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.

Green Channa Hara Channa Masala

This is a recipe for green desi channay. These are freshly picked, un-hulled (skin on) young desi chickpeas...the small desi variety that is hulled and split to become channa daal, not the larger foreign channa (kabuli or safaid). I usually get these frozen in a bag from the Indian store.

The brand I buy is already cooked and salted. I simply need to pour the bag of frozen channe into a bowl of water and strain them a few times to de-frost them. If you find fresh ones or frozen un-cooked ones, you would need to boil them till tender.

The bag I buy comes with 310 grams of chickpeas, or almost 1.5 cups. This recipe is for that amount.

Ingredients:

1.5 defrosted green channa, method for prep described above. The channe should be a little bit wet from washing.


2-3 tbs oil
3-4 slit whole green chiles
1 tsp zeera
1/8 tsp/a pinch of hing (asofetida)
6-8 curry leaves
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red chile powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tbs fresh lime juice
a sprinkle of salt, if desired

Garnish:
1/4 cup or so chopped cilantro

Heat oil in pan. Add in slit green chiles. When their skin starts to blister, add in cumin seeds. As this colors, add in the hing, curry leaves, and all of the dry spices. Let this sizzle for a moment, but take care not to burn. Dump in washed de-frosted channe. Stir the channe into the masala. Turn down the flame and cover. Cook on low for 5 minutes. Turn off the flame. Sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt if frozen channe have been pre-salted. (If your channe haven't been salted, I would add salt before closing the lid a step earlier.) Pour on lime juice and mix well. Stir in some cilantro, transfer them to a serving bowl, and add more cilantro to the top of your dish as a garnish.


This dish is dry and goes well as a "side dish." It can be eating plain between bites of other food, or with roti.

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.

Where Do You Store Your Masalas?

I have been eyeballing this pricy Tablefare SpiceCare Interlocking spice storage system for a while, but haven't found any in depth unaffiliated reviews of the product. I asked about it on my favorite foodie website, Chowhound, but no one responded to my query. It looks great, though. I am afraid it will cause fumbling and I will have to unlock a lot of stuff all at once to get out a few spices. The SpiceCare thingy was recommended by Chef Bosco Pereira on twitter (@Chef_Bosco), so that's how I found out about it, and I trust what Chef Bosco says a lot. (His tweet soliloquies on South and South East Asian food are awesome. His food-knowledge is as vast as the Seven Seas!) But I'd still like to read some feedback on the product before investing in it.

In my daily cooking, I usually cook the typical dishes of my husband's particular community. For those dishes, I keep the fast moving standard every-dish spices in a masala dabba.  Spices I use less frequently are in clear plastic jars with lids (the little jars are about 16 oz in size, I'd say). They are just all stuffed in the cupboard. There are some I keep at the front of the cupboard, but I step up on a step-stool to dig around for others. I have a friend who keeps all of her spices in a clear plastic jars but keeps the jars in clear plastic stackable storage drawers so the spices are easy to see and take out. Awesome idea! But never got around to doing that. I should really do that, I suppose.

The spices I purchase usually come in large plastic baggies. Here is what I do with the plastic spice baggies: If it is a fast moving spice for me like red chile powder or cumin, I pour some in a plastic jar, some in the masala dabba cup, and then use the tiny bit left over in the baggie first. If it is a very slow moving spice, I pour it into the plastic container, and I toss out the few tablespoons which are left over at the bottom because I know it will go stale before I use it all. It is a waste, I know, but I buy the spices cheaply at the Indian market, so no worries. Before I started tossing them out, I kept the left over amount in its baggie closed with a rubber band, but it would just sit in my cupboard for ages and I would end up throwing it away anyway. For Shan masalas, I mostly use only a couple of teaspoons at a time, so I keep them in the boxes in which they come. For rice and chapati ata, I have them in giant clear plastic locking storage boxes, and for daals, I have them in one drawer in medium sized lockable clear plastic bins.

What about you? If you are a spicy home cook, how do you store your masalas? Any recommendations?

A Vegetarian pullao - Channa Pullao: Yellow split lentil pullao

A pullao is rice which is cooked with broth, or yakhni in Urdu. This recipe is vegetarian, so the yakhni used here is made without meat. It is simply water perfumed with garam masala. And I cheat to make this yakhni: I do it in the microwave.

Channa daal pullao with a dollop of Hyderabadi tomato chutney.

I pre-fry my onions and keep them in the freezer. You should finely slice onions, put them in deep oil on high heat, and when they turn translucent, turn down the heat to very low and continue to fry, stirring occasionally until they have become brown-red and crispy (12 minutes for Indian onions, takes longer for yellow onions). They should not blacken, as this will yield a bitter taste. I prefer this method to quick frying because with quick frying the onions often blacken at the edges and the insides stay undercooked. You will need about 2 large-ish Indian onions for this recipe, or 1 large yellow (American type) onion, about 4 tbs fried. I recommend you use home fried even though pre-fried are available at the store, because store fried tend to be bitter.

