Kulth di dal (horse gram dal)
AI-drafted · awaiting admin review
Horse gram cooked into a thick dal with mustard oil and spices, a warming winter staple of the Jammu hills.
Region: Jammu region (hill districts)Occasion: Winter mealsTime: 1 hr + overnight soakingServes: 4Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 cup horse gram (kulth), soaked overnight
- 2 tbsp mustard oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- A pinch of hing
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp chopped ginger and garlic
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp dried pomegranate seed (anardana) powder
- Salt to taste
Method
- Pressure-cook the soaked horse gram with turmeric, salt and 4 cups of water until soft, about 8–10 whistles.
- Heat the mustard oil and add cumin and hing.
- Fry the onion, ginger and garlic until golden, then add the chilli powder.
- Pour this into the cooked dal, add anardana powder and simmer for 10 minutes, mashing lightly.
- Serve hot with rice or maize rotis.
History
Horse gram grows on dry hill slopes with little water and has long been a food of farming families in the hills of Jammu and the wider western Himalaya.
Significance
Kulth is believed in folk tradition to keep the body warm, so it is eaten through the winter in the hill villages of Jammu.