Dal Makhani

Whenever we have guests home we typically cook a proper North Indian meal with Dal, Roti, Sabji and Chawal unless they are South Indian food lovers.In North Indian, there are so many things that we could cook, but given the time and effort, you always want to cook something tasty and quick so that you can relax and spend time with the guests rather than in the kitchen. In North Indian cuisine, I always loved Dal Makhani - it has been my most favorite dal and I have always ordered that whenever I have been to the restaurant. In my growing up years I have always been intrigued to find out what goes into this dish. After I started cooking, every time I had been to a restaurant for dinner, I started guessing the ingredients. First thing I noticed was it was made of Black Urad dal with traces of Rajma (Red Kidney beans). Slowly I started taking my chances on the ingredients and started trying at home. Everytime I cooked, I started getting closer to the taste as I kept varying the spices used. But there was something missing. Once when shopping for grocery in Norway, I checked out MDH masala and it had the Dal Makhani Masala. I brought that one and believe me when I cooked my Dal Makhani with the usual ingredients and just added this readymade masala on the top, the taste just changed! I got the taste that I was looking for so many times I made this dish! I know this masala is ready made, but it just saves my time and effort in churning out a beautiful dish!

Dal Makhani is considered one of the richest dal in terms of calories. The Makhan(cream) in the Makhani is the culprit for all the calories, but the reason for the creamy texture of the dal. It would be an indulgence  for the fitness freaks. Hence I got into the quest what best can I do to reduce the calorie intake keeping the creaminess of the dal intact. I tried using Dahi (yogurt), but then the dal looked curdled. The next best alternative I could think of was Milk. And voila! the result was superb. I got the same creamy texture as any other restaurant Dal Makhani would do and this one was healthy too! Over the period I realised that Black Urad Dal when cooked also adds to the creaminess of the dal. This has now become one of my signature recipes that I have improvised over last 2-3 years.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup black whole urad dal with 12-13 grains of Red Kidney beans (rajma) (soaked in water for 7-8 hours)
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds (jeera)
• 3 tsp crushed ginger and garlic (or ginger garlic paste)
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes finely chopped (or fresh pureed tomato)
• 1 green chilli finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
• 1 tsp chilli powder or as per the spice desired
• 2 tsp corriander powder (dhaniya powder)
• 1 tsp cumin powder (jeera powder)
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp MDH Dal Makhani masala
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3 tsp oil
• Salt to taste
• Corriander leaves (for garnish)

How to make:

1. Cook soaked Black whole urad dal and Red Kidney beans in a pressure cooker for 5-6 whistles (rajma takes time to cook) and let it cool till the pressure in the cooker is released.
2. In a heavy bottomed pan, add oil and let it heat on medium heat. Once hot, add cumin seeds and let it crackle.
3. Add ginger garlic paste and chopped green chilli and saute for a minute. To this add onion and fry till
4. it become clear.
5. Once clear, add turmeric powder, chilli powder, corriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala powder.
6. Fry till the masala leaves oil. Keep the heat low to make sure that the masala does not burn.
7. Add tomato or tomato puree to this masala and cook till tomato turns mushy and oil leaves the sides of the pan.
8. To this add the milk. This gives a gravy consistency. Cook for 3-4 minutes and the gravy will turn thicker.
9. Once the gravy is thick add the cooked Dal mixture, add salt and bring it to boil. Add water as required to get the consistency (not too thick, not too thin)
10. Finally add the MDH Dal Makhani masala and let the dal boil for 5-10 minutes in low heat.
11. Garnish with chopped corriander leaves. (optional: you can swirl in a blob of cream now to make it more presentable. I do it when I have a party ;-))

Tip: For the tomato puree, you could either use the ready made puree or make the puree at home. To make it at home, use the following step:

- blanch the tomato in hot boiling water for 10 minutes and then peel the skin.

- grind the tomato pulp in the blender

Methi Pulao

I know it has been a very very long time since I have actually blogged a recipe. After my brief stint in Norway I headed back to India and got entangled into the corporate IT jungle and the hustle bustle of Mumbai life. I was itching to update my recipes, but could hardly find time as I was working almost 13-14 hrs a day on an important Govt. Project. 

