Instant Pot Methi Daal Gosht

Ingredients:

2 lbs medium bone-in goat botis, wash and marinade in pinch each of turmeric, red chile powder, and garam masala

From a bag of Indian frozen methi, remove 4 cubes (they are about the size of lemons), microwave for 4 minutes, allow to cool, and strain any remaining water content (press with fork or squeeze).

1/4 cup oil

 1 tsp whole cumin seed

1 onion finely sliced 

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

2 medium tomatoes pureed

1/4 tsp turmeric

2 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp red chile powder (or to taste)

1 tsp salt or to taste

1/2 cup chana daal rinsed, keep soaking in water until ready

1.5 cups water

To finish:

Three fresh green chiles, whole

Pinch qasuri methi

Pinch garam masala

Pinch elaichi powder

Method: On Sautee mode, heat oil. Add in cumin seeds and onion. Fry onion until it is golden reddish brown. Stir in gg paste and allow to color. Stir in tomato puree, toss in dry spices, and stir until the oil separates and it is dried up a bit. When it looks dry, add in methi and fry for a few moments. Add in salt. Add in meat and mix well. Strain chana daal, then add it to the pot, stir in water. Cover and cook on bean/chili setting. Allow natural release. Open pot and mix well. Stir in finishing ingredients and allow to rest for a few moments. Serve with fresh roti or plain rice.

Aloo Chholay Chickpea and Potato Curry

This is a #whattodowithShanMasala recipe, meaning that it is required that you have Shan Chana Masala Mix (or your channa masala brand of choice) to make this recipe.

Alu chholay, a classic dish of Punjab. Serve this with roti, or even puris or kulchay. Make it thick or liquidy as per your taste, and if it has a wetter gravy, enjoy it with rice.

You may be wondering why Shan labels their mix chana (also spelled channa), but some people call this legume chhola (plural chholay). Chhola is the Punjabi word. This is what we call in English chickpea or garbanzo bean. To distinguish from the indigenous strain of desi chickpea, the channa daal with it's black outer skin, many people also call the larger, non-indigenous garbanzo Kabuli channa (channa from Kabul, Afghanistan) or safaid channa (white chickpeas).


Step one: Preparing the chholay

Chholay are best prepared in a pressure cooker, but can also be boiled in a regular pot. You will need:

1.5 cups of dried chickpeas
pinch of baking soda
1 black tea bag
1/2 tsp salt
water

Put your dried chickpeas in a deep bowl and wash them well. Cover them in double their amount of water. They will swell and grow as they rehydrate, so you want to make sure that they are in a deep enough amount of water. Add in 1 pinch of baking soda. This helps them soften when they soak and cook. Soak these at least 5 hours, or overnight.

When you are ready to prepare the chickpeas, strain them from the water. Never boil legumes in the water in which they have soaked, as all of the gas causing properties of the legumes will be in the water. It should be discarded (or used to water the plants or something). Put chickpeas in a pressure cooker with double the amount of water of the chickpeas. Add in the black tea bag and the salt. Cover and pressure cook them for about 25 minutes. In my Hawkins, it takes about 8 whistles and then low simmer for 10 minutes. Your pressure cooker cook time may vary.

When done, the chickpeas should be beautifully tender. Keep them aside with their cooking liquid, and discard the tea bag, which should have done its job of coloring the chholay. You will need the chickpeas separately from the cooking liquid, so when you are ready to cook, have the chickpeas strained, and keep the cooking liquid in another vessel.

You can also soak the chickpeas overnight and boil them (no salt) on the stove top for 45 mins to an hour. Add the salt when they are soft. OR you can use canned chickpeas. Canned don't have the fluffy, soft texture of rehydrated boiled chickpeas, though. It's up to you.

