Make Simple and Tasty Ambe-Dal
Wash the Chana Dal and soak in water overnight; grind the Dal with just a little water to a slightly coarse paste; peel and shred green mango; add, to the ground Dal, along with green chillies and chopped fresh coriander leaves (cilantro); stir in salt and sugar. Make Tadka with mustard and cumin seeds, asoefetida and turmeric. Add hot tadka to the dal-mango mixture, stir and serve immediately, with any Indian-themed meal, or as a dip with your favorite crackers, chips, etc.
Equipment
- Food processor, chopper or blender; if not available, you can grind the soaked chana dal manually, with traditional stone grinders such as: Paata-Varvantaa; Sil-Batta,, Ammi, Shil-Nora, Sila-Puaa, Batan, etc.; you can also use a nut-chopper/Mirchi chopper, although the texture will be a bit more coarse than desired.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Chana Dal - split, skinless Bengal Gram; Garbanzo; Chickpeas
- 1/4 cup Peeled Kairi (green mango) - shredded select firm unripe mango for easy shredding; slightly ripe mangoes are softer and become mushy while shredding; they still taste fine, but may be a bit sweeter. than the firm ones.
- 3/8 tsp Salt adjust as per taste preference
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Green chilli (Serrano) - sliced finely and chopped remove seeds; adjust as per spiciness preferred
- 1/4 cup Fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) - chopped use mostly leaves; tender stems OK too
- 1/16 tsp Citric acid - only if needed to adjust sourness add only if needed a small pinch at a time, to adjust the sourness, in case he green mango is not very tart. the Ambe-Dal should have a distinct sweet sour-spicy taste; if not available, can use a pinch of Cream of Tartar instead.; if not available, squeeze a little lime/lemon juice.
Tadka
- 2 tsp Oil I prefer Peanut oil; any other mild edible oil is OK
- 1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1/8 tsp Hing (Asoefetida)
- 1/8 tsp Turmeric
- 5-6 leaves Curry leaves (optional)- fresh preferred torn to release flavor; if not available, OK to use dried leaves or to omit.
- 2 tbsp Fresh grated coconut (optional) if not available, omit
Instructions
- Wash the Chana Dal thoroughly: add water, scrub the dal and drain the cloudy water (use a mesh strainer, if need be); repeat a couple more times, the water will be almost clear on the third rinse.
- Add 1/2 cup cool (room temperature) water, cover and set aside overnight , or 6-8 hours if soaking in the morning. I do not recommend adding hot water to hasten the soaking; slow soaking with cool water makes the Dal easier to digest.
- Soaked Dal: it absorbs almost all the water used for soaking.
- Transfer to a colander and drain the residual water. Rinse the soaked Dal under running water and transfer to a food processor/chopper. Add about 2 tbsp of fresh water while grinding.Note: In recipes where the soaked Dal is to be cooked later, I typically do NOT drain the soaking water. It contains various nutrients that have leached into it during soaking and I don't like washing them down the drain. However, since the Dal is not cooked when making Ambe-Dal, washing off the residual soaking water makes it easier to digest the Dal.
- Grind the Dal to a slightly coarse texture.
- Transfer the ground Dal to a mixing bowl.
- Wash and peel the Kairi (green mango).
- Shred the Kairi. Taste a little bit of it - if it is very sour, that's great. If not, you will need to adjust the sourness later by adding citric acid (or Cream of Tartar)
- Make Tadka: Heat the oil in a small wok (or small saucepan); Keep a lid handy to catch splatter. When oil is hot, (in about 1-2 min) add mustard seeds and cover immediately. They will pop instantly if the oil is properly hot; otherwise you may need to wait a little for the seeds to start popping. Turn the heat off, add the cumin seeds, they will sizzle and pop immediately; then add asoefetida and turmeric. Stir gently to mix. Add curry leaves last, if using - cover quickly, the wet leaves will splatter the hot oil. I did not have curry leaves when I made this, so they're not in the picture here.
- Add the shredded Kairi, salt, sugar, sliced Serrano peppers to the ground Dal. Pour the hot Tadka over the mixture. Take a spoonful of the mixture and place it in the "empty" Tadka wok - use the spoon to spread it around and mop-up and collect the residual Tadka, then transfer it back into the mixing bowl (so you don't waste any of the Tadka, and also make the wok easier to clean!)
- Mix everything. Taste-test and adjust seasonings as desired. If the Kairi is not very sour, stir in some citric acid, a tiny pinch at a time, untl you get a distinctly tart taste. The Ambe-Dal should be tangy-spicy with a hint of sweetness.
- Wash and chop the fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)
- Add the chopped coriander (cilantro) to the mixture.
- Stir. It is now ready to serve.
- Serve it up! Tangy and spicy! Great with any Indian-themed meal, or as a dip with your favorite crackers, chips, etc., or even just by itself.
- Very nice when served with hot Puris, too.
- Enjoy!
Notes
No green mangoes available?
Make a "faux" Ambe-Dal with tart green apples - like Granny Smith- Squeeze a lime/lemon:
- will need about 1 tbsp
- place it in a bowl, ready to mix with the shredded apple as soon as you shred it, to prevent browning of the apple. The Vitamin C in the lemon juice slows down the browning of the apple
- Peel and shred the apple; measure out the required amount and mix immediately with the lemon juice.
- Use in the given recipe instead of shredded green mangoes.
- Decrease the amount of sugar you use, since the apples are also a bit sweet.
Leftovers:
Store in a glass/ceramic container in the refrigerator. I do not recommend using a plastic container - the acid in the Ambe Dal can react with the plastic.- Consume within 1-2 days
- If the Ambe-Dal begins to develop an unpleasant, rancid or fermented smell, please discard it.
Nutrition
Calories: 120kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 4gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gSodium: 228mgPotassium: 41mgFiber: 6gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 275IUVitamin C: 55mgCalcium: 55mgIron: 1mg
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