After almost a year staying away from my husband, I was yearning for a normal life. Finally my husband made it back to India and shortly after that he got an assignment in the UK. Since both of us were working for the same company now, I tried for a project in the UK so that I could live with my husband. After a long haul over my release from the current assignment, I was finally successful in securing a project. In UK I had the opportunity and time to cultivate my culinary skills further and was happy noting each recipe I make to the details. Unfortunately, I never got the time to post them. My friends and colleagues there used to coerce me to post recipe to the blog I created almost 2 years back. Though I used to share the recipes personally with them, I never came back to writing a blog about the experiences. 

Now I am in Sydney, Australia. Been almost 3 years that I started this blog. I feel it was a negligence from my end that I am not pursuing my interest and have just been blaming time. With that thought in mind and the encouragement that I have being receiving from my husband, family and friends around the globe, I have decided that I will start posting recipes and my experiences with cooking - Indian as well as local recipes from the places I have traveled over the last few years. I hope you would live the experiences and enjoy them as much as I have the pleasure of posting them to you.

Having said that, let me tell you I am having some great times in a short while I have been in Sydney. Thanks to Deepak's Childhood Buddy Ashish and his wife Prachi who had made our stay in Sydney very comfortable from the time we have landed in the city. Since I have crowd here, it gives me the natural high to keep experimenting with food and try new recipes. I have the best critic - my husband as well as very supportive friends who encourage me to keep up to my passion.

So last weekend I had 3 bunches of methi (fenugreek leaves) brought from our local wholesale market. It was so fresh that I didn't want it to just wither away. 

Hence on Thursday night after dinner I started picking the leaves stem by stem and it took me almost 2 hrs to complete and was totally exhausted and cribbing to my husband what a waste of time picking methi was! Understanding my exhaustion, my poor hubby helped me pick the last bunch. 

Weekends here are usually spent with Ash and Pra and it was decided that they would come home for dinner on Friday night. Since I had a lot of methi leaves, the usual idea was to make curry out of methi accompanied by roti. But then I thought roti would be too usual and to have a great start to the weekend, I 

should make something different. Thus the menu was decided that I would make Methi Pulao, Dal makhani and Cucumber and Mint raita.

Methi Pulao is very easy to make if you have all the necessary ingredients handy. The main taste changer of the pulao is the home made Garam masala, which goes well with other pulao recipes too. So if you have this one ready then making any type of Pulao is an easy job!

Ingredients:

For Garam Masala

• 2 Bay leaves (tej patta)
• 2 small cinnamon sticks (dal chini)
• 2 cloves (laung)
• 2 cardamom (elaichi)
• 1 tsp poppy seeds (khus khus)
• 1.5 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
• 2 tbsp corriander seeds (Dhaniya)
• 3-4 Dry red chillies (depends on how spicy you want) (sukkhi lal mirch)
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds (jeera)

For Methi pulao

• 2 Bay leaves (tej patta)
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds (jeera)
• 2 cups Basmati Rice (washed and soak for 10 min)
• 2 medium onions (cut into thin vertical strips)
• 1 medium tomato (finely chopped)
• 2 tsp crushed ginger and garlic (alternatively you can use ready made ginger garlic paste)
• 4 cups methi (washed and finely chopped)
• Salt to taste
• 4 tsp Oil
• Ghee (clarified butter) for flavor (optional)

How to Make:

1. Dry roast all the ingredients mentioned under Garam masala in low heat (for about 5 minutes). Let it cool down. Once cooled, grind them into fine powder.
2. Drain water from the rice and let it stand on a perforated vessel.
3. At the same time, keep 4 cups of water to boil. (Alternately you can boil the water in a kettle)
4. In a wok or kadhai, add 2 tsp oil. Once hot, add 2 bay leaves and 1 tsp cumin seeds. 
5. Once cumin seeds crackle, add the rice and saute it well for 2-3 minutes.At this stage the water in the rice is all absorbed.At this stage, add a tsp of Ghee (clarified butter) if required. 
6. Now add 4 cups of boiling water and salt. Mix well and cover the wok with a lid. Cook on low heat. The rice should be cooked in approx. 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the rice cool down a bit.
7. While the rice is cooking, in another non stick pan, heat 2 tsp oil.
8. Once hot, add ginger garlic paste and onion. Saute well till onion is clear.Add totmato and cook well till tomato is mushy and oil leaves the side of the side of the pan.
9. At this stage add chopped methi and mix well. Cook with lid covered for about 7-10 minutes so that methi is cooked properly. Add Salt at this stage as it would be difficult to mix salt once rice is added.
10. Once methi is cooked, add the ground Garam masala little by little ( as per the spice taste you desire) and let this cook for 5 minutes and then turn off the heat.
11. Let this mixture stand for 5 minutes and then add this methi mixture to the cooked Basmati rice. Mix well and cook the Pulao n low heat (wok covered with lid) for 10 minutes.

Garnish with chopped corriander and delicious Methi pulao is ready to serve. This goes well with Dal Makhani and Cucumber and Mint Raita.

Tip: You can also add fried cashew nuts on the top just before serving.

Chole

A very easy recipe to make is Chole or Chana Masala. Also if had with chappati / roti with some salad or raita makes it a complete meal.

It is said that eating lot of this chana causes gas problems, stomach upset etc. but cooking this with some ginger will reduce the 'gassy' effect of this chana.

I have never been very chole person, would prefer eating veggies to chana, but busy lifestyle, less time for cooking etc. have made me develop liking to this food.

Ingredients

• 1 cup kabuli chana / chick peas
• 1 tsp jeera
• 1 onion (chopped finely)
• 1 tomato (chopped finely)
• 1-2 green chillies (chopped finely)
• 2 tsp ginger (finely chopped)
• 2 garlic pods (finely chopped)
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp chilli pd
• 1 tsp corriander pd
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp chana masala / chole masala (any brand)
• 1 tsp cream / yogurt
• 2-3 tsp oil
• 1-2 tsp butter / ghee
• Salt to Taste

How to make:

1. Soak Chana Overnight or for 6-7 hours.
2. Boil and cook Chana along with ginger, a pinch of chilli pd and some salt in a pressure cooker.
3. Heat some oil in the kadhai or a pan. Add jeera and let it splutter. Now add onions and fry till it turns brown. Add chopped garlic to it and fry well.
4. Add the dry masalas - turmeric pd, chilli pd, corriander pd and garam masala and fry.
5. Once fried well, add some cream or yogurt and mix well till oil separates. To this add tomato and let it cook till it forms a consistent mushy gravy.
6. Now add the boiled chana along with the remaining water in which the chana was boiled.
7. Add some salt as per taste and cook for 10 min in low flame so that the masala blends with the chana.
8. In a small pan heat some butter / ghee. When hot add chana masala to it and immediately pour over the chole.

Spicy Chole is ready and can be served garnished with corriander leaves and a dash of lemon.

Mor Kozhambu (south indian kadi)

The main diet of Iyer Brahmins is composed of vegetarian food comprising of mainly rice and accompanied by Sambhar, rasam, kootu etc. Sambhar is also called kozhumbu in Tamil. This Kozhumbu is made in different types using various ingredient base. Generally the base is of tamarind pulp, but a different variety is also made using tangy Buttermilk or Mor called Mor Kozhumbu.

This Mor Kozhambu is a well-known and very popular dish in every Tamil Iyer house hold. To this you can add vegetables like lady's finger or okra, white pumpkin, Colocassia, lentil dumplings etc.

Similar to this, people in Maharashtra and in North india prepare Kadi made from buttermilk and besan.

My husband hails from the very famous Tanjore household where every person enjoy food to their heart content. He loves this tangy concoction the way his mother makes it and I must say that my mother-in-law is a great cook!

I learnt this recipe from my mother-in-law and now I can say that I am trying to gain expertise in this too!

There are many recipes that I have learnt from her and my father-in-law and will add it as and when time permits!

In this Mor Kozhumbu I am going to add Okra or Vendakkai in Tamil.