Step 2: The masala

1/4 cup cooking oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 small onion chopped (lemon sized onion, or 1/2 American onion)
1 tbs garlic paste
1 tbs ginger paste
1 tsp red chile powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 cup roughly pureed tomatoes (or 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped)
1 tbs Shan Chana Masala
3-4 small potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite sized cubes
1/2 tsp amchoor
1 tsp garam masala
salt to taste (+/- 1 tsp)


garnish:
chopped green chiles and chopped cilantro

Method:

Heat oil in pan. Add in cumin seeds and allow them to color. Add in onions. Cook onions until they are translucent and turning golden, and browning a little bit on the outside. Don't let them become too brown or your curry gravy will be sweet. Add in the garlic and ginger when the onions are golden. Allow the garlic and ginger to color, then toss in the red chile powder, turmeric, coriander powder, and cumin powder. Allow this to sizzle for a second. Add in the tomato puree. Cook for a few moments until the tomatoes dry up a bit and the oil rises out of the masala paste. Add in the salt, then toss in the chickpeas that you had kept aside. Stir these for a few moments. Now, add in the Shan Chana Masala and stir well. Then, add in 1 cup of the chickpea cooking liquid. Allow this to come to a boil. Add in the chopped potatoes. Bring to a boil again. Cover, turn the heat to low, and cook for 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are completely done. When the cooking is done, turn off the flame and stir in the garam masala and amchoor. Cover and let this rest for 5 full minutes. The liquid will thicken at this point. If you want a wetter gravy, add in 1/2 cup or so more water. Stir in some cilantro, and then add more cilantro and chopped green chiles on the top of the dish.

Spicy Urad or Maash Daal Fry (hulled split black lentils)

*In some regions of the Hindi/Urdu speaking world, these are called urad or urid daal. In other regions, these are called maash ki daal. In Punjabi, these are maa di daal. The skin of this lentil is black, but once they are hulled or skinned, they are white. This is the same daal you use for daal makhni, without its skin. It is known as being very filling and heavy on the stomach. The hing (asafetida), lime juice, and the ginger shards in the recipe are supposed to counteract the heavy, gas inducing qualities of this daal. :D This recipe yields a tangy, spicy daal that contains dried red chiles, green chiles added at two stages, and ground red chile powder. You can reduce or amplify the amount of chiles as per your preference. I'd say this comes out medium-hot based on my taste.


To prepare the lentils:

For this recipe you need 1 cup of hulled split black lentils. Wash them well and soak them in water for 1 hour. Discard the soaking water, and add them to a pot in several inches of water. Allow the water to boil. Skim the starchy foam from the top of the water. Lower the heat and boil on med-low flame for 17-20 mins (test at 17 mins) until lentils are completely tender but not falling apart. Strain the lentils and set them aside.

Strained boiled maash ki daal.

The masala:

1/4 cup oil
1 pinch asafetida hing
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
4 whole long dried red chiles
1 purple onion finely chopped (lemon sized Indian onion, if it is a larger American purple onion, use half of it)
2 fresh green chiles chopped finely
1 tablespoon of ginger-garlic paste
1 tomato finely chopped or 1/2 cup fresh tomato puree
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red chile powder
1 tsp cumin powder (zeera)
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbs lime juice (or to taste, I prefer a strong lime flavor)
salt to taste (about 1 tsp)

The masala.

For garnish:
chopped fresh cilantro (1/4 cup or so)
1-2 chopped fresh green chiles
optionally, matchstick ginger shards (about 1/2 inch sliced)

Heat oil in pot. When hot, add in hing and allow to sizzle. Stir in dried red chiles and cumin seeds. Watch for red chile skin color to darken a bit, then toss in the onions. Cook onions until they are looking golden and brown around the edges (+/- 7 mins). (Pro tip: If your onions look brown around the edges but raw and white in the middle straight away, turn down the flame.) Add in chopped green chiles. Add in garlic-ginger paste. Allow garlic-ginger to turn golden. Toss in tomatoes. Stir for a few moments, then add in all of the powdered masala except for the garam masala. Add in salt. Stir until the water is mostly dried up from the tomatoes and the oil has risen to the top of this masala. Turn off the heat. Add in garam masala. The masala is done. Now, add in the prepared lentils that you have kept aside. Stir gently so that they do not fall apart or become clumpy. Mix well. Now squeeze in/pour in your lime juice and half of the cilantro and some of the fresh matchstick ginger slices. Once again, stir gently. Transfer to a serving dish and add the remainder of the cilantro and the other garnishes.

A close up look: each grain of daal is separate.

Serve with hot puris, whole wheat roti, or corn flour roti (makkai ki roti).

OPTIONS: You can use this same recipe for hulled split moong ki daal. Follow all the same instructions, except boil on low for a full 20 mins during the lentil preparation stage. Some people find maash/urad daal too heavy on the stomach, so you could optionally make this lighter by mixing 1/2 cup moong and 1/2 cup urad daal if this is the case for you.

