Sacred temple lentil stew of toor dal simmered with native roots and vegetables, tempered with panch phoron and roasted cumin-chili powder.
Lunch · 15 min prep · 35 min cook · serves 4 Newly added
Ingredients
- 1 cup toor dal
- 2 cups mixed vegetable , chunky cubes of raw banana, taro, pumpkin, raw papaya
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 3 tbsp ghee , pure desi cow ghee
- 1 tsp panch phoron , equal parts cumin, fennel, fenugreek, mustard, kalonji
- 2 dry red chili
- 1 tej patta (Indian bay leaf)
- 1 tbsp bhaja jeera lanka gunda , freshly roasted and coarsely ground cumin and dry red chili
- 4 cups water
- 1.5 tsp salt
Preparation
-
Wash toor dal and place in a heavy pot with 4 cups water, turmeric powder, and salt.
-
Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes until dal is half-cooked.
-
Add chunky diced raw banana, taro, pumpkin, and raw papaya to pot.
-
Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until vegetables and dal are tender.
-
Heat ghee in a separate deep pan over medium flame.
-
Add panch phoron, dried red chilies, and tej patta; fry until seeds crackle.
-
Pour sizzling ghee tempering immediately into cooked dal and vegetable mixture.
-
Sprinkle freshly ground bhaja jeera lanka gunda over surface.
-
Cover pot tightly with a lid and let steep for 5 minutes before serving.
In the tradition
Dalma is the signature legume dish of the Jagannath Puri temple kitchen (Rosaghara). Simmered in earthenware pots, it relies on ancient Indian vegetables—taro, raw plantain, and ash pumpkin—and is finished with bhaja jeera lanka gunda, a spice powder made by roasting whole cumin seeds and dry chilies on iron tawas.
Sources & further reading
- Jagannath Temple Rosaghara Mahaprasad Canon, Puri (Chhappan Bhog Seva Archive)
Classical citations mark where a tradition is drawn on; modern books are shared as further reading, not as prescriptions.