Cholar Dal

Hi Friends,

Last week I tried one Bengali Dal recipe. This one is very similar to the Dal Prasad or Abhada that is offered to Lord Jagannath at Puri Jagannath Temple. Slightly sweet and the aroma and flavorful dish is apt for religious ceremonies. Here goes the recipe,

Ingredients:- 

Split Bengal gram (chana dal) 1 cup

Ghee 3 tablespoons

Coconut 1/4 inch pieces

Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Sugar 1 teaspoon

Cloves 3

Cinnamon 1 inch stick

Black cardamom 1

Cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon

Bay leaves 2

Whole dry red chillies 2

Ginger paste 1 teaspoon

Raisins 1 teaspoon

Roasted Cumin and red chilli powder 1/2 teaspoon

Method :-

Wash and soak the dal for an hour. Drain and pressure-cook with three cups of water till just done. Heat two tablespoons of ghee in a pan and fry coconut pieces till golden. Drain and set aside. Add turmeric powder, salt and sugar to the dal and simmer on low heat till most of its water gets absorbed and it becomes thick.Heat the remaining ghee in another pan. Add cloves, cinnamon, black cardamom, cumin seeds, bay leaves, whole dry red chillies  and sauté for two minutes. Add roasted cumin and red chilli powder . Then pour this seasoning into the simmering dal. Add ginger paste, fried coconut pieces and raisins and simmer for five more minutes. Serve hot with luchi's or puri's.

Gobi Chana Masala

Hi Readers,

This recipe is a special one for me. It was prepared by my granny. After, long time I tried her dish. This one uses Gobi, aloo and Chana dal to make the curry. I do not know whether to call this a curry or a dal fry.

Lets now have a look at the recipe.

Ingredients :- 

1 cup chana dal soaked for 1 hr

10 to 15 florets of cauliflower into medium size pieces

1 medium sized potato cut into cubes

1 large onion chopped into thin slices

2 medium tomatoes chopped

1 inch ginger chopped 

4 flakes garlic chopped

few coriander leaves

1 tbsp cumin seeds 

salt to taste

1/2 tbsp turmeric powder

2 tbsp oil

1 green chili chopped

1/2 tbsp garam masala

Powdered masala - 

1/2 tbsp saha jeera

3 to 4 cloves

2 small cardamom

1/2 stick cinnamon

Method :- 

Pressure cook chana dal for two whistles . Add salt and turmeric to it before pressure cooking. Leave it aside. Dal should keep its shape intact. Heat a pan, add one tbsp oil and add potato and cauliflower. Add turmeric powder and salt as per taste and cook till cauliflower is half cooked. Keep aside and heat the pan. Add oil, when oil is hot add cumin seeds, when it starts to splutter add green chili, onion. When Onions turn pink, add chopped ginger and garlic. Cook till the raw smell is gone. Add chopped tomato, salt, turmeric powder and cook till oil starts to separate. Add in the cauliflower and potato. Add the cooked dal and water if needed. Add in powdered masala and 1/2 tbsp garam masala. Cook till cauliflower is done. Serve hot with steamed rice or hot chapati.

Arhar Palak ki dal

Hi Readers,

This is my other recipe on Christmas eve. Dal palak is a common recipe in my house hold. I usually make Dal palak by pressure cooking Dal and palak and adding a tampering of Cumin and garlic to it. However, this time, I have made the same following a Nita Mehta recipe of it. It is a nice detailed variations with spices, flavor and aroma to the simple Dal palak recipe.

Nice recipe for occasions, I would not make it every day as it uses lots of ghee.