Doab Fish Fry (What to do with Shan Masala)

I have a lot of recipes that are based on adding my own twist to packaged Shan Masala packets. Their qorma, chappli kabab, Sindhi biriani, and a few others are quite good but all need some adaptation to give one's own signature to a dish. Here is what I do with a box of Shan Lahori Fish Mix. Shan Lahori Fish Mix on its own is quite good but extremely salty. It is so salty that if you don't doctor it up, it is inedible. But it is quite convenient to use in that if you were to make a fish fry mix on your own you would need at least a dozen more ingredients than what I have listed below, so it saves time and effort.

I christened this recipe Doab (doh-aahb) Fish Fry since it is a confluence of Shan fish fry and my ingredients, just like a meeting of rivers in The Land of the Five Rivers, Punjab. :)

Doab Fish Fry:

1 lbs Swai fish filets cut into 2-3 inch chunks or large nuggets (or any other white, mild tasting fish like tilapia or king fish)
3 tbs vinegar
1 tsp turmeric
pinch of salt (1/8 tsp)

1 box Shan Lahori Fish Mix
1/4 cup of besan (chickpea flour) plus 2 tablespoons
4 tbs yellow cornmeal
3 pieces of garlic
1 inch of ginger
2 green chiles
2 tbs fresh cilantro finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried mint
1/2 tsp ajwain seeds
pinch of red or orange food coloring powder (optional, I just use it to give a festive look and also so that the end result doesn't seem like I have used Shan Masala stuff from the box or that it is just a fish pakora)
1 tsp lime juice
1 and 1/4 cups water or a little more if the batter looks too thick

oil for shallow frying

Method:

• Wash fish well and cut into large nuggets. In a bowl, mix the vinegar, turmeric, and salt. Add fish to this and allow to marinate for 1 hour or so. The vinegar will have a slight pickling affect on the fish, so when it is battered and deep fried the fish flesh will be extra creamy and tender against the crisp batter. Yum! The vinegar also removes any unpleasant fishiness from the fish. When you are ready to fry, remove fish from vinegar, briefly rinse the fish and pat dry. 

*Tip: You can also freeze your fish nuggets in the marinade and defrost, rinse, and proceed.

• Grind together the garlic, ginger, and green chiles to create a fine paste. 
• In a large mixing bowl, add all of the dry ingredients into the  Shan Lahori Fish fry. Mix well. Stir in the water and the wet ingredients including the ginger-garlic-chile paste and cilantro. Add in the fish and allow to marinade for 1/2 an hour to 1 hour. 
• Heat oil on a medium-high flame and shallow fry fish on one side, then the other.
• Serve immediately. You may wish to garnish with a dash of chaat masala or a sprinkle of lime juice but I think it tastes amazing on its own. Serve with ketchup or meethi chutney. For my meethi chutney recipe, see here in this post.

*Tip: I wear disposable kitchen gloves when I handle the fish and wet marinade and batter because I like to mix with my hands to ensure even coating, but I hate the stains of turmeric or food coloring.

Sarson da saag: Mustard Greens

In the US, most goras know saag paneer. However, most would also be surprised to eat a saag (greens) dish at a desi home because desi home cooked saag is very different than the creamy saag paneer one finds at the typical generic Star of India Palace Buffet Punjabi-Mughlai inspired Indian American restaurant. I actually really love the restaurant style saag paneer that I grew up eating at Star of India Palace Buffet. However, the authentic, homestyle saag preparation varieties are also delicious. Allow me to share a simple one:

Mustard greens cooked in the Punjabi style are a winter treat, and loved across the Land of the Five Rivers on both sides of the Indian and Pakistani border. It is July now, but I am not in the Punjab. At Sprouts, I found some beautiful mustard greens that inspired me to make sarson da saag te makki di roti...mustard greens in the Punjabi style, served with cornmeal flat bread. I used HEB brand corn tortillas heated in a pan on the stove as the makki di roti. The Mexican corn tortillas look different, and of course corn tortillas are prepared from corn treated with slaked lime and makki di roti is just a cornmeal roti. But somehow the taste ends up very similar and the tortillas worked well with the mustard greens.

This dish doesn't have a lot of spices and seasonings. It isn't meant to be nose-run inducing hot. The greens are the star of the show here.

