Sunday, January 11, 2009

The Humble Daalithoy!!

Every Konkani blog in this blogosphere has a recipe for Daalithoy! We amchi's love daalithoy so much that we do not need rice to go with it. We just slurp it like payasa.. Any function is incomplete without daalithoy. A lot of times at functions in Mangalore you will see that we have rice and tomato saaru for the first course and second course rice and daalithoy. Sometimes, people tend to have only daalithoy without rice for second course. Amazed? Most of the amchi houses have daalithoy on everyday basis. People also joke that daalithoy is our KulDevata (Family deity). This also happens to be the first of the recipes that girl's usually cook with and also the first of the food that is introduced to kids when they start with rice.
We love DDT... not Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane.. but Daat DaliThoy (thick daalithoy).
When we were in school, our parents made sure that every year we got to go to different places during our summer holidays. Dad who was then a teacher also got vacations and mom took long off's. We have even taken 45 days long trip within India. We used to pack light and each of us had a suitcase of our own and every suitcase had one set of cloths of every other member. In case any of them happens to lose their bag then they can atleast wear something fresh until new cloths were purchased. We have almost completed the "Theerthyathra" at very young age, i.e when I was in sixth grade. It was during one such trip, that we were out from Mangalore for almost 45 days.We were visiting Mumbai (then Bombay) for my cousin's thread ceremony and from there we had started our trip to Varanasi and covered Badrinath, Kedarnath,Nepal, Kulu,Manali,Shimla,Kolkata(then Calcutta),Delhi,Haridwar, Hrishikesh etc. The first few days we enjoyed eating out and but then it got so boring that we missed home food. We missed the normal simple meal and terribly missed having Daalithoy. On the last day of our trip we had called up my mhaav(Aunt) and when my mom was speaking to her I took the phone and asked her to make rice,Daalithoy and pathrado. I still rememeber the way we hogged food that day!

Now coming back to this recipe there is no approximate measurements for this recipe. It is simple and straight forward. Pressure cook 1/2 cup of Toor Dal with a drop of oil until done. Approximately 3-4 whistles. Mash the dal thoroughly and add salt to taste. Pour water to bring it to desired consistency. Add in 2 slit green chilli's and keep the pot on gas. When it starts to boil add a pinch of asafoetida/hing. Give a rolling boil and switch off. Prepare tempering with heating oil, add in 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds. When they splutter add 4-5 curry leaves and a torn red chilli. Fry for few secs and pour the seasoning over the prepared dal and serve hot with Rice.
There are a lot of varations to make Daalithoy. This is how we make in Mangalore homes and temples. As and when I make different variety will post them here. I also add some chopped corriander leaves for garnishing at times.

This simple dal is off to FIC- Yellow being hosted at Harini's "Tongue Ticklers"

30 comments:

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

nice recipe UJ. nothing is as comforting as a dhal. isn't it? looks yummy.

Sunshinemom said...

That was such an interesting insightful post, Uj! I still haven't gone to Kedarnath and Badrinath, but other wise been to most other places because of Dad's job!

Thanks for the tasty daal! I too miss it if I don't have it once a week at least!

CurryLeaf said...

Lovely dear,I missed posting it,but still make it.its surely kuldev to us.

Unknown said...

wow..this is so easy..perfect comfort food..

Divya Kudua said...

A Konkani blog is incomplete without Dalithoy and I love the way you've written about it.I think dalithoy is an omnipresent dish and most wanted even when there are other dishes to feast upon.Lovely recipe,I follow a similar one.Great to read about your travels too..

Jaishree Iyer said...

Nice recepie.. simple &comfort..Nice to read ur travels. I visited Delhi,Haridwar, Hrishikeshwonderful places...

Shama Nagarajan said...

simply delicious.......do check my handicrafts blog...join in the event...pass ur suggestions

Sabitha said...

jEVNA BOSCHE VE? AAJI SOMARU. RATRI JEVNAKA HADA JATTA.
-sABITHA

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow this is something new and looking gr8 recipe.... Nice to know that u visited so many places...

FH said...

Humble and most deliciously simple dish too, love it.

My dad's work took us around K'taka, other than that have seen very few cities in India outside K'taka. You are lucky! :))

Namrata Kini said...

Nice post Ujwal. Amchis never get bored of dalithoy. Whenever I ask my hubby what to cook for lunch or dinner the only answer I get is rice and Dalithoy.

Namrata Kini said...

