This simple millet and pulse dish is adapted from the recipe "chana dal pulav" by Vijaya Venkatesh. It's a delighfully fragrant fluffy indian dish, which can be a simple one-pot meal or can be an accompaniment for a nice fragrant curry (e.g. a korma, or kofte with sauce).
It's also handy if you're cooking for someone who can't eat onion/garlic.
I've written up my own version of this recipe in order to make clearer some of the steps involved. I also used dessicated coconut in place of coconut cream and liked the effect. I also used kodo millet - you can use any millet (probably!) but I like this hulled kodo millet with its white colour and very pure taste.
Serves 2. Takes 25 minutes, plus an hour of pre-soaking time.
Soak the the millet in plenty of cold water, and the chana dal in hot water (e.g. from a boiled kettle), both for an hour or more. Drain them (separately). Try to get the chana dal very dried off, to make the next stage easier - I did this by draining them in a sieve, then on some kitchen paper.
In a medium saucepan with a lid, warm up the oil, and add all the ingredients from jeera to chilli powder one after another. Temper them - i.e. fry them for a minute or so until they become fragrant.
Add the drained dal and sauté for a minute on low heat, stirring occasionally to make sure they don't stick.
Add millet, salt, coconut and water - do measure the water, you need to get it right. Give a good mix.
Put the lid on, bring it almost to boiling, then turn the heat right down and let it cook gently - undisturbed - for approx 20 minutes. Then stir it with a spoon to fluff it up, and serve immediately.