Ingredients:

2 lbs or so mustard greens, washed and chopped

1 lb spinach, washed and chopped
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste

2 fresh tomatoes pureed
1 tsp red chile powder (or to taste)
2 tbs finely ground cornmeal/maize flour
4 tbs butter OR butter flavored low fat substitute (I use Olivio Spread)
2 tbs oil for frying
salt to taste

Method:

You boil the mustard and spinach together until it softens, then puree it with some of the cooking liquid. Reserve extra cooking liquid for later (so you don't pour away all of the vitamins, also). 

Now heat the oil and ginger/garlic pastes. When these turn golden, quickly add in the red chile powder, then before it burns, stir in the tomato puree. Cook the tomato puree on high heat for a few moments until the oil rises to the top of it. Now add the mustard green/spinach puree. Mix well, add in a your salt and the cornmeal. Mix well. You will need to add 1 to 1.5 cups or so of the cooking liquid. Then just lower heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. When it is done, stir in 3 tbs of your butter or low fat butter substitute. To serve, add shards of butter on top.

Lahori Chargha Lahore Style Seasoned Fried Chicken

In Lahore there are many restaurants where you can get this delicious deep fried chicken. I believe chargha is another Urdu word for chicken (hen, like murghi), but for some reason I have also seen this dish called "chicken chargha," which means chicken chicken. Kind of like chai tea and naan bread. Usually it's the goras who say chai tea and naan bread, but I have seen desis saying or writing chicken chargha. I know chargh/chargha is used in Pashto. Maybe chargha as chicken is too obscure since murghi or English "chicken" are so widely used. So maybe it got stuck that way the same way some English speakers say "with au jus." Au jus really means "with juice" so they are saying "with with juice." Long tangent... Anyhoo...in Lahore you can also get this same dish made with quail (batair).

In this recipe, I make use of a pressure cooker to briefly cook the chicken through while causing the marinade gravy to cling nicely to the bird's flesh. The pressure cooker nicely tenderizes the bird as well, so you don't get dry, over-cooked chicken from the double cooking process.

For this recipe you need bone-in, skinless chicken pieces. You can use a whole or halved chicken if you feel brave and have a large vessel for deep frying. In my recipe I usually use a quartered chicken or sometimes just leg-thigh pieces (5-6).

1 cup yoghurt
1 tbs vinegar
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp ajwain seeds
1/2 tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
1 tsp red chile powder
1 tbs red chile flakes
1 heaping tbs chaat masala (Shan brand is fine)
1 tsp salt or to taste
tiny pinch of orange food coloring (like biriani rangi)
Oil for deep frying

Lemon juice and chaat masala for final garnish

Make slits in the chicken so that marinade can penetrate. In a large deep bowl, whip the ingredients into the yoghurt. Add the chicken and slather it with the marinade. Marinate overnight in the refridgerator.

Place chicken pieces directly into the pressure cooker. There is no need to add water or oil. Cover the pressure cooker and cook on medium-low heat until you get one whistle (about 10 minutes). Lower the flame and continue to cook for five for minutes. Turn off the flame and release the pressure. When the lid opens, remove the chicken pieces and set out to cool down. The chicken should be just barely cooked. Notice the marinade is clinging so nicely to the chicken. These flavor bits will stick to the flesh even when you deep fry later.

When the chicken has completely cooled, heat oil in a deep pan (big enough to submerge the chicken pieces). When oil is hot, deep fry the chicken and remove from the oil. At this stage you are just giving the chicken a spice-crust, the chicken should be fully cooked so there is no need to fry for more than a few moments.Using a strainer or a slotted ladel, scoop out some deep fried bits of marinade and spread these on the chicken as well for extra tasty bits.

Drain chicken pieces and then set on a serving dish. Squeeze lemon juice and sprinkle chaat masala on top of the chicken.

If you have some roghni naan, serve with that, plus raita, tamarind chutney. Shauqeen log can serve this with white bread and ketchup.

Dal Makhani

To prepare the daal:

Prepare black urad daal (1 cup) and rajma/lal chawli beans by soaking them each separately overnight.

No pressure cooker method: Throw away the soaking liquid of the beans, then add to a pot in about 10 cups of water and boil, reduce heat, and simmer on a low flame for about 4 hours until nicely tender. Check occasionally to see if you need to add more water. When the lentils are tender, continue to simmer on low for another hour or so, this time mashing and breaking up the beans as the water slowly evaporates, leaving a creamed bean texture.

