DILL DAL

DILL DAL

Pasta and cheese, wholemeal bread toast, butter, cheese slices, mashed potatoes, boiled peas, broccoli, custard and fruits, ice cold milk, ice cream, chilled fruit yogurt ……

These are few of the many dishes in the menu card provided by the maternity hospital in Sydney for ‘new born’ moms to select their meal! While the spread was nutritious and very delicious as well, I can very well imagine my mother’s horrified face shaking violently in disapproval.

Mother was well versed in preparing the special diet or pathiyam for pullaipetha or the new mothers. The diet to be followed by mothers for 21 days after childbirth, was prepared with great care using select ingredients. Chillies, tamarind, any roots and tubers with the exception of ginger were taboo. No oil was used in cooking. A dollop or more of pure home made ghee was a must in each meal. No citrus fruits or curd was allowed. Though there were too many dos and don’ts in the preparation, the pathiya sapaadu is a very delicious diet which every one can relish.

Dill (Sabsige Soppu in Kannada / not sure what its called in Tamil!!) has a special place in the special diet as it is supposed to help the lactating mothers and is a rich source of calcium. Here is a ‘method of preparing a pathiya dal with dill. Tomatos are typically not used in pathiya diet, so the one below is a ‘no-so-strict’ version!

INGREDIENTS:

Dill – 2 bunches

Split green gram dal (Mung) – 1 cup

Tomatoes – 1

Garlic – 3 fat cloves

Peeled Ginger – 1 inch

Turmeric powder – 1 pinch

Black pepper – 1 tsp

Salt – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – a few

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Olive oil or ghee – 1 tsp

METHOD:

1. Wash and cop dill discarding the thick fibrous stalks.

2. Grate garlic and ginger.

3. Chop tomatoes.

4. Heat olive oil or ghee in a pressure cooker and throw in the ginger and garlic.

5. Add chopped dill. and stir.

6. Add washed dal and turmeric.

7. Pour in three cups of water.

8. Stir in the chopped tomatoes

9. Pressure cook until three whistles.

10. When the steam has subsided open the lid and add salt and coarsely ground black pepper .and stir vigorously

11. Fry cumin seeds and curry leaves in a little ghee and add it to the dal.

Relish the aromatic Dill Dal with very hot and soft rice, topped with a dollop of home made ghee.