dal makhani (punjabi lentils)

nothing against my favorite gujarati dal.

sometimes you just want something that tastes like butter, and cream, and winter comfort.

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cook 3/4c black split urad dal (if using whole dal, soak overnight) in 1.5c water and a pinch of salt. when cooked completely (better a little overdone than a little underdone,) add half a can of red kidney beans. mash and set aside.

in a heavy-bottomed skillet, heat about 2.5 T butter and/or ghee (i used a combination) over medium or med-high heat. (butter is a lot of the flavor of this dish, so if you’re vegan, i recommend a buttery oil like coconut.) add a teaspoon of whole cumin seed, an inch of cinnamon, 2 whole cloves, a small hot green chili pepper slit lengthwise, 3 cardamoms, and a small finely chopped onion.

cook until onions are golden brown, and turn down heat to medium.

then add 1/2 t ginger-garlic paste, cayenne (1/4 t for mild, 1/2 t for medium, 1 tsp for hot,) 1/4 teaspoon turmeric, and 1 1/2 c fresh or canned pureed tomato. simmer until oil rises to the top.

add the dal, salt to taste, and about 4 T water. simmer 15 min.

stir in a half-cup of heavy cream or, if you’re vegan, substitute coconut milk. simmer about 2 minutes. serve with fresh cilantro and rice.

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wonderful. definitely a favorite.

adapted by friedsig from tarladalal

rasse misse rajma (punjabi kidney beans)

1 1/3 c dry kidney beans
4 black cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1 t. ground coriander
1 t chili powder
7 T. ghee
4 dry red chili
1 1/2 t. cumin seed
an onion, chopped
5 t ginger paste
5 t garlic paste
2 small pureed tomatoes
1 t ground black cardamom
1/2 t black pepper

soak beans overnight & simmer with whole cardamom and bay for 1.5 hours

in bowl, add coriander, chili, salt, and 4 T water

heat ghee over a medium flame.

add chilis and cumin and stir-fry 1 minute

add onion, fry 5 mins

add ginger and garlic, fry 2-3 min

add ground spiced & stir-fry 30 seconds

add tomatoes and fry 5 mins til oil separates

add beans & simmer 7 mins

remove from heat. serve with chopped fresh cilantro.

 

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from Mark’s book on Indian cooking

 

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good! i played around with the proportions, so i couldn’t tell you what i actually did, but it turned out just fine. it’s great to have something else to do with red beans besides chili,  baked beans,  other chilis,  and cajun red beans and rice.

dal fry (lentils punjabi-style)

This recipe is from from ãhãram!

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yellow lentils/tuvar dal/pigeon peas/gandules – 1 Cup
Tomato – 1 Medium
Onion – 1 Medium
Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 tsp
Green Chillies – 2
Red Chilli Powder – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric – 1/8 tsp
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
Salt to Taste
Fresh Coriander for Garnish

Boil 1 c lentils in 2 c water. Or, soak the Tuvar Dal in 2 Cups water for about 30 to 60 minutes and pressure cook the dal for 4 whistles.
With a heavy ladle, mash the dal completely.
Chop the tomato into fine pieces.
Chop the onion into 1/2″ pieces.
Chop the green chillies into fine pieces.
In a heavy bottomed vessel, heat the oil.
Add the mustard seeds and wait till they splutter.
Add the onion pieces and fry till transparent.
Add the tomato pieces and stir fry till the tomato pieces are soft.
Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for 2 minutes.
Add the green chillies, red chilli powder, and turmeric.
Stir fry for 2 minutes.
Add the mashed dal, salt, and 1/2 cup water to the onion-tomato mix.
Mix well and let cook for about 5 minutes.
Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve hot with jeera rice or rotis.

