Ananda Spa in the Himalayas was one of the first luxury Ayurvedic spas. Years ago I was lucky enough to experience a yoga nidra (conscious sleep meditation) with one of their teachers in London and I’ve been in contact with their managers ever since. Recently, I met up with senior vice president Mahesh Natarajan on his last day of a whirlwind tour of Europe. As is the Filipino way (or maybe just my way!) I asked him what he missed from home. You could see his imagination stir and the excitement on his face at the thought that soon he’d be able to enjoy home cooking again. He immediately told me about this stew, also known as Mulagootal, which has been passed down the generations in his family. This is a traditional Tamilnadu lentil recipe prepared by the Brahmin community. It is a wholesome dish, typically served with a cooling yoghurt preparation to balance the spices, both to be eaten alongside hot steamed rice.
Mahesh’s family traditionally uses snake gourd, which I love, but it is hard to find. Other alternatives are chayote squash or bottle gourd, but easier-to-source replacements include spring greens, chard and kale. Cucumber is cooling and sweet with bitter skin, which gives a nice flavour balance, but if the skin is too thick then peel it first. If you can’t find toor dal (also known as split pigeon peas), then use overnight-soaked mung beans, or split mung dal – the taste of mung dal is a little different but it takes about 20–25 minutes to cook on the hob (without soaking).
Serves 4
100g ½ cup) toor dal, soaked overnight, rinsed and drained
370ml (1½ cups) hot water
½ tsp ground turmeric
2 bottle gourds, cut into 2.5cm (lin), or 200g (2 cups) spring greens, chard or kale
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp Sambhar Powder (see here)
¼ tsp asafoetida
½ tsp jaggery
FOR THE TARKA
1 tsp ghee
¼ tsp black mustard seeds
½ tsp urad dal
12 fresh curry leaves
FOR THE SPICE PASTE
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp black peppercorns
20g (¼ cup) desiccated coconut
1 tbsp water
FOR THE RAITA
¼ tsp ghee
¼ tsp black mustard seeds
½ green chilli, finely chopped
3–4 fresh curry leaves
pinch of sea salt
1 medium cucumber, finely chopped
125g (½ cup) homemade yoghurt (see here)
1 To make the tarka, melt the ghee, then add the mustard seeds and allow them to pop. Add the urad dal and curry leaves. Toss, then remove from the heat and set aside.
2 To make the spice paste, add half of the prepared tarka to the spice paste ingredients with the water. Grind or pulse into a coarse wet mixture and set aside.
3 In a pan, soak the toor dal and ¼ teaspoon of the turmeric in the hot water for 15 minutes. Put the pan over a medium heat and cook until soft and slushy – this can take 35 minutes to an hour depending on how ong the toor dal was soaked.
4 Simmer the bottle gourd in a pan of water for 5 minutes with a pinch of salt until lightly cooked, then drain and set aside. If using greens, remove any tough stalks. Sauté the leaves with a splash of water until tender.
5 Add the toor dal, sambhar powder, ½ teaspoon of salt and the asafoetida and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, add the spice paste and bring to the boil again, then mix in the jaggery. Remove from the heat, add the remaining tarka and stir.
6 For the cucumber raita, start by making another tarka. Heat the oil, then add the mustard seeds. Allow them to pop, then add the chilli and curry leaves. Stir together and set aside. Add a pinch of salt to the cucumber in a bowl and set aside for 10 minutes. Drain the excess water from the cucumber, then mix through the yoghurt and the tarka. Serve the stew with the cucumber raita.
FEELING
KAPHA
Both the cucumber and the yoghurt in this recipe can provoke Kapha, so eat only occasionally, with extra asafoetida and mustard seeds.
TIP
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If you don’t have time to soak the dal overnight, you could soak it for 15 minutes in 370ml (1½ cups) hot water – Mahesh’s mum likes to do this, to make sure the dish keeps some coarse texture.