Wash and add water to urad dal just to cover it. Soak for 15 minutes
Drain and add in a pressure cooker.
Add ¼ cup water and just cook till the pressure builds up and open the cooker.
Do not wait for the whistle. If you get a whistle, switch off and release pressure manually and open the cooker.
Each grain should remain separate but cooked at the same time. This dal gets cooked fast.
Heat oil in a skillet & add cumin and asafoetida
Once it is done, add onion and sauté till it become translucent. Do not brown.
Add green chilli, ginger garlic paste and sauté further for few more minutes.
Puree the tomato in a blender without adding water and add the puree.
Mix well and add all the dry masalas and salt.
Let the spices blend. If the mixture is too dry, add ¼ cup water.
Add the Dal and cook on slow fire till the dal absorbs all the flavours of the masala. If necessary add few spoons of water. Idea is that it should not become mushy.
Sauté with light hands to make sure that the Dal remains whole.
Check if the dal is done.
Garnish with coriander / mint (pudina) leaves.
Notes
If you wish, you can boil the dal either directly instead of using the cooker.
You can even steam cook the dal.
The idea is to keep each grain separately and not mushy.
This dish can be made with split yellow mung dal too