You will also have to prepare the channa daal. Take 1/2 cup dry channa daal and soak for one hour. Put daal in water on stove and boil, turn heat to low, and cook on low heat for 20 minutes until lentils are tender. Strain from water and set aside. These should be fully cooked, but just barely. I also boil larger quantities of this and freeze to use in pullao, salads, queema, etc.  1/2 cup raw daal will yield 1 cup cooked. You need 1 cup cooked for the recipe.

Now the microwave garam masalon ki yakhni: take garam masala spices, say 2 bay leaves, 3 pieces of cinnamon, 10 cloves, 10 peppercorns, 10 green cardamom pods, 2 large black cardamom pods, 2 whole dried red chiles, a tsp of cumin and a tsp of fennel, a tsp of whole coriander seeds, and put this in water and microwave on high for 5 minutes. (I often just use a heaping spoon of whole spices from a bag of mixed whole garam masala.) Strain the spices from the water. You can toss them out because they have done their job. However, you can keep the larger sized spices "for looks" in your pullao if you like. Keep this yakhni aside. For 2.5 cups basmati rice, 5 cups of yakhni.

So you have prepared all of this stuff in advance. The actual pullao only takes 30 mins or so if you have your daal and fried onions ready.

Channa daal pullao ingredients all ready to go.

You need:

2.5 cups basmati rice, soaked for 10 mins
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 quantity of pre-fried onions (about 2 tbs), crushed gently
1 tsp red chile powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tbs salt or to taste (the daal will soak up salt, too, so you need a lot)
1 cup pre-cooked channa daal
1 tsp lime juice
2-3 tbs oil
5 cups garam masalon ki yakhni

1 tsp or more ghee for finishing
2 tbs fried onions for finishing and garnish



Heat oil in pan. Add in cumin seeds and let sizzle. Add in garlic and ginger paste, allow it to turn golden, then quickly add in the pre-fried onions, cumin and chile powder, let sizzle for one short moment, then pour in the yakhni. (do not let the spices burn). Salt the water, add in the soaked rice and the pre-cooked daal, allow this to come to a rolling boil. At this point, stir in the lime juice. I always add lime juice to pullao rice at this point because I have been told that it prevents the rice from sticking together. Dunno if that's true, but that is what I do. Cover, lower heat to the lowest setting, and cook covered for about 18 mins. After you turn off the heat, lift lid to let steam escape, then cover again and allow rice to rest for 10 minutes more to finish steaming and so it won't break when you stir it.

Transfer to serving dish. Drizzle ghee or melted butter on the rice. Add on the remaining pre-fried onions, mixing some of them and the ghee to distribute in the rice, but some onions should remain on top as garnish.

Serve with plain yoghurt or a raita of your choice, such as eggplant raita or spinach raita. This also goes great with various types of chutney. Here is the recipe for the Hyderabadi chutney that I serve with the channa daal pullao (pictured above).

Tip: You can use the same recipe with pre-cooked or canned chickpeas (chhola pullao).

Black Chickpeas Kalay Channay

Black chickpeas are just so hearty and tasty. They are best cooked in a pressure cooker. They also freeze well. To prepare, soak 1.5 cups of dried black chickpeas overnight. Strain. Put in pressure cooker, add 1 tbs salt, and cover with about 2 inches of fresh water. Cook on high heat for 3 whistles, then lower heat and cook on a low flame for about 5 more minutes.  Once the black chickpeas are done, strain and reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid. The end result should be whole but tender black chickpeas that can be manipulated for cooking without breaking apart, but crush easily if you press between two fingers, so they will mash easily if pressed with a chappati while eating.

For the dressing:
3 tbs oil
5 dried red chiles
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp fresh green chile paste
(the ginger, garlic, and green chiles can be ground together to make a paste, in which case use a heaping tbs)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
10 fresh curry leaves
salt to taste
cooked black chickpeas
1 cup of cooking liquid
1 tbs lime juice

Heat oil in pot. Add in dried red chiles, mustard seeds, and cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds start to pop, add in garlic, ginger, and chile pastes. When this turns golden, toss in the spice powders. Quickly stir in the curry leaves. Now add the cooked black chickpeas and stir around well to coat with the masala. Add in the reserved cooking liquid. Allow this to come to a boil. Turn off heat and add in a spinkle of salt---just a touch because the chickpeas have been salted in the pressure cooker and there is salt in the cooking liquid. Now add in the lime juice. Taste for salt and tanginess. Add more lime juice if needed. It should be very spicy and tangy.

Serve with hot chapattis or rice.