Ingredients

• 4-5 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp toor dal
• 1/2 tsp channa dal
• 1/2 tsp corriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp raw rice
• 2-3 tsp jeera
• 4-5 Green chillies
• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 10-12 curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• 5-6 okra (cut into medium size pieces)
• A pinch of Turmeric
• 1-2 tsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds

How to make it:

1. Soak the toor dal, channa dal, corriander seeds in some water for 1/2 hr
2. Fry the Okra pieces in some oil with a pinch of turmeric and salt. Fry well and then add some water so that the Okra cooks well. (If you fry the okra well, it will not get slimy when you add water)
3. Now take a blender / mixer. Add grated coconut, green chillies, jeera and the soaked dals and corriander seeds. Add a little salt and grind. Instead of adding water add some buttermilk and grind it to a paste.
4. Next, either you can mix the paste into the rest of the butter milk or you can add all the buttermilk in the blender and blend it once.
5. Transfer the buttermilk mixture into a heavy bottom vessel and place it over the stove on medium flame.
6. Keep stirring the mixture else it will curdle.
7. When it is about to boil, add the cooked okra to the buttermilk mixture.
8. Keep stirring and let it boil for a min and switch off the gas.
9. In a Small pan, add some oil. Once heated add mustard seeds to it and let it crackle.
10. Add this tadka to Mor Kuzhambu.

Tasty tangy Vendakkai Mor Kuzhambu is ready. It is best served with Kottavarangai paruppusili. (Another great Tamilian dish)

Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji has been a quintessential food of every Mumbaikar. Being true Mumbaikars, we also like hogging on to this road side junk whenever we can get our hands on. In Mumbai, the best place to have this at Khaugali.

But whenever you are out of the country the accessibility to have these kinda food becomes restricted. Hence enjoying this typical "Mumbaiya" delicacy is confided into the 4 walls of your home.
I have tried cooking Pav Bhaji in different ways but never could get that taste.

Recently when I wanted to make Pav Bhaji, I did an online search of different recipes. It is only then I stumbled upon this link of Authentic Pav Bhaji made in an Indian Street.
http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/pav_bhaji

Immediately I set myself making this recipe. And I don't have to explicitly mention the outcome. It was simply wow!

Ingredients

• 1 Capsicum
• 2 Tomatoes
• 1 potato
• 1/2 Cauliflower (broken into florets)
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1 onion
• 1-2 tsp of Ginger-Garlic paste
• 2-3 tsp Red Chilli pd
• 2-3 tsp Pav Bhaji Masala (I used Everest)
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric Pd
• A pinch of Hing / Asafoetida
• 4-5 blobs of Butter
• 2 spoons Lemon juice
• 2 tsp of Kasuri Methi (Dry Fenugreek leaves)
• Coriander leaves (for garnishing)
• 1/2 small tsp Tandoori Masala (to get the red color)
• 8 pav / buns

How to make:
For Bhaji:-

1. Heat very little butter in a heavy Bottomed vessel (preferably a flatter one). Add capsicum to it and saute for a min.
2. Now add tomato and saute. Add a little water if required.
3. Smash Potato, Cauliflower and peas with a smasher and add to the tomato-capsicum gravy.
4. Add ginger garlic paste, red chilli pd, turmeric pd and mix well.
5. Add butter and keep smashing the vegetable while u mix.
6. Now add Pav Bhaji Masala, Salt and corriander leaves and keep mixing and smashing till the oil separates.
7. The next heat some butter in another tawa / pan. To it add chopped onions, ginger garlic paste, red chilli pd, Pav Bhaji Masala, Kasuri Methi, Hing, Corriander leaves and some Lemon Juice. (optional - if u require the red color, add tandoori masala)
8. Mix well till the masalas are cooked.
9. Now add the vegetable mixture to the fried onions and keep smashing till u get a consistent mixture.

For Pav:-

1. Heat some butter. To it add a pinch of Red chilli pd, Pav Bhaji Masala and some corriander leaves.
2. Slit the pav or bun horizontally and saute it in this mixture for a min. Roast both sides till it becomes soft.

Serve Pav Bhaji garnished with corriander and a blob of butter with some raw onions mixed with corriander and a lemon wedge on the side.