Ingredients :- 

1 cup Arhar or Toor Dal

3 bunches of Spinach washed and chopped

3 cups water

salt to taste

1 tbsp turmeric power

1/2 tea spoon finely chopped ginger

1/2 tea spoon finely chopped garlic

1 green chili chopped

Tampering :- 

1 medium tomato chopped

1 medium onion chopped

3 tbsp ghee

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1/2 tbsp red chili powder

1/2 tbsp garam masala

1/2 tbsp coriander powder

1/2 tbsp amchur powder

Method:- 

In a pressure cooker add Toor dal, chopped spinach and water. Add turmeric powder, salt, chopped ginger, garlic and green chili. Pressure cook in medium flame till 1 whistle. Now, reduce flame and cook in simmer for another 6 to 7 mins. Keep aside. Take a tampering vessel. Heat it, add ghee.When ghee is sufficiently hot, add cumin seeds, Onion. When onion is fried add tomato, garam masala, coriander powder, amchur powder and red chili powder. When tomato is done, add the tampering mixture to Dal. Serve hot with steamed rice. 

Madras Sambar

Hi Readers,

When I was not married and used to stay with friends, we had a cook. Her hand made Sambar was delicious. I remember, we never had got Sambar Masala in our room, but she would manage to make it delicious and with same smell & taste without it. However, I never got a chance to see how she made it. She used to prepare food when we were out in Office.

Post marriage, I thought of preparing this dish several times, but my dear husband would turn down my request, may be he thought I can't make it good. Lol... Last Saturday, I made my mind, though my husband had same response , I somehow managed to get his acknowledgement. I had a pack of Madras Sambar Masala sitting in my cup-board. You know what..my husband completed all the sambar that I made for Lunch. It was no doubt with same taste, same smell as my cook used to make though I had to use the masala. I made thick gravy as is available in Chennai. After, staying for more than five years in various parts of South India, I now know the difference in taste of Sambar from various places. :)

Lets now have a look at the recipe.

Ingredients 

Oil - 1 tsp

Ghee - 2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Asafoetida - a pinch

Curry leaf - 10 leaves

Coriander leaves - 3 springs

Madras Sambar Powder - 2 tbsp

Toor dal - 1 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Tamarind - a lime sized bal

Sambar Onion - 1 cup

Any vegetable - 2 cups(I have used drumsticks, Bhindi, Pumpkin & carrot)

Salt as per taste

Wash toor dal, add 2 cups of water and turmeric powder. Pressure cook until 3 whistle.

soak tamarind in 1 cup of water and extract the juice filtering the skin. Keep aside.

Heat 4 cups of water in a deep pan, when it comes to boil add whole onion, vegetable, sambar powder, cooked dal and salt. cover it up and let it cook for 5 min in medium flame, then add tamarind juice, when it boils cover up and cook for 10 min. Now add the grounded powder and cook for 5 min and turn off the flame.

Heat oil in a separate pan, add mustard seeds when it done popped switch off the flame, add asafoetida powder curry leaf, coriander leaf and ghee. Pour it on top of the cooked sambar. Stir well and serve hot with rice.

Mooga dalma

Hi Readers,

Yesterday, I had prepared Mooga Dalma for lunch. Mooga dalma is  prepared with roasted Moong dal that gives a nice aromatic flavor. There are many versions of Dalma, it tastes different with different ingredients to it. This is one of the well known and popular Dalma recipe for its aromatic flavor and taste. It uses only one dal. Lets now, have a look at the recipe.

Ingredients: 

Moong Dal: 1 cup (roasted moong dal)

Potato: 1 large cut into chunks

Pumpkin: 1 cup cut into chunks

Arvi/Saru: 3 medium cut into chunks

EggPlant: 1 medium cut in chunks

tomato: 1 cut into 4 pieces

Ghee: 2 tsp

Paanch Phutan: 1 tbsp(cumin,fennel,fenugreek,mustard,kalounji/black seeds)

Dry red chili: 2

Water: 2 cups

Ginger: 1 inch grated

Turmeric : 1 tsp

Sugar: 1tbsp

Salt to taste

Roasted Cumin Red Chili Powder: 2 tsp.

Procedure:

In a deep bottom pot dry roast the Mung Dal for 2-3 mins till beautiful aroma comes out. Roasted Moog dal is available in market in Odisha.

