Dalma

The dish and how it is eaten

Dalma belongs to Odisha, where it is ordinary home food and also part of temple cooking in Puri. It is more than a dal with some vegetables thrown in. The vegetables are cut large and count as half the dish, so a bowl of dalma with rice can be a whole lunch. The version here is a traditional home style with no onion, garlic or tomato, which is how most Odia cooks would describe a proper dalma. Some households add a little hing or a pinch of sugar, and vegetables change with the season and the market. Drumstick, ridge gourd and green beans all turn up.

The technique that decides the result

Timing is the whole skill. Raw papaya and yam are dense and need a head start, while raw banana, pumpkin and brinjal go soft quickly. If everything goes into the cooker together with the dal, which is a common weekday shortcut, you get a uniform yellow mash and the pumpkin disappears. Cooking the dal first and adding vegetables in two stages keeps each piece recognisable. The second thing that matters is the bhaja masala. Freshly roasted cumin and chilli, ground just before use, give dalma its smoky finish. Shop-bought cumin powder tastes flat by comparison, and it is only two minutes of work.

Common mistakes and their rescues

If the dal is too thin after the vegetables are done, take the lid off and simmer on medium for 5 minutes, then crush a few pumpkin pieces against the side of the pan. If it has set too thick, loosen it with hot water rather than cold, a quarter cup at a time, and bring it back to a simmer. If the dal stays hard after cooking, the likely cause is old pulses; give it another whistle before the vegetables go in. Bitterness usually means burnt fenugreek in the pancha phutana. Make a fresh tempering in a clean pan and, if the first one has already gone in, add a small pinch of sugar and a spoon of coconut to soften the edge. Vegetables that have gone to mush cannot be brought back, but the dish still tastes right, so serve it as a thick dal and cut larger next time.

Substitutions and a lighter version

Pancha phutana is equal parts cumin, mustard, fennel, fenugreek and nigella, and Bengali panch phoron works the same way. If raw papaya is hard to find, use lauki or ridge gourd, added with the second batch since both cook faster. Chana dal or a mix of toor and moong can stand in for part of the toor, though the texture will change. Suran can make the hands itch, so rub them with a little oil before peeling and cook it fully. To make it vegan, temper in mustard oil rather than ghee; the flavour is sharper, and it is a different dish from the ghee version, though still a good one. For a lighter bowl, keep the ghee to 2 teaspoons and leave out the yam and banana, using more pumpkin and papaya instead. You lose some body, and the bhaja masala and coconut still carry the dish.

Serving it

Steamed rice is the classic partner, with a small fried vegetable on the side such as begun bhaja and a spoon of ghee if the day allows. Dalma also goes well with roti, and many Odia families serve it in summer beside pakhala bhata. If you are used to a thinner North Indian dal tadka, expect this to feel closer to a stew. The serving-level figures are on the dalma dish page, which is the place to look if you are counting.

Storing and reheating

Cool the dalma within an hour or two and refrigerate it in a closed container for up to 2 days. It thickens a good deal overnight because the raw banana and dal keep absorbing liquid, so add hot water when reheating and warm it through on low heat until bubbling, stirring gently. Papaya and banana turn grainy after freezing, so this one is better made fresh. A small fresh tempering of ghee and cumin on the second day brings back most of the aroma.