Masala Pori

Every evening my hubby comes home and wants something to snack on. He would not like to eat upma, dosa and all, but would need something spicy or chatpata.Hence, my house would always be stocked with junk food like chips, mixture, chivda, ribbon pakoda n all. Unfortunately we both knew that eating such junk is not a healthy way to snack.

I remembered when I was young, my mom used to insist having healthy snack and never liked us indulging in junk food. One of her recipes was this Masala Pori.

Pori / Kurmura is a healthy option for snacking and mixing it with simple spices makes it a tasty snack. Some people add Garlic to this snack, but I prefer keeping it simple.

Ingredients

• 3 cups Pori / kurmura / Murmura / Indian Puffed Rice
• 2-3 tsp Oil (healthy option : use olive oil)
• 1 small tsp mustard seeds
• 1/4 small tsp asefoetida or hing
• 1 tsp roasted chana dal (the one used in chutney)
• 2-3 tsp peanuts
• 2-3 chillies
• 1/2 tsp chilli pd
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric pd
• Salt to Taste

How to make:

1. Mix salt with the Pori and keep it aside
2. Add oil to a small pan. When hot, add mustard seeds and let it splutter.
3. Keep the flame on low and add asefoetida, roasted chana dal, chillies, peanuts, chilli pd and turmeric pd. Mix it lightly and Pour over the Pori.
4. Mix the Pori with hand or with a ladle.

The Healthy snack is ready. Enjoy with a cup of hot Indian Chai!

Chole Palak

Though I come from a typical south indian family, I was brought up in the cosmopolitan city of Mumbai. Hence , have acquired a taste for both South Indian and North Indian cuisines. There are days when I crave for authentic south indian food like sambhar, rasam, aviyal n all... and there r days when I would only like to have simple roti and sabji.

When it comes to dieting, wheat scores over rice. Though rice is a staple food for most south indians, eating lot of rice tends to make put on weight and a big belly. It makes you feel lethargic and sleepy.

Here in Oslo, I and my hubby decided on a pattern which will help us enjoy both south indian (read rice) and north indian (read roti).

During the weekdays we stick to roti, sabji and a salad or raita and in the weekends we have proper south indian saapadu varying from sambhars, rasams, tuvaiyal, aviyal etc.

I believe lentils and veggies should be equally included in the diet.

This recipe of Chole Palak or Chana Palak blends the nutrients of both lentil and Leafy vegetable - palak / spinach.


Ingredients

• 1/2 cup kabuli channa / Chick peas (soak overnight or for 6-7 hours)
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1-2 green chillies (finely chopped)
• 1 packet spinach leaves / Palak (cleaned and chopped)
• 1 onion (finely chopped)
• 1 tomato (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp chilli pd
• 1 tsp turmeric pd
• 1 tsp jeera powder
• 1 tsp channa masala powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp whole jeera
• 2 tsp malai or curd
• 2-3 tsp Oil
• 2 tsp ghee
• Salt as per taste

How To Make:

1. Pressure cook the soaked chana with some salt for 4-5 whistles or till they become soft.
2. In a separate vessel, add the chopped spinach with a little water and let it cook till soft.
3. Heat oil in a pan / kadhai. When hot add jeera and let it splutter. Now add onions and saute till it turns pink. To this add chopped green chillies and ginger paste. Let it cook for a minute. Now add the masalas - turmeric pd, chilli pd, jeera pd and garam masala pd and Fry till the masala is well cooked.
4. Now add the chopped tomatoes and fry till oil separates. Then add malai or curd and fry well till it forms a thick gravy.
5. Now add spinach to the gravy. Fry for 1-2 min and add the boiled channa with the water in which it was cooked. Add salt to taste. Simmer and cook for 5 min so that the gravy blends well with the palak and the chana.
6. The next step changes the taste of the dish to a great extent.
7. Heat some ghee in a small pan. When hot switch off the stove and add some chana masala pd. As it shimmers, pour it over chole palak.
8. Mix well and close with lid and let it cook for 1-2 min.

Serve Chole Palak with roti / Naan or rice with a dash of lemon and cucumber raita. Optional - Before serving sprinkle some corriander leaves.