Ubiquitous Mushuri’r Daal

The last few days of firang food at home and outside left me wanting for something to fill that void. You know that sort of a displaced desire an immigrant has from time to time, to cling onto something from her past!
I’d say a desi chokri like me has every right to go back to where it all began. A simple meal of Mushuri’r Daal (masoor daal/ red lentil) with steaming Bhaat (rice) and some maach bhaja (fried fish). The end.

Here is how my Dida makes this daal:

1 cup red lentil, cleaned and washed
1 medium size onion coarsely diced/sliced
2-3 green chilies broken from the center
1 medium size ripe tomato coarsely sliced
4-5 fat cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt

For the tempering:
2-3 teaspoons desi ghee
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 dry red chilies

Boil all the ingredients with enough water till they are cooked but not mushy. Heat desi ghee and add the cumin seeds and dry red chilies. let them sizzle in the hot ghee for a minute. Add them to the cooked daal (lentils).
Serve garnished with chopped coriander (optional), an excellent accompaniment with steaming rice.
The fried fish (Rohu) I had the mushuri’r daal and bhaat with was just an out of the world double whammy!