Brown Rice with Split Pigeon Pea
So my son is visiting and he’s a herbivore and I’m a carnivore. I am running out of vegetarian dish ideas so I decided to simplify life and cook split dried pigeon peas together with brown rice. I substituted 1 cup water with coconut milk and added a good kick of chilli. It tasted really nice, with some Tomato Salad with Fresh Herbs on the side.
Toor dal is also known as pigeon peas. The worlds largest producers are India, East Africa and Central America. They can be eaten green, dried (and split) or ground into flour. They are also available in cans.
Common names for pigeon peas: Toor Dal, Congo peas, Pois cajanor or pois d’Angole (French) or red gram, Gungo pea
This is what split pigeon peas (Cajanus cajun) look like. Please do not confuse with split chickpea (Cicer arietinum) or split yellow pea (Pisum sativum)
Heat the oil or ghee in a pan. Fry the onions, garlic, ginger and potatoes for 5-7 minutes.
Add the dal and cook stirring for 1 minute,
then add all the spices (cumin, paprika, curry powder and chilli flakes. Cook stirring for 1 minute,
then add the rice and mix thoroughly
Add the water and bring to the boil. Season with salt and reduce heat,
cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Switch off the heat and leave covered for 10-15 minutes.
Fluff and serve as a main, with some salad, or as a side
Brown Rice with Toor Dal
Preparation time: 5 minutes , Cooking time: 40-50 minutes; Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
- 400 g (2 cups) brown rice
- 200g (1 cup) toor dal (split dried pigeon peas)
- 3-4 tablespoons ghee or cooking oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 inch root ginger grated
- 1 small potato finely diced (optional)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- Salt to taste
- 1250ml (5 cups) water
Instructions
- Wash the rice and. drain thoroughly, set aside. Wash the toor dal (split pigeon peas) until it runs clear. Set aside.
- Heat the oil or ghee in a large pan or skillet.. Fry the onions, garlic, ginger and potatoes for 5-7 minutes.
- Add the dal and cook stirring for 1 minute, then add all the spices (cumin, paprika, curry powder and chilli flakes). Cook stirring for 1 minute, then add the rice and mix thoroughly.
- Add the water and bring to the boil. Season with salt and reduce heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes.
- Switch off the heat and leave covered for 10-15 minutes.
- Fluff the rice and serve.
Points to note:
- You can substitute one cup water with coconut milk.
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Great recipe, looks so delicious.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Thank you
Liz
Interesting dish, I’ll have to share with my herbivore! ( my daughter) 😉
I think she will like it!
Liz
What a nice vegetarian dish. You could always add meat on top for the carnivores!
Brilliant idea. Next time I shall sneak in some meat for myself. I love meat!
Liz
Hi Liz – I did not see the tor dal listed in the ingredients, how much do you use and are they dry? – Kat
Omg what an omission. Thanks for pointing it out. I was in a hurry to finish the post! I’ve rectified!
Liz
That’s really cool that you cooked toor with borne rice in one pot. Must have tasted really good 🙂
Oh thanks Sonal. I really like it and it turned out really good!
Liz