Pui shaak diye masoor dal

Debjani Chatterjee Alam’s Pui Saag diye Masoor Dal combines red lentils with Malabar spinach. She learned this Bengali family soup from her mother-in-law, whose version uses onion, tomato, garlic, green chilli and mustard oil.

The lentils are washed under running water. Both Malabar-spinach leaves and stems are cut into large chunks, while onion and tomato are roughly chopped.

In the selected pressure-cooker method, mustard oil fries the onion until translucent. Tomato and slit green chillies follow, then crushed garlic cooks briefly with stirring.

The washed lentils and chopped greens join that same mixture, then salt and water are added. The cooker is closed with its lid and vent weight for low-heat cooking, and the pressure is allowed to drop before opening.

More mustard oil finishes the same cooked soup during a short uncovered cooking stage. Its consistency is adjusted to preference, and Debjani serves it hot with hot steamed rice.