West Indian
Varan (Plain Toor Dal)
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Varan (Plain Toor Dal) is West Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre, the protein alongside, and the soup. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
The quantities follow this count.
How to cook it
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Rinse the toor dal and pressure cook it with the water and turmeric until soft and falling apart, about 4 whistles.
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Mash the cooked dal lightly with a ladle until smooth but still a little rustic, adding hot water if it's too thick.
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Heat the oil in a small pan, let the cumin seeds sizzle and pop, then pour the tempering over the dal.
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Season with salt, bring back to a simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, and serve hot.
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Ladle over steamed rice, and if you like, finish with an optional spoon of ghee, the everyday way it's eaten in a Maharashtrian home.
Watch how to cook Varan (Plain Toor Dal)
Someone making it start to finish, so you can see what the steps look like.
Serve it with
A West Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Varan (Plain Toor Dal), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The cooked vegetable
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What it is eaten with
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The sharp little thing
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Something cool and fresh
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand. Varan (Plain Toor Dal) carries none of them. That is a checked answer rather than an ingredient list nobody read.
| Allergen | In this dish |
|---|---|
| Peanuts | No |
| Tree nuts | No |
| Dairy | No |
| Gluten | No |
| Shellfish | No |
| Eggs | No |
| Soy | No |
| Fish | No |
| Sesame | No |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Estimated, per serving
- Calories
- 170 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 24 g
- Fat
- 4 g
- Fiber
- 6 g
- Sugar
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 580 mg
- Saturated fat
- 1 g
Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with ingredients, brands, and how you cook.
When to cook it
Varan (Plain Toor Dal) takes about 30 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is easy going. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
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Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.