Panchkuti, Panchvati or Pancharatna - You pick

In my 12 years of cooking ( yes I started cooking at 14), I haven't liked someone's recipes so much that I tried more than one of them. I have quiet a few personal favorite chefs and recipe book authors that I like. I own quiet a few recipe books. But I read them like novels and never make dishes to the T. But as I mentioned in my earlier posts, this food blog got me in a wrap. I keep going back to it for it's simple steps and the different ways that she makes them. The blog is KajalDreams and she shares her Gujarati Cuisine.

I have improvised on her stuffed baby potatoes and I also made the Daal Dhokli and my people were quiet surprised and loved it. Today I made her Panchkuti Daal. Mom asked me what it's called and I said Panchkuti but I wnated to cal it Pancharatna and mom thought I said Panchvati. LOL. Very funny mom!

Basically the recipe uses 5 different kinds of lentils. I made few changes. Here is my version. I used pressure cooker t
o cook the dals. If you do not have one. Then soak the lentils for an hour and then cook them directly in a pot with 3 cups of water. Add warm water in between till the lentils are cooked through.

Ingredients:
Yellow Moong dal - 4 Tbsp
Green Moong Dal - 4 Tbsp
Toor Dal - 4 Tbsp
Chana Dal - 4 Tbsp
Masoor Dal - 4 Tbsp
Green Chillies - 2 chopped fine
Shallots - 2 chopped length wise
Plum tomatoes - 2 chopped fine
Juice of one lime
Garlic - 3 cloves minced
Ginger - 1 tsp grated
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - as needed
Water - 4 cups +1 cup

Procedure:

Mix the dals in a vessel, wash and pressure cook them for 2 whistles with 4 cups of water.

In a deep sauce pan, heat oil and add mustard and cumin seeds. Once they start spluttering add shallots, green chillies, ginger and garlic. Add turmeric and enough salt for the onions and saute till onions are translucent. Make sure you have enough oil in the pan, so that you are not burning the ginger or garlic.
Add red chili powder and stir for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook them covered for 30 seconds to one minute.

Add the cooked dal, lemon juice, cup of water and cook them covered for 10 to 15 minute son low flame. Check in between to make sure the dal is not sticking to the pan. Remove the lid and stir it to see it's not too watery. Once it comes to a stew like consistency turn it off. Goes well with rice or rotis.