Remove from heat and let it cool down. In a pressure cooker, add dal and vegetables, add water, turmeric and salt. Cook in medium flame. After the first whistle, turn off the cooker and let it cool by itself. In another tampering pan add ghee, add Paanch Phutan, red chili, ginger and add the tampering mixture to the cooked dal. Finally add the roasted cumin and red chili powder and serve hot garnishe with coriander leaves.

A typical meal would have rice, dalma, tomato khata, and some kind of dry subji.

Laukiwali Chana ki dal

This is the recipe that I learnt from my friend Preeti. I had never tasted this before. In Odisha I just had tasted Chana dal with potato, and frankly speaking I am not quiet fond of it. Yes, Lauki in Chana dal tastes better and considering health this is definitely better, especially for diabetic. As such Lauki has many medicinal properties. It is a good source of carbohydrates, Vitamin A, C and minerals. Lauki helps in maintaining blood pressure and cholestrol; helps controlling diabetes, reduces fats; also useful in weight loss. It is a rich source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. It enhances growth of WBC and increases immunity. 

Moreover, Lauki(Lau in Odia)has only a handful of good dishes to name. I like the way my Mom prepares Lauki Kofta curry and Lauki aloo rai. My husband also likes the Kofta curry. Next time, I will prepare the Kofta curry and post you the recipe. I am also yet to experiment on Rajasthani style Bharwa Lauki. So, many dishes for me to prepare and blog. Here, goes the recipe for you.

Ingredients

•Bottle gourd (lauki/doodhi),cut into small pieces

•Split Bengal gram (chana dal) 1/2 cup

•Salt to taste

•Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon

•Oil 1 tablespoon

•Cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon

•Green chillies,chopped 2

•Asafoetida 1 pinch

•Red chilli powder 1/2 teaspoon

•Coriander powder 2 teaspoons

•Tomatoes,chopped 2 medium

•Garam masala powder 1/2 teaspoon

•Sugar 1/4 teaspoon(optional)

•Lemon juice 2 teaspoons

•Fresh coriander leaves,chopped 2 tablespoons

Method :-

Soak chana dal in one and half cups of water for an hour. Drain. Boil chana dal and lauki with salt, turmeric powder and one cup of water till done. Mash slightly with back of round spoon and mix well. Keep aside. Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, green chillies and asafoetida and cook for a minute. Add red chilli powder, coriander power and cook till fragrant. Add tomatoes and cook till they soften. Add cooked chana dal and lauki and stir. Add garam masala powder, sugar and adjust salt. Simmer for two minutes. Add lemon juice and stir. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot. 

Pindi Chole

 Pindi Chole one of my and my husband's favorite dish. Pindi chole Bhatore is one of my favourite Punjabi dish. When ever I make this at home, my husband would finish all the amount at once. So, I make chole at-least once every month. The best part is it uses Chickpea which is one of the richest source of protein.  Here, goes the authentic Punjabi recipe for it.

Ingredients :- 

Chickpea - 3/4 cup

Onion - 1 finely chopped

Ginger garlic paste - 1.5 tsp

Tomato puree -  from 2 medium sized tomatoes

Green Chillies- 2 slitted

Tea Bag - 1

Cinnamon - 1/4 inch piece

Cardamom - 1

Bayleaf - 1

Red Chilli Powder - 3/4 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp

Amchur powder(Dry mango powder) - 1 tsp

Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp finely chopped

Lemon juice - 2 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

To roast and grind:

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Anardana seeds(Pomegranate Seeds) - 2 tsp

Method:-  Dry roast cumin and anardana seeds till nice aroma rises, and grind it to a coarse powder, Set aside. Soak chana overnight and pressure cook with enough water along with tea bag,cinnamon ,  bay leafand cardamom for 3-4 whistles.Drain water and keep chana aside.Reserve drained water.Heat oil in a pan add onion, ginger garlic paste and green chillies saute till golden brown.

