Channungi Saaru - Belgaum Brown Masoor Dal

This is my Mom's famous channungi saar - made in the typical Belgaum (city in North Karnataka, South India) style with garlic, tamarind pulp and sugar. It is easy specially when you've my Mom's khara powder (red chilli masala powder - made the Belgaum, Jain way). I'll post the recipe to make my Mom's khara powder or a near similar one with other powders soon on my blog. There are many recipes I'm posting which mention my Mom's powder. My sisters and I remember my grandmom used to send this khara powder to my Mom up until she became too old to cook anymore and now my Mom sends us the same powder and I hope to at least pass on the recipe of how to make it to my daughter and the generations to come.

Ingredients
1 cup brown masoor dal (5 - 6 cups water to cook the dal)
1/4 cup thick tamarind pulp (extract from tamarind pod-size of lemon and soaked in water - you can store the extra pulp in the fridge)
1tspn crushed garlic paste (more if desired)
2 tspn Mom's khara powder (use instead 1/4 tspn red chilli powder or paprika, 1/4 tspn cumin powder and 1/4 tspn cilantro powder)
salt to taste
sugar to taste
1/4 cup grated coconut (blend to make paste with little water)
chopped cilantro to garnish
For seasoning - 1 tspn mustard/ cumin seeds, pinch asoefoetida, one sprig curry leaf, 2 tbspn vege oil, 1/2 tspn turmeric powder

Method
Wash lentil, boil in water and set aside. Lentils should be soft and tender but not overcooked. Do not drain the broth. Make sure you add enough water to have sufficient broth / stock. Add vegetable broth from can if you want. Makes dal more tasty.
Heat oil in pan, splutter mustard/cumin seeds, lower flame and add asoefoetida and curry leaves. Then add garlic paste and fry for half a minute. You need to smell the flavor of roasted garlic. Add turmeric powder and stir. Add lentils, tamarind pulp, salt, sugar, coconut and boil till all ingredients blend and a thick gravy is formed. Add more vegetable broth if you want a thinner consistency in your dal. Garnish with cilantro and serve with roti, chapati or rice and ghee.