DALIYA MATAR VADI

This is like a one dish meal, a very tasty ,no fuss one too.I got introduced to it, after my marriage.It was regularly made at my in-laws' and now at my home too.My mom in law would make it with rice. What I found strange was that they would treat it like a sabzi/ dry vegetable and eat it with roti. Eating roti with rice seemed strange.But I would always have it without roti,like one would have a thin, slightly watery khichri.I too make it with rice , but few years back, I adapted it to daliya/broken wheat/bulgur.It looks like khichri, but is certainly not a dish meant for the invalid.You can use your imagination, add veggies/keema/boneless mutton/nutrela , so on and so forth .To make it special add fried sliced onions on top.

INGREDIENTS:

Daliya/Broken wheat OR Rice( you can also use cooked rice)-1 cup

Peas-1 cup

Vadi-preferably large spicy Urad dal/ Moong dal -1

Turmeric powder-3/4^th tsp

Salt-to taste

TEMPERING/TADKA:

Ghee/clarified butter-1 -2 tsp

Garlic chopped (OPTIONAL)- ½ to 1 tbsp

Jeera/Cummin seeds-1 tsp

Red chilli powder( if want really spicy)-1/2 tsp

Asafoetida( Hing) powder-1/4tsp.

METHOD:

Wash daliya in a fine strainer. These days ,the varieties one gets(Aahaar) ,are usually pre roasted & quick cooking and don't require to be soaked. Put this in a pressure cooker, along with the peas, turmeric powder , vadi, salt and 7 cups of water. If you wish to fry the vadi and add , you can do that too. But a lighter option would be to heat the ghee that you are going to use for tempering, in a tadka pan, throw in this vadi and shallow fry it. Remove it and use the left over ghee for the tempering/tadka. Place the lid on the cooker and pressure cook on high heat till one whistle . Thereafter simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from fire. Let the pressure drop of its own. Add tempering…Heat ghee,add jeera , hing, red chilli powder ( if using).Stir and add to the daliya in the cooker. If it seems thick, add some water and salt. Serve hot. You can have it with/without roti.

VARIATION:

1.Use rice instead of daliya.

2. Add vegetables.Cut the vegetables into large pieces, so they don't become mushy after pressure cooking. You can cook the daliya in a large, deep pan and cook without pressure.

3. Add boneless meat/keema/ chicken.For this first cook the mutton/keema till 3/4^th done and then add to the daliya.if adding chicken,just stir fry chicken in a liitle bit of oil and add.

4. Add nutrela, nutri nuggets as per the instructions on the box.

5.Add dal of your choice, after soaking and /or partial cooking,depending on its cooking time.