I wanted to make lobia last week, I didn’t soak it and directly put them in water, it kept boiling for an hour or so and it wasn’t cooked. I let it rest in that water until the next day. And tried again, it was a failure.
My question :
How long do you soak them ?
Is there a ‘I want to make it RIGHT now’ way ?
I’m petrified of pressure cookers coz I saw a man in the ER with a burnt face. Scares the hell out of me. Teach me a normal and a pressure cooker way.
What do you use for you tadka ?
And if I don’t want to give the daal a tarka, how do you flavour it ?
I have made daal without soaking them in the pressure cooker. Soaking it for 10 mins to couple hours. It really depends how much time I have on my hand.
Fastest way with lobia & chane ki daal is the pressure cooker…
The longer you soak, the less time the daal/beans will need to boil. When I make spanish black beans, I soak them overnight & then slow cook them for a couple hrs the next day… It is time consuming.
If you don’t have time to soak for long, choose quicker cooking daals. Masoor daal (the orange/yellow one) is the fastest cooking & you can get away with a 10-min soak and 30 mins on the stove.
My favorite tarka is thinly sliced onion ka bhagaar. I brown the onions slowly until completely dark brown, then add zeera, dried red chili, & kari patta. I also like sliced garlic bhagaar for khatti daal. No need to add garlic in the boiling daal when you do it that way. Other than the bhagaar for flavoring, I tend to use ginger, garlic, haldi, salt, & red chili powder. I will add a chopped tomato if I want it sour. You can also throw in a chopped green chili. Lentils are one of the easiest things to flavor, so you can get creative.
I have made lobia in pressure cooker and without both. Without pressure cooker I soaked it for 2-3 hours and they were done in 30-35 mins. In pressure cooker I dont soak or only soak for like 30 mins. Without soaking it takes 20-25 mins whereas with soaking it takes 10-15 mins in pressure cooker.
For daals pressure cooker method
Channey kee daal: Soak for an hour and 10-12 mins in pressure cooker
Mash daal (white): Soak for 1 hour and 3-5 mins in pressure cooker (khadi daal hoti hai yeh not watery)
Masoor sabat (brown): No soaking and 15 mins in pressure cooker
Moong Sabat (green): No soaking 20 mins in pressure
Sabat Maash (black): Soak for 1 hour and 10-12 mins in pressure
For all these daals to be without cooker you need double-triple time. You can increase soaking time For instance for channey kee dall soak it for 3 hours and then normally cook it. It may take an hour or 2. Same with others
However for moong masoor daals (yellow and orange respectively) I dont use cooker. I make these daals in combo 70% Moong and 30% masoor. Soak them for only 5-7 mins and then cook them for 30-40 mins.
As for bighaar. For all daals except channa and mash (white) I use garlic and zeera for bighar. Golden brown garlic and splutter the zeera and thats on the daal. My mom uses Ginger which i dont like much.
For channey kee daal I make masala before and Mash kee daal also i have my own recipe.
I can share if you people want
I used to make daal by bhuno’ing the onions first and then adding a bit of garlic in it , tomatos and then adding daal and water and let it all boil then add green chillies, salt, turmeric, corriander and baghaar
Then I realized another method that helped with the taste alot .. heat the oil and throw in chopped green chillies, zeera seeds and let it crackle. then add in bay leaves , daal of choice and enough water. let it boil. when its half cooked , add in salt, turmeric and a bit of red chilli powder. If you want it tomato flavoured you can make a paste of 2-3 tomatoes and bhuno it in a little oil separately in a pan and then add it to the boiling daal .. finally give it baghaar and let it cook fully..
When cooking daal, its best to soak before hand, but if instead if you add boiled water and cook, it speeds up the cooking time. This only works for daal though, not beans.
Daal: 1.5 cup
Adrak (julian cut): around 1 tsp
Zeera: 1.5 tsp
Green Chillies (cut): 2-3
Black Peppercorns: 1/2 tsp
Cloves: 5-7
Red Whole chillies (round): 3
Salt: To taste (1-1.25 tsp)
Method
Soak Daal for 1- 1.5 hour.
Put ginger and green chillies in oil and let splutter for 1-2 mins, then add peppercorns, clove and red chillies and fry for 1 more minute. Add zeera and when zeera starts becoming lightly brown and aromatic just put a 2-3 tbsp of water (this is important not to put more water)
Now add Daal and just mix everything and also put salt to taste. Put 1-1/4 cup of water and close pressure cooker. When cooker starts sounding give it around 4 mins and instantly release the pressure. Open it, if some water is there dry it (usually no water is there). Pour some coriander leaves and Serve with kachumar salad and roti
