the contents to main lentil pot
4. Onion Tarka or Tempering
Add more Ghee to the frying pan and heat. Add onions, fry till they start to caramelize. Add Serrano, ginger root, and garlic. Fry for 30 seconds. Transfer contents to the main lentil pot.
5. Finishing
After tempering, simmer on low heat covered for five minutes. Shutoff heat. Some people suggest to stir in fresh chopped cilantro. I don't. However, you must really stir in some butter. Butter will add more character and texture to Masoor than any other ingredient

Notes

1. You don't need to soak the seeds in water as is customary with other whole lentils such as Moong or Urad
2. You should put about quarter teaspoon of salt per cup of dried seeds. The salt is important. As the seeds will swell by absorbing water the salt will flavor the internal of seeds.
3. While Turmeric and bay leaves are important in many Dal, these ingredients are not added to Masoor.
4. Souring agent is important in this recipe. Amchoor or lime juice may be added. Amchoor is preferred. A tiny amount of sugar is added to blunt and balance the sourness. You need fruity sourness.

5. Some people routinely stir in fresh chopped cilantro in everything. Don't add Cilantro to Masoor.
6. Makhan (Cultured white butter) or even regular un-salted cream butter will add more character and texture to Masoor than any other ingredient. Stir butter in at the end of cooking. Butter gets absorbed, it does not make the dish oily.

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