Dal Bathua

I love leafy green vegetables and keep experimenting with different ways of cooking them. My sister recently shared a recipe for Dal Bathua which is a family recipe at her in-laws place. Now bathua is a green which I have never really seen or had. It is more common in North India and it is essentially available in winter. A lady here sold me a leafy green saying it was bathua, but when I brought it home, hubby said it is not bathua! I however went ahead with my sister’s recipe and I am sure it would taste better with the real bathua...here is the recipe...

Ingredients

1 big bunch of bathua leaves,

½ a measure of masoor dal,

½ a measure of arhar dal,

Little less than ½ a measure of black urad dal,

4-5 flakes of garlic,

2-3 green chillies (chopped),

Salt to taste,

½ tsp of cumin seeds,

A pinch of asafoetida,

2-3 chopped red chillies,

1 tbsp ghee

Method

Clean and wash the bathua leaves well. Chop them finely. It is always better to wash vegetables before chopping them to prevent loss of nutrients.

Place the chopped bathua leaves, washed dals, whole garlic flakes, chopped green chillies, salt to taste and cumin seeds with enough water in a pressure cooker. Cook this for about 3 whistles.

Open the pressure cooker when the pressure releases on its own. Mash this well and add more water to get the preferred consistency. Bring it to a boil and switch off the gas.

Season using the ghee, asafoetida and red chillies. Serve hot with rice.