-
1
Place the toor dal in a heavy pot with 1 litre of water and the turmeric, bringing it to a boil over high heat and skimming any foam so the finished dal is clean-tasting rather than bitter and cloudy. Reduce to a steady simmer and cook until the grains yield to pressure but still hold their shape — they will break down further once the vegetables go in, so pull back before that point.
-
2
Add the yam and raw banana first, since these are the densest vegetables and need the longest time in the pot to soften through to their centres without the softer vegetables turning to mush around them. Cook at a moderate simmer, partly covered, until a skewer meets only slight resistance at their centres.
-
3
Add the pumpkin, raw papaya, and drumstick, then continue to simmer uncovered until all vegetables are fully tender and the dal has broken down into a thick, porridge-like mass — this is where the dish lives or dies, because a thin dalma is considered poorly made and the starchy sweetness of the raw banana must have fully dissolved into the lentil body to create the unified consistency the preparation requires. If the pot looks thin, continue cooking without adding water, trusting that the starch from the banana and the breaking dal will draw it together.
-
4
Season with salt and stir to combine. Taste: the dal should carry the mild sweetness of the vegetables and a faint bitterness from the raw banana backbone; adjust salt as needed.
-
5
In a small pan, heat the ghee over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then add the cumin seeds and dried red chillies — the cumin must sputter and colour, because pale, under-tempered cumin gives the finished dish a raw, flat edge rather than the toasted depth that defines the tadka. Add the grated coconut and stir until it turns faintly golden and fragrant, then pour the entire tadka immediately over the dalma and stir through so the coconut-cumin fragrance rises cleanly into the pot rather than being lost to the air.