1-2-3 Masoor

My favourite way to eat black lentils (and no, it's not a soup)

It is not uncommon for a Bawa (Parsi) Groom to commonly ask his wife ‘Ne Kathor Ma Su Che’? What he means by this question is whether there is any lentil dish on the menu to fill him up.

Parsis love their lentils and we can’t go more than a couple of days without them. And while Dhandar (plain yellow dahl) will always be my favourite dish, Masoor comes a close second. It’s the Parsi equivalent of the Punjabi ‘Maa Ki Dahl’. If I were honest I’d go as far as to say that I like our version better as it often comes sans the dollops of ghee and hence makes for quite the healthy mid-week meal.

Ofcourse, since Parsis can’t have any meal without some ‘ramakras’ (fun toy-like food) on the side, I’d recommend a serving of Tareli Machchi (fried fish) with the Masoor. If this suggestion means your weight loss dreams are once again down the gutter then you could also just pre-cooked lamb and meat stock to make Masoor ma Gosht. Or, pair it with the humble Kachubar which also gives it a simple flavour kick.

This is probably the right time to mention that Masoor is not made with the orange masoor dal but rather ‘sabut’ (whole) dal otherwise known as ‘brown lentils’.

And finally, while the occasional rice addict is known to have Masoor with rice, please try to steer away from this weird combination and have roti with it instead.