Add the tomato puree,roasted powder,red chilli powder,garam masala powder and required salt. Saute till raw smell leaves.Then add reserved boiled water.

Allow it to boil for few mins.Once it becomes thick like a semi thick gravy add the cooked channa.

Add amchur powder , give a quick stir and let chana absorb the gravy well. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and switch off.Add lemon juice while serving along with onion rings.

Note:- Chole Masla is widely available in market that has amchur powder, anardana powder in it. You can replace the masala making procedure above with the powder, incase you use this powder, add 1/2 tbsp of amchur powder or chat masala along with 1 and 1/2 tbsp of chole masala. Tomato puree can be replaced with 2 large tomato chopped finely. Adding garam masala is optional. 

Dalma

Dalma, one of the most famous and integral part of Odia cuisine. This dish is quiet simple to make and has a unique flavor. This dish can be made in various forms. Its a conglomeration of  many ingredients, that can separately be added and form Dalma. Many different varieties of Dal (lentils) along with vegetables is put together to make this dish. You can opt for many ingredients or skip a few the dish would have different flavors but the outcome is Dalma. Therefore, this dish can have many flavors and would depend on your liking's to choose the ingredients. 

I am describing the traditional version here . The main ingredient that gives it the rich Dalma flavor are, Pumpkin and raw papaya.

Ingredients :- 
3/4 cup: Toor dal and Chana Dal (optional masoor dal and moong dal)
150 gm: Pumpkin cut into large pieces
1 no: Brinjal, large and cut into medium size pieces
1 no: Banana green and cut into medium size pieces
1 no: Papaya, small and cut into medium size pieces
1 no: Potato, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 tsp: Coconut, grated
1 tsp: Pancha-phutana (Cumin, Mustard, Fennel, Fenu greek, Kala Jeera)
3 no: Red Chillies, dried
1 tbs: Ginger, minced
1 tbs: Turmeric
2 tsp: Cumin, fried
1 tsp: Ghee or Oil
1/2 tsp: Sugar, Salt to taste

Methods :-

1.Dry roast 1 tsp of cumin and red chilli in a pan.

2. Grind it properly and leave it aside.

3. In a pressure cooker add 4 cups of water and add both dals (toor and chana),cut vegetables, coconut, salt, minced ginger, turmeric and leave it until Dal is half cooked.

4. Cook for 2 whistle in medium flame and simmer and cook for 2 mins and then take it off from flame and let it cook till the pressure drops.

5. Heat a pan, add ghee & cumin seeds. When it starts crackling add two red chili and curry leaves(optional). Pour this mixture over cooked dalma.

6. Sprinkle roasted cumin and chilli powder.

7. Decorate with grated coriander leaves (optional).

Dal Dhokli Gujurati Dish

Hi Friends,

This is a traditional Gujurati dish that I prepared for the first time, after watching the receipe in foodfood channel. The presenter had added some raw onion chpped to make it taste better. However, I do not prefer eating raw onion in dal at lunch time with plain steamed rice. So, I have skipped it. However, I would like to add these raw onion if eating the same dish as a chatpata snack item like the very famous street chats.

Ingredients

For The Dhoklis
1 cup whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta)
1 1/2 tbsp besan (bengal gram flour)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing)
1 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
salt to taste
For The Dal
1 cup toovar (arhar) dal
2 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)
1/4 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds
5 curry leaves (kadi patta)
2 cloves (laung / lavang)
2 sticks cinnamon (dalchini)
1 bayleaf (tejpatta)
2 round red chillies (boriya mirch)
1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing)
5 kokum , soaked
5 tbsp jaggery (gur)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
2 green chillies slit green chillies
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp grated ginger (adrak)
2 tbsp boiled peanuts
salt to taste
For The Garnish
4 tbsp finely chopped coriander (dhania)

