Cranberry dal is a tart and delicious side dish for rice and Indian flatbreads.
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Easy Dinner Dishes
Theme for this week is easy dinner dishes. Quick and easy dinner recipes come in handy on busy weeknights and specially on hectic days. This week I have some delicious dinner recipes and all three recipes; cranberry dal, vankaya masala koora and 3 ingredient sauteed English peas are side dishes.
When I signing up for this month’s BM, I held back on some recipes which I initially planned for last month’s side dishes theme. I am glad I did as I could not cook anything since the last recipe post, which was dondakaya koora.
What is Cranberry Dal?
Cranberry pappu is an easy recipe prepared just like any other dal. Cook dal, add cranberries, cook until berries are soft and then temper it. Hot Cranberry pappu is a great side dish for any Indian flatbread and rice. This pappu is part of the thali from last month, using leftover cranberries from cranberry Christmas cake.
Ingredients
- Toor dal
- Fresh cranberries or frozen fresh cranberries.
- Onion, green chilies, garlic, curry leaves and tempering ingredients.
Preparation
- Cook dal.
- Add cranberries and cook until berries or mushy or pressure cook for 1-2 whistles until berries are soft. do not overcook berries.
- Prepare tempering and pour over dal.
Which Lentils to use?
Indian dal is prepared with variety of lentils. Recipe calls for toor but moong, masoor and chana dal will work as well. However, toor and moong are preferred dals at home.
Fresh or Frozen Cranberries
Fresh and frozen cranberries work well in this recipe. Do not use dried cranberries as these berries are sweetened and give a sweet taste to the dal.
Recipes with Fresh Cranberries
If you like to cook with fresh cranberries, here are some recipes ideas to consider. Indian recipes are cranberry pulihora and cranberry pachadi, and delicious bakes include Christmas cake and fresh cranberry pecan brownies.
📖 Recipe
Cranberry Dal
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
- Saucepan or frying pan for tempering
Ingredients
Cook Toor Dal
- ¼ cup Toor Dal
- ¾ cup of Water
- Few drops of oil
Cranberry Dal
- ¼ cup Fresh Cranberries
- ¾ cup Water
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 4 Curry Leaves
- ½ small Onion chopped
- 2-3 small Green Chilies
- 1 tablespoon crushed Garlic
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- ¾ - 1 teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Chili Powder
Instructions
Cook Toor Dal
- Wash dal, add all the ingredients listed under 'Cook Toor Dal'.
- Cook dal in a pressure cooker or in Instant Pot. In pressure cooker, cook for 7 hisses or whistles and then 5 minutes on low. In IP, 8 minutes on manual/pressure cook mode and natural pressure release.
- This batch of toor dal took longer to cook, hence cook toor dal as you normally do.
- Once pressure subsides, add cranberries, water to cooked dal and cook for 5-10 minutes or until berries are soft. Alternatively, pressure cook for one or two whistles.
Tempering
- Heat oil in a saucepan, add mustard seeds, cumin and curry leaves.
- When seeds pop, add onions, green chilies and saute until onions are soft.
- Add garlic and let roast for few seconds.
- Throw in salt, chili powder and turmeric. Mix well.
- Pour the tempering over cooked dal, cover and let boil for few minutes.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve.
Notes
- Quantity of berries depends on how tart the berries are.
- For a variation use moong dal.
- You can cook cranberries along with toor dal. I prefer adding berries after cooking the dal to retain the shape of the berries.
- Nutrition - Values listed are approximate.
Nutrition
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anu says
Hi,
I am Anu. I have been approached via email quite a few times from various sponsors to do a post. But wondering why they send email to me instead of you. I am a food blogger too, but please check from your end if there is anything you could do to avoid this in future. Thank you.
Swati says
Adding cranberries to dal sounds an interesting and delicious idea.Must have added a tangy touch to dal flavour
..
Suma Gandlur says
The whole meal platter looks inviting. I don't like the tartness of fresh cranberries and usually avoid them in baking. However the same tartness must have worked well here in dal.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
I am always thinking of how to use cranberries in our Indian cooking when I look at those plump fresh cranberries in store. This is a lovely recipe. I am bookmarking this to try soon!
Sushma says
I wanted to try this dal for a long time.looks delicious.
Gayathri Kumar says
As we get sugar loaded cranberries here, I have never thought of them in a savoury dish. This dal with fresh cranberries sounds delicious. Wish you a very happy new year Usha.
sapna says
I am imagining the flavors cranberry would give to the dal as I only use tomato or tamarind for the sourness
Priya Suresh says
Wow, this pappu is just amazing, am not lucky enough to get fresh cranberries here, and this dal makes me hungry already. Lovely clicks there Usha.
harini says
Happy 2019 to you as well, Usha. It has been atleast 10 years since I made cranberry pappu. Lots of wonderful memories attached, Usha. Thanks for reminding. The pictures look divine.
Kalyani says
Confort food with a lovely lovely twist ! I dont get Cranberries here, but I bet these would be yum for a hearty dinner.. loved all your dinner dishes, Usha 🙂
Jayashree says
Dal is a comfort food for me. Adding of cranberry is new to me, it sounds good Usha. I must give a try sometime.
Renu says
Happy New Year Usha. First the pics are simply awesome. Cranberry in dal is a completely different idea. I tasted fresh cranberries first time this season, and it has a very tangy yet sweet taste. It might have imparted an awesome flavour to this dal.
Vaishali Sabnani says
Happy New Year Usha ! I love that simple daal , it’s our comfort food , but what I like most is the unique addition of cranberries . They must have made the daal nice and tarty .
Rajani says
Wish you too a happy 2019 ahead! Cranberry in a dal is definitely a first for me but I like the idea! Stunning pictures as usual. love how bright and brilliant everything in the picture is looking!