Tomato Fenugreek Dal is one of those delicious seasonal recipes, based on what produce is available in abundance. January usually brings in a lot of fresh and flavorful fenugreek, so my mom typically cooks it in a variety of dishes. During one of my trips to India, she bought a bunch of tomatoes and fresh fenugreek leaves so she ended up making this dal and tomato chutney.
Vegetable Hawkers
One of my fondest memories growing up in India is that of hawkers selling fresh vegetables, yelling out their specials. You can hear them from quite a distance! Each one has their own pitch and cadence; sometimes intelligible to people that have never heard these cries before. The vendor in this photograph shows up around the same time every day, come rain or shine. He picks up his produce from a wholesaler in the morning and has to sell off everything on his cart by the end of the day. He covers the wares with a moist jute bag and keeps sprinkling water on the cover, to keep the veggies and greens fresh.
I asked him to move the cover so I could get a good picture of all the wonderful vegetables. He asked me if I was going to post this picture on WhatsApp, but I told him it would go on Facebook and make him famous. He laughed and said that’s not likely to happen :). India is such a contrast with all the technology on the one hand and very traditional practices on the other. That’s one of the things I love about my visits to India.
Bargaining
My mom gets ready with a few rupees to buy what she needs for just the day and of course she must bargain! All her purchases today came in under a 100 Rupees (USD 1.50 approximately)! Hawking vegetables started a long time back when there were no refrigerators, and everyone had to cook fresh and eat every meal almost as soon as the meal was prepared. But I’m glad this practice still continues with my mom, even though she has a refrigerator.
Stove Top & Instant Pot (IP)
While I recorded the recipe when my mom cooked it on a stove top, I also cooked it in my IP after I got back to Florida. There’s just one thing I did differently. I did not cook fenugreek along with toor dal like my mom did. It really doesn’t need so much cooking, so I decided to add it in the end. I think it is better this way, as it helps retain the nutrition of the tender fenugreek leaves. Try out this simple dal at home – it’s delicious and healthy. Have it with steamed rice and ghee or by itself as a soup. It’s quite filling.
Fenugreek leaves help improve digestion and keep cholesterol levels in check and tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C, biotin, molybdenum and vitamin K. Lentils are a very good source of protein.
Check out some of our dals and other fenugreek recipes:
- Dal Makhni,
- Andhra Tomato Pappu
- South Indian Palak Dal – Spinach & Lentils Stew
- Mamidikaya Pappu- Raw Mango Dal
- Delicious Dal Tadka!
- Yellow Mung Detox Soup
- Instant Pot Moringa Leaf Dal
- Sambar
- Wholesome Methi (Fenugreek) Paratha
- Bottle Gourd Fenugreek Curry
- Fresh Fenugreek Eggplant Sauté
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Tomato Fenugreek Dal
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Tomato - Cut to small pieces
- 1 Cup Fenugreek leaves - Fine cut
- 1/4 Cup Cilantro - Fine Cut
- 1/2 Cup Toor Dal
- 1 Chili Green Chili Pepper
- 1 Chili Dry Red Chili
- 1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 1/4 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt - or to taste
- 1 Teaspoon Coconut Oil
Instructions
- Stove Top Method:Set aside seasoning ingredients (mustard and cumin seeds, red and green chili peppers), cilantro and turmeric. Prepare tomato and fenugreek leaves and set them in separate bowls along with lentils. Pressure cook lentils and tomatoes to soften.
- Add coconut oil to a pan and set heat on medium. Let this heat up for a couple of minutes before adding seasoning ingredients (green and red chili peppers, along with mustard and cumin seeds}. The mustard seeds will start crackling. Add the pressure cooked contents, turmeric and salt to the pan and mix well.
- Add fenugreek leaves and stir well for a couple of minutes.
- Garnish with cilantro; mix well before serving.
- Instant Pot Method:1. Pressure cook toor dal with tomatoes for 15 minutes. 2. Mash/mix with a spoon and set aside. 3. Set IP to sauté mode, add oil and wait till the 'hot' sign shows up. Sauté seasoning ingredients (curry leaves, red chili pepper, urad dal, green chili pepper, cumin and mustard seeds). Add turmeric powder and mix well. 4. Add cooked dal/tomato, salt, and let it come to a simmer. 5. Now add the greens (fenugreek and cilantro), stir well and let it cook for about 3 minutes
- Transfer to bowl and serve hot.
Sounds like such a wholesome delicious fulfilling recipe….definitely going to make it
Great to see you back, Sejal! Do make a give us feedback. We’d love to hear from you.
Dried methi leaves won’t give any flavour. Fresh and green with toor dal or with Moog dal will gives a great delicious dal. If are interested you can add garlic with Moog dal
As always, fresh is best, but when in a bind, dried methi leaves (kasuri methi) are a great substitute. Thanks for your comment Sai Kumar.
Can you substitute methi leaves (dried) for the fresh fenugreek? If so what quantity?
Jayne, the taste between dried and fresh will vary. However, if you cannot find fresh fenugreek leaves in your neighborhood ethnic grocery store, by all means use dried. You can use the same proportions as we did with fresh. Do let us know how you liked it. Thanks for visiting our blog and hope to see you back.
I have always relished healthy Indians recipe as they are very tasty,simple and healthy…I loved this dal and when ur children relised too that when it’s a super hit…thank you!!!
Super, thanks Neha! Glad you and the kids enjoyed it!😀