Method
For the dhoklis
1.Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and knead into a firm dough using enough water.
2.Divide the dough into 5 equal portions and roll out each portion into thin chapatis [approx. 200 mm. (8”)].
3.Heat a non-stick tava (griddle) and gently cook each chapati till light brown spots appear on both the sides.
4.Cool and cut each chapati into diamond or square shapes and keep aside.
For the dal
1.Clean, wash and drain the dal.
2.Combine the dal and 1½ cups of water in a pressure cooker and pressure cook for 3 whistles.
3.Allow the steam to escape before opening the lid. Remove and blend it till smooth using a hand blender and keep aside.
4.Heat the ghee and oil in a deep kadhai, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, cloves, cinnamon, bayleaf, round red chillies and asafoetida, mix well and sauté on a medium flame for 1 minute.
5.Add the dal, 3½ cups of water, kokum, jaggery, turmeric powder, lemon juice, green chillies, chilli powder, ginger, peanuts and salt and mix well.
6.Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes while stirring once in between. Keep aside.
How to proceed
1.Just before serving, boil the dal, slowly add the dhokli pieces one by one, and mix gently.
2.Simmer for 5 to 7 minutes, while stirring occasionally.
3.Serve hot garnished with coriander.
Handy tips:
1.Add the dhoklis one by one into the dal, otherwise they could coagulate to form one big lump.
2.Add more water if the dal thickens while simmering.

Rajma masala

Hi,

This is a delicious Red kidney bean preparation, that is authentic Punjabi cuisine and tastes best with steamed rice.

Ingredients
•Red kidney beans (rajma),soaked overnight 1 1/2 cups
•Salt to taste
•Oil 3 tablespoons
•Bay leaves 2
•Onions,finely chopped 2 medium
•Ginger,chopped 1 inch piece
•Garlic,chopped 6-8 cloves
•Tomatoes,pureed 3 medium
•Coriander powder 1 tablespoon
•Cumin powder 1 teaspoon
•Red chilli powder 2 teaspoons
•Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon
•Garam masala powder 1 teaspoon

Method
Pressure cook rajma with five cups of water and salt till totally cooked and soft. Heat oil in a deep pan. Add bay leaves and onion (you can grate the onion if you wish). Add ginger and garlic and continue to sauté till the mixture turns golden. Add tomato puree, mix and continue to cook. Add coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and cook till the oil leaves the masala. Add rajma along with the cooking liquour and mix. Adjust salt and add garam masala powder. Lower the heat and simmer for about fifteen to twenty minutes on low heat. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Sabut moong ki lehsuni dal

Hi Readers,

This is  dal variety with strong use of garlic for taste.

Ingredients :- 1- Moong dal or green gram dal - 100 gm

2- turmeric

3- salt

4- 6 flakes of garlic chopped

5- mustard, cumin seeds

6- 1 red chili

7- oil

Method :- In a pressure cooker, add the green gram dal, water, salt and turmeric. Cook till pressure cooker gives 3 whistles over low flame. Remove from heat. in another pan , add little oil. Add cumin and mustard seeds. Add red chili, garlic and add the dal to it. Serve hot with rice. 

Beet root Dal fry

Hi Readers,

As we all know beet root is very nutritious , but having beet root in only salad is not adequate. So, this is a dish that not only provides the healthy beet root in your dish , but also blends flavor to it. There are some common beet root dishes that is usually made in South India. This is one among them which I like the most.

Ingredients :-  1- 1 beet root chopped thinly
2- 100 gm Masoor dal/ red lentils
3- 1 onion chopped
4- 3 flakes of garlic chopped
5- 1 tomato chopped
6- 1 green chili chopped
7- pinch of asfoetida
8- pinch of turmeric
9- 1 tbsp oil
10- salt to taste
11- cumin seeds, mustard seeds - 1 tbsp

Method :-  In a pressure cooker add the lentil, beet root, turmeric, salt and water. Cook over low flame till 2 whistles. Remove from flame. In another pan, add oil, add cumin and mustard seeds. When it stars cracking add onion, garlic, tomato and asfoetida. Cook till onion is translucent and add the dal to it. Serve hot with rice.