Sprouted Mung Bean with Tarka

I just loooove me some sprouted mung beans. See here to watch a video on how to sprout your own mung beans at home. The link leads to the wonderful website Show Me the Curry, which I highly recommend perusing.

Now, once you have sprouted your mung beans, you must know what to do with them. Here is a lovely South Indian-ish recipe.

3 cups sprouted mung beans

Boil water (about 5 cups) on the stove. Add the raw sprouted mung beans. Allow the water to return to a boil, and boil for about 10 minutes. The skins will separate from the mung beans and float to the top of the boil. Skim them off, taking care not to discard any lentils. Get as many as you can, but if there are some left, no worries. More healthy fiber for you. Strain and set aside.

3 tbs oil
1 tsp crushed minced ginger

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1/4 tsp asofetida
1 fresh green chile finely chopped

4 fresh green chiles slit open
4 whole dried red chiles emptied of seeds and cut into wedges

6 fresh curry leaves
pinch of haldi

1 tsp cumin powder

1tsp red chile powder
1/4 cup water on hand

boiled strained mung beans (see above)

+/- 1 tsp salt or to taste

1 tsp or so lemon juice
2 tbs chopped cilantro

Heat oil. Fry slit green chiles in oil till they color a little and their outer membranes peel away from their skin a bit. Remove from oil and set aside on a kitchen paper towel. Returning to the hot oil, add in cumin seeds and allow to color. Add in mustard seeds and red chile wedges and when the mustard seeds pop, toss in asofetida. Quickly add in the curry leaves and ginger. Stir till ginger colors.  Pour in  1/4 cup water if you need to prevent any burning. Add in the red chile powder, haldi, and cumin powder. Stir for a moment, then add in the boiled sprouted mung beans. Toss well in oil, then add in the salt. Stir for a few minutes on high heat to infuse the mung beans with the seasoned oil. Lower heat and allow it to cook covered for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice, then chopped cilantro.

Serve with chapattis and fried slit green chiles on the side.

Qabili Pullao

I have adapted this recipe from my in-law's family recipe served every eid. The recipe looks complicated, sorry if it is difficult to read...I promise you that it is extremely easy to cook, though.

This dish is simple but has several steps. The first couple of steps can be done a day ahead of serving. You can actually make the whole gravy a day ahead and add it to the rice the next day, as well.

1 chicken skinned, bone-in, and cut into small-medium pieces
1/2 cup dried channa daal (one cup cooked)

Ingredients assembled for the gravy

3-4 onions
2.5 heaping table spoons garam masala
1 heaping tsp red chile powder
3-4 whole dried red chiles
15 aloo bukharay (dried plums from Indo-Pak market)
1/4 cup water
salt to taste
3 tbs oil
3 cups basmati rice
1 tbs ghee or butter
some whole garam masale: 3 bay leaves, 10 black pepper corns, 5 cloves, 5 green cardamom, 2 big black cardamom, 1-2 shards of cinnamon bark, 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds

The daal: soak 1/2 cup channa daal for one hour. Boil water with daal a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then keep on a low flame for 20 minutes. Strain from water. You should have just tender whole channa daal. Keep aside.

The tali hui pyaaz: Thinly slice 3 onions and fry until light reddish brown. Strain from oil and grind (crush or put in a grinder). Mix 1/2 of the ground fried onion with 1 tsp garam masala and keep aside.

The aloo bukharay: soak in water for about 10 minutes before adding them into the gravy. Strain before you add them into the gravy.

Now to make the gravy:

Alu bukhara soaking in water for a few minutes

Heat oil and brown the chicken pieces to seal in the juices. When the chicken looks browned, add in the remaining ground fried onion, the red chile powder, whole red chiles, the remaining garam masala, and salt to taste---be slightly heavy handed with the salting because you will later add the channa daal to this gravy. Stir for a moment and then add the aloo bukharay. Stir again, add 1/4 cup water, allow this to come to a boil, cover and cook until the chicken is done. When it is done and still hot, mix in the whole cooked channa daal. Close the lid and let it sit for at least 5 minutes to allow the channa daal to soak up the gravy flavors. The aloo bukharay should have disintegrated only very slightly, but should for the most part remain whole so that those who consume your dish get one or two in the mouth as they eat. If you serve this to people who have never eaten an aloo bukhara (pity the souls), remember to tell them to not eat the hard seed, lest they crack their teeth! Okay, your gravy is done. You could keep this in the fridge overnight or add it to the rice right away, as suits your needs.

