Dal fry with Baby bok choy

I know everybody has heard of 'Dal fry'! What in the world is 'Bok choy dal'! Well, its an Indo-Chinese adaptation of the normal simple dal fry. Indian cuisine had
adopted lot of other Asian ingredients in their diet so why stop now. Lets get creative and start using up more of their wonderful produce and ingredients. I used
baby 'bok choy'. You can use the bigger ones too. I have posted the 'bok choy' photo here which is from 'Wikipedia' because I think this one looks much better and it had both large and the smaller 'Bok choy'. This 'Dal fry' is a fav. of my husband! When he lived in 'Amchi Mumbai', his fav. restaurant was or still is, I should say, 'Geetha Bhavan' in Chembur. He took me there and made me eat 'Dal fry' and 'Veggie Kolhapuri' and many other dishes as well so that I can learn how to make those dishes exactly how it tasted in that restaurant! We analyzed a lot. You see, both of us were from Madras and half of the ingredients were new to us. Things like 'Dal chini' or 'star anise' and 'Cocum' was new to us. So I had to really try and try these dishes adding all these ingredients together to get that exact taste because none of the cookbooks or any of the relatives had those recipes. I succeeded finally! Okay, now Anway, I have a confession to make!?! This particular dish in this photo was made by my husband! He usually mumbles a lot in French (if you know what I mean, again mumbles, point to note!)if I thrown in so many red chillies in huge pieces and hates it when garnishing gets in his way of the food, especially methi seeds, bay leaves, broken red chillies etc... and look at it now when he has cooked it! I was happy anyway, dddaaahhh, one more advantage point for me for life!! That is the reason I dressed up the dish like this in order to make him realize the number of pieces he had put in it. Like it or not, you guys have become the witnesses, oopppssy! You must be wondering why did I leave out curry leaves in his list of hindrances! Nnnoooo, he loves it! That and cilantro are never considered hindrance. Thank God for that! Anyway, the dish just came out so wonderful. Usually, I am his worst critic, like all wives are (Yeah right, you damn right are, be graceful and accept it already!) But this dish, I've to admit, was his masterpiece and so is his 'Veg biryani'! I know he doesn't read my blog unless I make him read it and that is the reason I am writing such nice things about his occasional culinary triumphs!? Okay, hope you enjoy making this 'Bok Choy dal fry'.

1 cup-Toor dal
1/2 cup-Moong dal
1/2 tsp-Turmeric
1 lb-Baby bok choy, finely chopped
1-Large red onion
7- Cloves of Garlic, miced
1/2 tsp-Ginger paste
9-Finely chopped green chillies
1 tsp-Cumin
3-Cocum
1-Star anise flower(Dal chini)
1 "-Cinnamon stick
3 cups-Water+1 cup reserve
1/4 tsp-Hing
1 cup-Chopped Cilantro
2-Bay leaves
2-Chopped tomaotoes
3 Tblsp-Oil or Ghee
5-Broken red chillies for garnishing
1/4 tsp- Jaggery
2 Tblsp-Freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp-Garam masala
Salt to taste

1. Pressure cook both the dals with little bit of turmeric, hing, cocum, cinnamon and dal chini (Star Anise) and 3 cups water until super soft.
2. Discard the cooked Star anise and cinnamon. Mash the cocoum along with the dal well and keep them aside.
3. Heat a non stick wide pan, add oil, cumin seeds and bay leaves.
4. Reduce the heat, add green chillies, red chillies and minced garlic and ginger paste. Saute it for a couple of sec.
5. Now, add a bit of turmeric again and add chopped onions. Saute it after adding a pinch of salt.
6. Add the chopped baby bok choy, Cilantro and Garam masala and saute until the onions have turned brown.
7. Add the chopped Tomatoes and add a pinch of salt and cook until soft.
8. Now add the mashed dal and dilute it with water. Add some salt and jaggery, Mix well and cook.
9. Check for seasonings. Adjust if need be.
10. Once done, put off the flame and add lemon juice. Mix well and check if taste right.

Note: Can be served with rice or roti. Its a great fragrant dal recipe. You can reduce the amount of heat by cutting down on red and green chillies but make sure you add a couple of each though! They add a great flavor to the dish.