Make Gujarati style sweet and sour dal at home, once you taste it you will demand again and again

Gujarati Dal Recipe: If you are bored of eating the same dal every day and want to add a new taste to your food plate, then Gujarati Khatti-Meethi dal can be a great option for you. The balanced taste of sweet, sour and mild spices makes this dal completely different from other dals. This is the reason why this traditional dish of Gujarat is very much liked across the country.

This dal, prepared from arhar dal, tamarind, jaggery and special spices, tastes delicious with steamed rice, jeera rice or phulkas. The special thing is that it can be easily prepared from common ingredients present in the house. Let us know the easy recipe of making Gujarati style sweet and sour dal.

Ingredients for making Gujarati sweet and sour dal

• 1 cup pigeon pea (tur) dal
• 2-3 tbsp jaggery (as per taste)
• 2 tbsp tamarind pulp
• 1 small tomato (finely chopped)
• 1-2 green chillies (sliced)
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• salt as per taste
• 2-3 cups water
• for tempering
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• a pinch of asafoetida
• 8-10 curry leaves
• 2 whole red chillies
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 2-3 cloves
• finely chopped coriander

Gujarati sweet and sour dal recipe

boil lentils
Wash pigeon peas thoroughly and soak them for 20-30 minutes. Now add dal, turmeric and water in the cooker and cook till 3-4 whistles. After the lentils are cooked, mash them well.

prepare sweet and sour taste
Put mashed dal in a deep vessel. Add tamarind pulp, jaggery, tomato, ginger, green chilli, coriander powder, red chilli powder and salt. Add water as per requirement and let it boil on low flame for 10-12 minutes so that all the flavors mix well.

add seasoning
Heat ghee in a small pan. Add mustard seeds in it. When the mustard seeds start crackling, add cumin, asafoetida, curry leaves, whole red chilli, cinnamon and cloves and fry for a few seconds. Add the prepared tadka to the boiling dal.

give final cooking
After adding tempering, cook the dal for 4-5 minutes on low flame. Finally add finely chopped green coriander on top. Your delicious Gujarati sweet and sour dal is ready.

method of serving

• Serve with steamed rice or jeera rice.
• It also tastes great with phulka, tawa roti or thepla.
• Serving papad, pickle and salad along with it further enhances the taste of the food.

Tips to make perfect Gujarati dal

• Keep the quantity of jaggery and tamarind more or less as per your taste.
• Mashing the dal well improves its texture.
• Always use tadka in ghee, it gives real Gujarati taste.
• Don’t forget to add curry leaves and asafoetida.
• Keep the dal covered for 5 minutes before serving, this allows the flavors to set well.