I tried your Zebra Cake. It was nice and fluffy in the oven but the moment i removed it from the oven it collapsed and became flat. But it still tasted gr8 and it was a lovely experience to try it. Planning to make it again. Thanks Ujwal.

Sum Raj said...

well said ujwal....daalidoy is our fav too...my hubby and smera needs only that to have with rice..urs looks bright and mouthwatering..

Varsha Vipins said...

Am seeing Dal's everywhere..FIC Yellow..:)..lovely dish Uj..:)

Vaishali said...

Oooh, the divine daalitoy! Not every konkani blog has one, though :) (Well, I'm only half-konkani).
This looks delicious, Uj. It's hard to beat this recipe for simplicity and taste.

Gita Jaishankar said...

Lovely color, nice story behind the dish :)

Ashwini said...

Too good UJ.. A great fan of dhal. It looks very simple . Will try..

Cham said...

Pretty shiny color! Simply delicious confort food

Raks said...

Lovely color Uj and perfect for the event!

Dershana said...

Is that what they call this dhal in Karnataka? what an exotic name. I agree it's such a simple, comfort food :-)

Happy New Year, dear

Deepthi Shankar said...

lovely comfprt food. I too miss home food while travelling, I now how much you might have enjoyed Daalithoy. Yummy dish

Indian Khana said...

Similar in our kitchen too...looks nice the dal

Yasmeen said...

It was nice reading your post and recollecting the joyful Indian Summers.We make similar dal its simplest kind,also love the unique pathrado recipe,we get frozen pathrado here in the Indian grocers.

Red Chillies said...

Hey Uj, I am not sure how I missed all your previous recipes. Thank God I came to savor your DDT :-)). We are the same way too, we love daat daalithoy. But horrors of horrors I do not have daalithoy on my blog. I need to put it soon.

I am off to Bangalore this weekend. I will "see" you after about 4 weeks. Take care girl!
Hope you are all having a good New Year.

Raaga said...

This is the star of all meals :-) I am not as much a fan of DDT as I am of Dali Saar :-)

Uj said...

Mahimaa,
Your are so right... Its such a comforting dish.

Harini,
If possible do visit Kedarnath.. Its such a divine place. I still have to go to Vaishno Devi and Amaranath.. My long time dream :)

CL,
he he he.. I dont knwo what the relation between daalithoy and all amchi's.

Sowmya,
Yes it is easy and full of flavour.

Divya,
Yep. it is... I do make other variety too.. but this is the one I love the most!

Jaishree,
Wow.. you too seem to love to travel. Haridwar and Hrishikesh.. would love to go there again.

Uj said...

Shama,
Sure

Sabithakka,
Sure yo..Batate bhajjun upkari suda assa :)

KF,
Do try it out :)

Asha,
We have not seen places with k'taka actually. When we came to Shanghai we explored a lot of places nearby. Once we go back to India wish to explore more places there :)

Namrata,
you are right.. we never get bored of it..Ditto with my hubby and my bro!!!
Oh.. glad you liked the cake..Collapsed?? Do try it again..I am not a very good baker so probably you should ask someone who is much more experienced

Suma,
Thats good.. its rich in proteins!

Varsha,
he he he.. yelow mania.. blame it on Sunshinemom!

Srilekha,
Thanks

Vaishali... Ooops generalised it! I agree with you

Gita,
Thanks

Ashwini,
Do try and let me know

Uj said...

Cham,RK,
Thanks :)

Dershana,
Karanataka Dal has a lot of recipes..mine is the one that we make at home :) Its so good to see you back dear :)

Deesha,
Thanks.. yep miss them a lot esp when you dont have them for weeks together.

Priti,
Nice to know :) Thanks

Yasmeen,
Oh.. you get Pathrado..I am so J..Its been ages since we had it.. since we don't get the suitable leaves for it

RC,
Good you did not miss Daalithoy! Girl! Need to put soon..Waiting for your version of daali..
Have a safe trip and enjoy :)

Raaga,
I came to know abt daalisaar only afte rmarriage.. Love that too

Namrata Kini said...

I meant it became flat almost the same size as it was before baking. But it still tasted wonderful. We loved every bite of it. will post the pic soon. Thanks a lot for the recipe.

KonkaniBlogger said...

Indeed dalithoy is kuldev for most of us. I too can just slurp it like payasa and still not get tired of it. Dalithoy and some phodis by the side is oh so comforting.