Panchmel Dal / Rajasthani Panchratna Dal Recipe

 Panchmel Dal, a famous dish from  Rajasthani Cuisine is a simple , nutritious and flavorful blend of 5 different lentils with some basic Indian spices. Panchmel dal is also known as Panchratna dal. The word, panch means 5 in Hindi, hence the name of the dish. This protein packed dal is onion garlic free and is usually paired with Dal Baati Churma, a classic combo, but the dal can be served with any flat bread or steamed rice.

The 5 lentils used in this recipe are

• Chana dal - Bengal gram
• Urad Dal - Black gram
• Masoor Dal - Red Lentil
• Mung Dal - Green gram
• Arahar Dal - Pigeon pea

The recipe calls for cooking all these 5 lentils in equal proportion . The cooked dal is then tempered with ghee and whole spices to make a delicious and aromatic dal preparation. 

We Indians love our dal and no Indian thali is actually complete without a humble dal served as a side dish in it. With this thought, the theme for #160th #FoodieMondayBlogHop was decided to be #TraditionalDalsOf India. My contribution towards the theme is this aromatic and delicious Panchmel dal from Rajasthani Cuisine.

                             

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoon Bengal gram/ Chana dal
• 2 tablespoon Pigeon pea/ Arahar ki dal
• 2 tablespoon Green gram/Mung dal
• 2 tablespoon Black gram / Urad dal
• 2 tablespoon Red Lentils / Masoor dal
• 2 tablespoon ghee
• 1 tomato finely chopped
• 2 red chilies
• 1 green chili
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 2 cloves
• 2 green cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala 
• 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida / Hing
• Fresh coriander for garnishing
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Rinse the dals in water for a couple of times. Now soak the mix of dals in eanough water for about 30 minutes. Soaking help the dals cook well and also reduces the cooking time. Next pressure cook the dals for 3-4 whistles or until is is cooked well. Mash the dal well and add water if it appears very thick.

2. In another pan heat ghee on low to medium flame. Add  cumin seeds to it. Once the seeds crackle, add the cloves and green cardamom followed by broken red chilies. After few seconds, add the grated ginger and split green chili. Fry them until the raw smell of ginger is no more.

3. Next tip in tomatoes. Mix well and stir fry until the tomatoes turn mushy. Add asafoetida, turmeric powder and garam masala. Mix well and fry the masala on low flame until you see oil coming out from the masala. Pour this tempering over our cooked dal and simmer it for 5-7 minutes , so that the spices infuse well with the lentils.

4. Lastly add salt , give a quick stir and garnish the dal with fresh coriander leaves, put off the flame. Add 1-2 teaspoon ghee to the panchmel dal while serving. You can pair it with any flat bread like chapati or phulka or Jeera rice. I have served the panchmel dal with Rajasthani Baati and Churma.

I hope you would like this post . If you ever try this recipe, do share your feedback with us in the comment section below. 

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For more traditional dal recipes of India, do check out the following posts from my blog

• Dal Makhani infused with charcoal smokey flavor

                                      

• Dal Fry

                                      

• Dal Dhokli

                                      

• Sindhi Dal Pakwan

                                      

• Katachi Amti