Salt the daal to taste after it is cooked if you do it in a pot, but add salt to the water before cooking if you do the pressure cooker.

With pressure cooker: I prefer this way because it reduces the simmering time to only about 20-25 minutes. You will still have to spend some time boiling away the excess water and mashing to achieve the best texture, though. For the pressure cooker, you should have about 8 whistles---use about 10 cups water, or just put the maximum amount your pressure cooker can accommodate, you will still have to boil off water at the end to get it creamy anyway. When 8 whistles occur, lower the heat for about 20 minutes. Turn off the flame, release the pressure cooker's clasp, and allow the lid to fall in. Then you will still have some mashing to do to reduce the liquid and allow the creamy texture to develop. Mash the daal with the back of a spoon till it is thick and creamy and the color has darkened a lot. The daal should not be watery, but thick with mashed beans.

Optional: For a party you can boil the rajma/lal chawli separately so they show whole in your finished dish. Just put the beans covered in a few inches of water in a pot, boil, reduce flame, and simmer for 45 mins or so till the rajma is soft. (Cooking time varies on dehydrated bean age, sorry I cannot be more specific.

Now you need to make a wet masala melt:

2-3 tbs any veg. oil
2 onions chopped finely
2 tsp garlic ginger paste

1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chile powder (or more to taste)
1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 heaping tsp garam masala
3 tomatoes chopped finely, or pureed if you prefer

1/2 tsp salt

To finish off the dish I give two low fat dairy alternatives to cream:

pinch of garam masala powder
pinch of dried fenugreek/qasoori methi rubbed between the palms
1 heaping tbs or more of butter
3/4 cup whole milk

OR

3/4 cup very fresh (not at all sour) yoghurt (whipped)
OR
3/4 cup of cream if you want it really rich and don't care about the fat and calories.

Garnish:
chopped cilantro
chopped green chiles, deseed if you want

a tsp of cream to garnish (completely optional)


First heat oil. Add in onions, stir on high heat for a few minutes, then lower the heat and cook until they look translucent but golden (well sauteed) and have lost a lot of moisture, now add in garlic/ginger paste, still on medium heat, and stir until this is all golden brown and cooked, turn up the heat, add in the turmeric, red chile, cumin, and coriander powder---allow this to sizzle for a moment---all of the steps from the time you turn up the heat should happen in a quick sequence so as not to burn any of the spices or garlic/ginger. Now quickly add in the tomatoes and salt, and cook until all the moisture has evaporated from the tomatoes (this could take 8-10 minutes, less if you use pureed tomatoes) and the oil floats above the masala. You may pour off the oil that rises to the top of this masala to reduce calories, since you will be adding butter later. Now pour this tomato based masala into the pot of pre-made daal (or vice versa, depending on your pots), stir in the pinch of garam masala and taste for any extra salt needed, bring to a boil, then cook on low heat, covered for 7 minutes just to let the flavors blend together nicely. Simmer longer to thicken if desired.

Now it is done. To finish it off and make it "makhani" or buttered, add in the pinch of garam masala, fenugreek leaves, the milk/yoghurt/cream, and the butter at the last minute for the buttery perfume taste. Now garnish with your "green masala" or cilantro and chilies, serve with hot chappatis or white rice.

Yum! A trip to Panjab right in your kitchen!

Desi style Daikon Radish Cooked in its own leaves (Mooli ki sabzi)

Daikon Radish is known as mooli in Hindi and Urdu. Mooli is available year round, but its taste is best in the winter when it is less bitter and almost sweet. It is an integral part of the "Punjabi salaad," which is a simply a plate set with an assortment of raw chopped vegetables such as carrots, tomatoes, onions, mooli, cucumber, beetroot, romaine lettuce leaves, lemon wedges, and/or whatever else suits your fancy. It can be left plain, or garnished with lemon juice, salt, black pepper, and chaat masala. Mooli is also used in pickle making. But mooli is not just an accompanyment to a meal. It can be a meal itself. Here is a recipe for mooli cooked in its own leaves, mooli ke patte or mooli saag. You know saag paneer? Saag means greens, paneer is cheese. Saag comes in many varieties, paalak (spinach), sarson (mustard), and so forth. You can use the recipe below for any saag, actually. Instead of radish, with paalak you could add potatoes or paneer, or even pre-browned pieces of meat for paalak chicken or gosht. If you decide to use meat, stir in 1 tsp garam masala at the end of preparation of the dish. With a vegetarian dish, you could optionally add yoghurt, milk, or cream to achieve a restaurant style creamy effect. Another variation is to puree the greens in the blender. So many options with such a simple and delicious family of vegetable, leafy greens!

