Chainsoo

Before you start

• Do not soak the urad — chainsoo is built on dry-roasted dal, and wet dal will steam instead of colour.
• Keep the hot water in a kettle beside the pan; adding cold water to the roasted paste makes it seize into lumps.
• An iron kadhai gives the traditional near-black colour, but any heavy pan works.

Method

1. Dry-roast the whole urad in a heavy kadhai over medium heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring constantly, until the skins turn matte black-brown and the kitchen smells strongly nutty.Take it a shade further than feels comfortable — pale roasting gives a flat, raw-tasting dal. Stop the moment you smell any acrid edge.
2. Cool the dal fully on a plate, 10 minutes, then grind to a coarse meal in a blender — the texture of semolina, not flour. Grinding it warm turns it pasty.
3. Heat the mustard oil in the same kadhai until it just begins to smoke, then lower the heat and let it settle for 30 seconds.Mustard oil must be taken to smoking point or it stays bitter and raw.
4. Crackle the cumin seeds and broken red chillies for 20 seconds, then add the asafoetida.
5. Add the garlic, ginger and green chilli and fry 2 minutes until the garlic is pale gold and no longer smells sharp.
6. Stir in the turmeric, coriander powder and chilli powder, then immediately tip in the ground urad. Fry on low heat for 6-8 minutes, stirring the whole time, until the meal darkens and loosens from the pan.This is the step that makes or breaks chainsoo — the roasted meal must fry in the oil, not sit in it.
7. Pour in the hot water a ladleful at a time, whisking after each addition so no lumps form. Add salt.
8. Simmer uncovered on low heat for 25-30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until the dal is the colour of wet slate and thick enough to coat a spoon.It thickens a lot as it cools — leave it looser than you think you want.
9. Stir in the dry ginger powder and garam masala, cook 2 minutes more, then rest off the heat for 5 minutes.
10. Scatter the coriander leaves and serve hot over plain rice with a spoon of mustard oil on top.

Storage

Keeps 3 days refrigerated and thickens into a solid block. Reheat gently with a generous splash of hot water, whisking to bring it back to a pourable dal.