Tak Dal or Sour Lentil Soup with Green Mangoes

Do you associate some memories with food, or exactly in the opposite way does certain food reminds you of some incidents from past? For me, there are some dish that always triggers some memories, some association from distant past. Mostly because then all fruits and vegetables were not available the year around, certain dishes appeared on the dining table only in specific seasons. No matter what or how much I loved sipping this hot out of the kadhai tongue tickling delight, but I could only relish tak-er dal during peak summer. As a result this dal always reminds me of the lazy hot summer vacations from schools.

Those silent scorching afternoons, with no one on the streets and nothing to do outdoors. When even the birds prefer to tuck themselves in the safe cool cocoons of their nests leaving behind a couple or two of pigeons gurgling in the shade of the water tank. The windows remained closed with neatly drawn curtains making the room dark and comfortable and the fan kept on stirring the soothing but humid air with a monotonous hum. In those days when computer games or cable TV were unheard of, we had very few options to entertain ourselves. Apart from waiting to hear for the faint ringing sound of Goplda’s  ‘Mitu’ ice cream cart, coming our way, we only had weekly magazines like Anandamela or Shuktara to spend our afternoons with…or chatting on the stairs, under the cool shades of that huge jackfruit tree. Chomping on freshly picked just ripe guavas smeared with salt and red chilli powder. Those were the good old days of summer, of simple fun and innocent joy without worries.

Lunch always comprised of very light dishes like this Mango Dal (Lentil), Shukto, Posto, very light fish curry and the inevitable mango chutney. Tak er dal in Bengali means a sour tasting dal cooked with green mangoes. The heat and humidity killed our desire to eat but this light soupy dal with its pungent aroma and sour-spicy taste helped to open our appetite. This has to be cooked with mustard oil to bring out the flavour of green mangoes and Panchforon.  This dal holds a unique place in Bengali cuisine as no dal is cooked with anything sour in it. be it the tamarind, tomato or any other acidic ingredients, we sweet loving Bengalis never prefer our dals tangy. Traditionally, this is cooked with mator dal (split peas) with a tempering of mustard seeds and dry red chillies but I prefer the red lentils as it gives the dish a light and soupy consistency. Sipping a bowlful of this tak dal helps me relive those moments of childhood, which is a cherished summer treat for me.
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Aam-er Dal or Tak dal

Ingredients:

Red Lentil: 1/2 cup

Green Mango: 1 large

Salt

Turmeric

Mustard Oil: 1+1/2 tsp

Panch foron: 1 tsp

Mustard seeds: ½ tsp

Dry red chillies: 2 pcs

Sugar: ½ tsp

Method:

Peel and cut the mango lengthwise in 4-5 pieces. If you were using a knife like me it would be a very hard task to slice it through the hard seed. In that case take out as much flesh as possible from the mango in big chunks. Don’t discard the seed.

Wash the red lentil and place it in a pressure cooker with 11/2 cups of water, turmeric powder and the mango pieces with the seed. On medium flame cook it upto 2 whistles. Once it is cold enough to handle, open the lid and mash the dal and mango pieces with a whisk till you get a very smooth consistency. Add another cup of water and salt. Mix well and keep aside.

Heat 1 tsp of mustard oil and temper it with panchforon, mustard seeds and dry chillies. Once they start to sputter pour the lentil mixture. Immediately cover with a lid for the dal to soak all the flavour. Let it simmer on low for a couple of minutes then pour the reserved ½ tsp mustard oil to it. Mix in the sugar. Adjust the seasoning and serve hot with dal and posto.

Note:

Never add salt at the beginning as it will harden the grains and make it take longer than normal.

You can alternatively cook the lentil in a heavy bottomed pan or Kadhai but that generally takes longer time.

Don’t overcook lentils especially if you are using pressure cooker. It makes the dal little sticky.

To serve leftover dal it’s preferable to add another seasoning just the way mentioned above.
For all of you who liked this vessel, this is not a Bengali shape. I bought it from Bangalore (South India) and saw this type of copper bottomed vessels there only. for all living in Bangalore 'Spar' hyper market in Koramangala stocks various sizes of this vessel. When I first saw this shape the dish that popped up in my mind was Dal, and now in our house this bowl is known as 'Daler bati' or the specific bowl meant to stock boiled lentil :-)

Events:

am just on time to send this for Susan's MLLA 36. hosted at Served with love.

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