Preparations:

Use tender tamarind leaves for this recipe. Take a portion of leaves between palms and slowly rub. While rubbing, the leaves detach from the stems. Stems do not taste good in this dal preparation. So remove the stems and use only the leaves to prepare this recipe. Separating the stems is a tough job when the leaves are very tender. To ease this process, use a processor. Fix a flour kneading blade to a processor bowl and add the tender tamarind leaves. Run the processor for few seconds (maximum up to one minute). Now observe that the leaves are separated from the stems. Pick the stems and discard them. Weigh 50gms of tender tamarind leaves and keep them aside.

Take dal in a deep bowl and add water to it. Wash the dal and discard the water. Add fresh water to the washed dal and place this bowl in a pressure cooker and cook. As pressure develops in the cooker, lower the flame and cook for 15 minutes. Once the cooker cools down, remove the bowl from it.

Take the tender tamarind leaves into a microwave safe bowl and add some water. Place this bowl in oven and cover it partially. Cook the tamarind leaves on high power for 2 minutes. Allow one minute standing time before removing the bowl from oven.

Method:

Heat a pan and add oil to it. When the oil is hot add fenugreek seeds and black gram. Fry the seeds till they start changing color. Then add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Fry till the seeds splutter and add the asafoetida. Mix well and add the green chilies to the seasoning. Fry the chilies well till crisp so that they will not be hot. Then add the cooked tamarind leaves and fry till dry. Add the turmeric powder and red chili powder. Mix all well. Now add the cooked dal and mix well. if the mixture appears thick add sufficient water to the consistency required. Add salt and mix well. Bring the dal to a boil and transfer it to a serving bowl. Serve hot with plain rice and ghee.

Points to Notice:

Removing the stems from the leaves is a must. If the stems are not removed, they will trouble while eating, spoiling the entire taste of the dish.

Tamarind leaves can also be cooked in pressure cooker. But do not mix the tamarind leaves with the dal while cooking in pressure cooker—this will take long time to cook the dal. The sour tamarind leaves will not allow the dal to get cooked fast. So, use different containers to cook dal and tamarind leaves in a pressure cooker.

Fry the green chilies well in the seasoning to remove their hotness.

As the dal will be sour it requires the right amount of salt and chili powders. If only red chili powder is used, it will give a dark color to the dal. So use green chilies for hotness and little red chili powder to give a nice color to the dish. One can even use dried red chilies along with the green chilies in the seasoning—in such cases avoid red chili powder. The thing which attracts eyes will taste good for tounge.