Green Gram Dal (Payatham Parippu Masial)
Ingredients:
3 cups water
1 cup green gram dal (mung dal)
1 cup hot water
4 oz tamarind pulp
6 green chiles, halved
1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
1 bunch fresh coriander (cilantro)
1 teaspoons oil (or ghee)
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 red chile, halved
1/2 teaspoon asafoetida powder
1 small bunch fresh curry leaves
1/2 lb spinach

Directions:
Wash and drain the dal. Pour the dal and 3 cups of water into a medium sized pot with a lid. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and parcaially remove the cover. Continue to cook for about 60 minutes. Then add the spinach and stirring occasionally, continue to cook over low heat an additional 30 minutes. Set aside. Meanwhile, soak the tamarind pulp in 1 cup of hot water. When it is cool enough to touch, squeeze out the taramind over the cup and discard. Strain the remaining liquid into a cup and discard the seeds and pulp left behind. After the dal has cooked 90 minutes, heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large saucepan. Add the mustard seeds, red chile, asafoetida powder and curry leaves. Cook until the mustard seeds start to pop, 2-3 minutes. Add the tamamind juice, green chiles, tumeric and salt. Simmer until the mixture is no longer bitter smelling, about 3-5 minutes. Add the warm dal and continue to simmer 5 minutes, stirring to combine. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rice.

My thoughts:

Easy to make if you can find all of the ingredients. We are lucky enough to live near an Indian grocery and were able to get all of the ingredients in just one shop. The spinach adds some color and turns it into more of a vegetable dish than it normally is prepared.