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from ãhãram (great blog – highly recommended)

khatta meetha baingan

eggplant (baingan / brinjal) is one of my favorite vegetables.

i like to salt, set (~ 30min,) and rinse the little cut-up chunks before i cook them to remove some of the bitterness.

toss some black mustard seeds into a pan (about a teaspoon) with mustard oil, coconut oil, ghee, or a veg/sesame oil mixture.

if you like garlic and ginger, add them first and toss til fragrant, then add eggplant.

salt and spice it. i like equal parts cumin, coriander, turmeric, and garam masala, with a little chili powder and fennel.

now comes the fun part – the sweet and sour (“khatta meetha”) that gives this its name. you want to use equal parts tamarind and jaggery (or one sour thing – lime, lemon, vinegar – and one sweet thing – honey, sugar, whatever – if you can’t find tamarind and jaggery) and add a little tomato paste (water to thicken if necessary)

stew this on your stove, in a slow-cooker, or wherever, and serve with dosai, parathas, rice, or whatever you can dream up (quinoa! anything.)

as with most indian food, i like to top it with fresh cilantro, yogurt/kefir, and homemade pickles.

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adapted from this and this

punjabi kadi pakora

some people at this house don’t do dairy, so i altered this recipe to make it vegan by adding vegan kefir and half a can of coconut milk until it was the consistency of buttermilk like the recipe says. i served it with cinnamon-coconut-milk grits. i’m absolutely doing this again.

it sounds weird – a sauce mostly made from FLOUR? but chickpea flour isn’t like wheat flour. combined with the coconut milk or yogurt, the chickpea flour takes on the same smooth consistency it does in mohanthal or besan burfi.

sick of the same old gluten-free thing? this is your new favorite dinner.

also, i threw a bunch of veggies into the sauce (along with parsley, sesame seeds, and a bunch of other healthy junk i was craving) and it was phenomenal, if not entirely authentic.

Ingredients

For Pakora:
1 cup Besan (gram flour)
Pinch of cumin seeds
2 teaspoon chopped onions
1 chopped green chillies
½ teaspoon grated ginger
pinch of turmeric powder
¼ teaspoon garam masala
red chilli powder (as per taste)
½ teaspoon jwayen/ajwain (optional)
water (to make a thick batter)
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

For Kadi:
2 spoons vegetable Oil
1 cup Besan (gram flour)
1 huge onion (sliced in long pieces)
1 tomato (chopped)
1 teaspoon ginger paste
2-3 teaspoon garlic (minced)
4-5 dry red chillies
7-8 curry leaves
2 teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
2-3 cloves
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
3 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 spoon tamarind paste (mixed with water)
2 cups yogurt (or coconut milk)
2 teaspoon dry kasturi methi powder (fenugreek powder)
Salt to taste

Preparation

Pakora:
1 Mix besan and all the other ingredients in a bowl.
2 Add enough water to make a very thick batter.
3 Make any random shape or balls and fry them in oil to make pakoras.
4 Deep fry them until they turn brown and crispy. Take them out on a paper towel so that the paper soaks all the extra oil. Keep them aside.
Kadi Prep:
1 Blend yogurt,double the amount of water, pinch of turmeric powder, salt, pinch of red chilli powder, besan. It should look like a butter milk (lassi) mixture with besan in it.
2 Keep it aside for half an hour before starting to make kadi.
Kadi:
1 Pour oil in a big pan (or any big cooking utensil) and heat it until it gets hot. Add cumin seeds mustard seeds, fenugreek seed, coriander seeds, cloves and let them pop.
2 Add curry leaves and dry red chilli to the above tadka (frying mixture)
3 Add onions to it and fry them until brown.
4 Add garlic, ginger to it and fry for 3 minutes.(watch that it should not stick to the bottom of the pan)
5 Add chopped tomatoes and fry for 3-4 minutes.
6 Add tamarind paste to the pan and let it come to the boil for 4-5 minutes.
7 Add turmeric powder ,garam masala, red chilli powder, salt and fry until oil starts floating on the top and it gives out dark reddish brownish color.
8 Add the kadi mixture, which was kept for half an hour to this tadka.
9 Keep stirring the curry, as it will start sticking to the bottom. Keep it on a medium flame first, and let it come to a boil. Keep watching it stirring it. After 3-5 boils, lower down the flame to low and let it cook on low flame for 20 minutes and stir in between.
10 Stir for another 5 minutes and check if its thick enough and looks dark yellow. Again stir it for 5 minutes and sprinkle dry fenugreek leaves on it and let it boil for another 2 minutes and than add the pakoras in the kadi.
11 Boil more for 3 minutes and don’t stir too much as the pakora can break apart.
12 For garnishing, sprinkle cilantro and serve hot with rice.