Gujarati Dal from Sukham Ayu - Indian Cooking Challenge

Since this was going to be my first entry to Indian Cooking challenge I was excited about it but when I came to know the recipe chosen I was even more excited as I immediately remembered having this dal a few weeks back at a friend's place. I had loved it mainly because of the peanuts but somehow didn't bother to ask her the recipe. The cookbook I follow usually has all popular recipes from different cuisines so when I checked, it sure did had this one though it was little different than the one featured in Sukham Ayu.
My cookbook didn't mention about adding veggies and even I don't like veggies in my dal(Dal with veggies is sambhar for me :)) so I decided to skip them. My cookbook didn't mention about peanuts, but that was the reason I liked the dal so I had to definitely use them. Apart from that I made few other minor changes like omitted coriander powder and ginger.

Ingredients
Split red gram (Toor dal) : 3/4 cup
Kasoori Methi : 1 Tsp
Turmeric powder : ½ Tsp
Asafoetida powder(Hing) : ¼ Tsp
Dry soft kokam : 4-5 pieces (or tamarind pulp - 2 Tbsp)
Jaggery 1-3 tsp, as per preference
Hard dry dates(optional) : 4
Groundnuts(Peanuts) : 1-2 Tbsp
Red Chilli Powder : 1/2 Tsp
Cumin Powder : 1 Tsp
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Salt to taste

For Tempering
Ghee : 2 Tsp
Mustard seeds : ½ Tsp
Cumin seeds : ½ Tsp
Asafoetida powder(Hing) : 1 pinch
Curry leaves : 5-6
Fenugreek seeds : ¼ Tsp
Cinnamon : 1 No.
Cloves : 2
Dry red chillies : 2

Green chillies :  2, slit

Method:
1. Wash and soak dal in 2 cups water for atleast half an hour(I usually soak it for around 1 hr).
2. Add kasoori methi, haldi, peanuts and a pinch of hing and cook it in the pressure cooker until done.
3. Meanwhile soak dried dates in warm water for 10-15mins, then remove the seeds and half them.
4. Churn cooked dal well then add red chilli powder, jeera powder, tamarind paste(or kokum), jaggery and dry dates (I added only 1 tsp of jaggery and used tamarind paste).

5. Add 1 cup of water and cook it on low flame for 15-20mins or until the peanuts are soft. Stir occasionally.
6. For the tempering heat ghee in a wok, add cumin, musturd and let it sputter. Then add curry leaves, fenugreek seeds, cinammon, cloves and dry red chillies. Then add slit green chilli and roast it for a minute.
7. Mix this tempering to the daal and let it cook for few more minutes.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rice or chapatis.

Note:

If you like you can add veggies like drumstick(2 No.) and yam(4-5 pieces, 1 inch cubes) during step 2 i.e  while cooking the dal.