Carrot Dal

          I make some kind of dal (lentils) at least two or three times a week, trying to cook a different tasting dal everytime is a real challenge. But then I try to do it either by changing the spices or the vegetables that are added to the dal, one such attempt is this carrot dal. To spice up the dal I added some ginger and pepper, because of the sweetness of the carrots, I feel this dal tastes better with pepper than the usual red chilli powder, this also gives a nice flavor to this carrot dal..

Need To Have

• Moong Or Green Gram Dal - 1/2 cup
• Masoor Dal Or Orange Lentils - 1/2 cup
• Grated Carrot - 1 cup
• Grated Ginger - 1 + 1/2 tablespoon
• Pepper Powder - 2 teaspoons
• Tomato - 1 medium chopped into big chunks
• Onion - 1 big chopped
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 5 or 6
• Sliced Onions And Chopped Coriander - to garnish

Method
          Pressure cook both the dals together ( takes 1/3 of the time taken to cook rice). Heat some oil, add the cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the onions, saute till it turns transparent, then add the ginger, carrots salt and the pepper powder, saute well ( at least for 5 mins) till the carrots get cooked. Then add the curry leaves and tomatoes, keep sauteing till they start to break down, at this stage add the cooked dal and some water (about a cup or more), simmer for another 5 mins. Remove, serve it garnished with some onions and coriander, goes well both with rotis and rice.
Sending it to Prabha's Cooking for the Julie's EP Series - Ginger And Pepper Powder event
                to Erivum Puliyum for Sangee's Show Me Your "Hits" - Iron Rich Foods event,
                to Simply.Food for Sara's Cooking With Love - Dad event and
                to Zesty South Indian Kitchen for the Hearth & Soul Blog Hop event.

Note
Cook the dal well but not like a paste, there should be some texture to it, you can cook in a open pot too.
Can use any one of the dals alone instead of a mix.