Finished gravy ready to be layered with rice

Dum dad dum dum dum: The rice (this works for any biryani rice and is called the "dum" method):

Soak the rice for 1/2 hour. In the mean while boil a pot of water with the whole garam masalas. Allow to boil for 10 minutes to extract the garam masala flavor. I cheat sometimes and nuke the water with the whole garam masalas in the microwave on high for 4-5 minutes to get out all that garam masala flavor. Strain the water, keep the garam masalay to the side, return the water to a pot, and allow it to return to the boil. You may add in a few of the strained garam masalay such as the bay leaves, cinnamon, and cardamom into the water for looks. Or keep it out if you want and just throw the strained garam masalay away. You should salt the water double the amount you normally would for 3 cups of boiled rice because you will par-boil the rice al dente like pasta, and throw away the water, so the rice will be bland if it doesn't absorb enough salt.

Okay, now that your garam masala seasoned water is boiling, strain the soaking rice and add it to the boiling water. Keep the colander ready in the sink. Allow the water to return to a boil and let it boil away for 3.5 minutes. Watch the beautiful basmati. kernels lengthen. Now strain the rice. Quickly add 1 tbs ghee or butter to the bottom of a deep pot. Keep the ground onion and garam masala mixture on hand. Add in the strained rice, sprinkling it with the fried onion and garam masala mixture, then a layer of rice, then more onion garam masala mixture. Turn up the flame to high and cover the pot. After two minutes of high flame, put the flame to the lowest possible point and cook the pot of rice for 20 minutes. Turn off the flame. Allow the rice to rest for about 10 minutes before you mess with it further to avoid the kernels breaking.

For a party you can put the rice in a large platter and spread the chicken gravy on top of it. Alternatively you can layer the rice and chicken gravy like a biriani (as shown in the pic). It is up to you.

I hope you enjoy!

Qabili pullao

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!

Tonight we are gonna do it Madras style

Tonite we are doing it Madras style. It is uttapam, sambhar, and coconut chutney. My husband isn't too much into this kind of thing...but too bad for him! I only serve it every once in a while. Since it seems novel, he appreciates it.

The recipe below isn't really helpful unless you have access to ready made dosa/idli/uttapam batter. I am just sharing because it is a favorite meal of mine, plus I feel accomplished for serving it even though I buy a ready-made batter.


For the uttapam: I buy Saravana Bhavan's ready made dosa/idli/uttapam batter from Lulu Hypermarket. Just pour into a hot pan like a pancake and top with chopped onions, chopped green chilies, cilantro, ground coconut, and a few slices of tomatoes. Making dosa batter from scratch would be above my level of cooking skills, though I have been told it is very easy. I have used the boxed Gitz dosa mix before, but I don't recommend it.

For the sambhar: boil toor/arhar ki daal. When it is done, add in a medley of vegetables of your choice, plus some garlic, ginger, and onions chopped. To be true to a sambhar recipe, I recommend tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, eggplant, drumstick vegetable, pearl onions, green beans, and some type of pumpkin. (I buy a packet of pre-cut up mixed veggies called "sambhar vegetables" from Lulu Hypermarket) and cook them till tender, add in about a cup of tamarind water, add in sambhar masala to taste---about 2 tbs (I use Eastern Brand), salt, and a tempering of mustard seeds and dried red chilies, and curry leaves.

For the coconut chutney: in a blender blitz 1 cup fresh ground coconut flesh, 3 chopped green chilies, 1tsp ginger, and some water, and salt to taste, stir in lemon juice, temper with a few curry leaves, 2-3 dried red chilies, a pinch of mustard seeds, and a pinch of unsoaked uraad daal.

Channa Daal Tarka

For the daal

1 cup channa daal, pick out stones, wash, soak for one hour
3 cups water
1 inch chunk of ginger crushed
1/2 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
1 chopped tomato

Boil daal, skim off scum, lower heat, add in raw ginger and turmeric, and cook partially covered until daal is nicely tender and slightly mashed but not obliterated. This will take about 40 minutes. About 10 minutes before the daal is done, add in the chopped tomato. Adding the tomato at the end will cook it but prevent it from completely breaking up. I like to get a bite of chopped tomato in my daal.

For the tarka:
1 finely sliced onion
1 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 whole dried red chilies
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 to 1 tsp dried red chili powder
garlic cut into slivers
2-3 tbs to 1/4 cup oil

In the oil "bhuna" or brown the onion. This means put sliced onions in oil on high heat and then cook until they turn translucent, then lower heat and allow to caramelize, stirring occasionally for 25 minutes or so. When they are reddish and skinny, they are "bhuna hua." When the onions are almost fully bhuna-ed, they will be mostly brown, but still have a little bit of translucence, at this point, put the heat up to medium and add in the whole chilies, the garlic, and the cumin seeds. Allow to cook until the garlic is golden and crispy. If you time it right, the garlic and onion will finish at the same time. At the last minute, turn up the heat to high, put in the cumin and red chili powders, then quickly, before they burn, dump the whole tarka into the daal. Stir once to evenly distribute the onions and all, but leave some of the oil and onions on top, then garnish with cilantro.