First, you should peel your daikon radish with a potato peeler. Slice it into circles about as thick as two quarters stacked together. If you have a particularly fat radish, you can cut the larger slices into semi-circles. Set these aside. No chop your radish leaves, stems and all, into fine shreds. I prefer to chop, then wash. Wash your leaves really really well, because you don't want to end up with a gritty texture to your dish from leftover dirt and sand. Set your washed radish and leaves aside, but still dripping wet from the wash. This will provide the moisture for steaming them during the cooking process.

Ingredients:

one radish and two bunches chopped radish leaves, all prepared as described above

2 tbs oil

1 tsp whole cumin seeds

1 small onion finely chopped

1 heaping tsp garlic paste

1 tsp ginger paste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tomato, chopped (skin if you like, but I am not that fussy)

salt to taste

fresh cilantro chopped

fresh green chilies chopped

1 tbs butter

Your pot must have a lid. Heat oil in pot. Add in cumin seeds and onions. Let onions cook until translucent. Add in your ginger/garlic and allow to brown, then stir in powdered spices and allow to sizzle. Quickly add tomatoes and stir until they melt down. Now add in ALL of your greens and radish slices, and cover the pot. Don't worry, the moisture on the greens will prevent the masala from burning. Keep the lid on for a minute, then lift the lid. The greens will have melted down. Mix well with the masala. Now that you can see the amount of finished post-melted greens you have, you can add salt to taste. Add a tiny bit of water if it looks dry. Allow to bubble up on high heat, then cover and turn the heat on low. Cook covered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until the greens and radish are done. Turn off the heat. Stir in the butter, cilantro, and fresh chilies. Serve with flat bread or rice!

Melting the masala

Let’s look at how to make the basic tomato-onion masala that forms the flavor base of a wide range of North Indian/Southern Pakistani dishes, especially Panjabi dishes. I call this making the ‘Masala Melt.’ This is when you take wet aromatic ingredients such as onions, ginger, garlic, green chiles, and tomatoes, and you fry them for a long time until the moisture evaporates from them and the oil separates from the ingredients. Dry masalas such as whole and/or powdered spices are usually added to the Masala Melt. We don’t have anything equivalent to this in American cooking. Cooking onions this way goes far beyond our more common technique of caramelization.  But this technique is integral in producing authentic North Indian dishes. So, how do you make a Masala Melt? Start with finely chopped onions. Depending on the recipe, you may have to fry whole spices (khara or sabut masala) along with your onions. Add these to oil in a deep pot on high heat. When the onions have lost a bit of moisture, turn down the heat and saute them for a while until they are translucent, very soft, and almost falling apart, but not browning. If they are browning, you need to lower the flame. They shouldn’t start to brown too early or your onions will burn before the process is done. When the onions start to turn golden in color, you can add in your ginger, garlic, and chile pastes. Let this cook until the garlic and ginger are golden, too. By now, everything should be crispy looking and your onions should have taken on a reddish brown color. This indicates that all of the moisture has evaporated from them and they are properly fried. Now, turn up the heat and add in any powdered spices required for your recipe. Immediately after tossing in the spices, and before anything starts to burn, add in the tomatoes. The tomatoes should be chopped into fairly small chunks or roughly pureed in a food processor. You may also add salt at this point. Continue to fry the masala on high heat, stirring frequently until the tomatoes have ‘melted’ into a thick paste. The oil should rise to the top of the masala paste, and this masala paste should be slightly sticking to the pan. You now have a Masala Melt. The fried onions should have completely broken down in your Masala Melt and should no longer be visible. With some recipes, such as Rajma, Daal Makhani, Chola Masala, or some other lentil dishes, you will pour the Masala Melt into a pot of pre-cooked lentils. For some dishes, like Baingan Bharta, you will add cooked eggplant to the Masala Melt. You can also add various types of meat and use your Masala Melt as the base of a curry.