One of the most prominent lentil preparations which one can come across in any restaurant in India and abroad. Tadka is a generic term meaning tempering the lentil with the spices and herbs cooked in ghee or oil. The tempering also differ from place to place but the purpose remains the same, to impart the interesting twist to the otherwise mundane lentil stew. Some of the popular tempering ingredients are onion, garlic, tomato, green chili, red chili, spices like turmeric, coriander, kasoori methi, cumin etc. The rule of the thumb is to drop the ingredients in hot oil to allow the smoke to surface for a while and then the ingredient is stirred into the lentil which then covered with a lid immediately to prevent the aroma from escaping. If using fresh herbs, add it at the last moment just before serving.

The lentils used for this recipe also vary as some of them would prefer arhar (yellow lentil) or some would prefer massor (red lentil) and moong dal (split skinned moong).

Ingredients
1 cup arhar dal
2 ½ Water
Turmeric - a pinch
Salt - to taste

Tadka (tempering)
2 tsps Ghee
Hing - a pinch
1 tsp Jeera seeds (Cumin seeds) -
1 medium sized onion, finely diced
1/2 tsp Garlic paste
1 tsp Ginger Paste
1 medium tomato, chopped evenly
½ tsp Garam Masala
3 or 4 Green chilies (optional)
Fresh Coriander chopped

If using pressure cooker, cook the dal with water and turmeric for 5 minutes (2-3 whistles), allow the pressure to escape completely before opening the lid, and remove the dal from cooker and place in a serving container. If using a vessel to cook the dal, cook in a suitably large container on medium heat for 10-12minutes, checking in between to ensure that they have cooked well.

In a pan heat ghee, add hing (asafoetida) diluted with 1 tsp of water. At the stroke of the first aroma from hing, add cumin and allow crackling. Next add onion and fry until it starts to colour, 3-4minutes. Stir in ginger-garlic paste and cook for another 2-3minutes until raw aroma of the paste has disappeared.
Add the diced tomatoes and cook until oil start to separate and appear on the sides. Add green chilli, garam masala and the dal. Bring to simmer and cook on a low heat for another 5minutes. Check seasoning. Serve hot, garnished with chopped coriander, with your favourite Indian bread or rice

Kuntal.

Tags: balti, desi, karahi, roti, idli, sambhar, bhatura, murgh, dosa, naan

CHANA DAL (CHOLAR DAL IN BENGAL)

Made from split black/ horse gram, this dal will, more often than not, will be found on special occasions and festivals in West Bengal. In Bengal sugar is added to this recipe contrary to the natives of Bangladesh where it is equally famous. As this dal is heavy, asafetida is added to counter flatulence and heaviness.

Ingredients:
1 ½ cup chana dal
1tbsp ghee/ clarified butter
1 tbsp golden raisin
Salt to taste
Small cinnamon
1 bay leaf
½ tsp cumin seed
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small knob ginger, scraped and chopped
2 green chili (optional), chopped
2 red chili dry
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tomato (optional), chopped
½ tsp sugar (optional)
Pinch asafetida
½ cup chopped coriander leaves
Coconut slivers for garnish

Method:

Wash the dal until water runs almost clear. Soak for about 30minutes.
In a suitably large ladle heat ghee and fry raisins until puffed, drain on kitchen towel reserving the ghee.

If using pressure cooker, cook the dal with water and turmeric for 5 minutes (3-4 whistles), allow the pressure to escape completely before opening the lid, and remove the dal from cooker and place in a serving container. If using a vessel to cook the dal, cook in a suitably large container on medium heat for 20-25minutes until soft, checking in between to ensure that they have cooked well.

Heat the reserved ghee in a pan and sauté asafetida diluted with 1tsp water, cinnamon and bayleaf (they leave their aroma very well to the hot oil), cumin, garlic, ginger and green chili. After a couple of minutes add red chili and turmeric powder and cook for a minute. Next add tomato and cook for 2-3minutes.

Add this mixture to the boiled dal with sugar and bring to boil. Simmer for another 5-8minutes until dal is completely cooked and thickened. Serve hot garnished with chopped coriander, fried raisin and coconut sliver.

Regards, Kuntal

Tags: bhatura, curries, kebab, indian curry, paneer, naan, desi, handi, balti, idli

Dal Makhani is a King of Lentils and a favourite of restaurateurs and gourmets to the extent that the menus would not be complete without its inclusion. The recipe also varies from region to region and restaurant to restaurant. This type of dal is cooked very slowly on low heat for hours before the flavor burst and develops into intricate blend of taste coming from lentil, tomatoes and butter. They also, surprisingly taste a lot better on the second day as the flavor keeps on developing.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup whole urad (whole black lentils)
3 tbsp rajma (kidney beans)
Salt
1tbsp ginger-garlic paste of equal ginger and garlic
½ cup tomato puree (tinned)
1 tsp red chili powder
½ cup white unsalted butter
½ cup cream

Method:
Thoroughly wash black lentil and kidney bean separately until the water runs clear. Soak overnight preferably or 5-6 hours to facilitate even cooking of each individual grain. If you are pressure cooking lentils, cook them for 3-4 whistles on medium heat. Alternatively, put the drained lentil and kidney bean in a suitably large steel pan, add approximately 7 cups of water. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer until the grains are cooked and 2/3 rd of water is used up. Crush the lentils with the back of a wooden spoon.

In a pan heat half the butter, add ginger-garlic paste and cook until raw aroma has subsided. Add tomato puree and cook for another 5minutes on medium heat until the colour of the tomato has darkened to pronounced red. Add chili powder and cook for another minute.

Add this mixture to lentil along with rest of the butter until mixed well and cook for another 10-15 minutes until lentil has thickened and colour has become light brown. Finally add the cream and stir for another 2-3minutes. Check seasoning and serve hot with butter naan or rice.

- Kuntal

Tags: chettinad, idli, tandoori, chana, lentil, indian food, indian curry, sambhar, kebab, bhatura

Indian is truly blessed to have so many preparation attributed to lentil. Even all regions of India do boast of several of the lentil preparations on its own or as in part with other ingredients. Also known as “Dal” or “Dahl”in Hindi, it is a bushy annual plant of the legume family and grows from a foot to a small tree and grows in pod. They stand up very well to dry conditions and after harvesting also keeps up well for a very long time without significant loss of nutrients or taste. India is the largest producer and consumer of all varieties of lentil just because of the simple reason of its availability and low price.
Lentil has been the excellent source of vegetarian protein since time immemorial and plays an important dietary role. It is not only easy to digest but also can be very interesting in taste and texture when prepared variedly and correctly. Used both with and without skin, they legume family boast of so many varieties from red to green, white to black, yellow to pink. There are also the split varieties which find their way into traditional recipes especially in India.

Some of the popular lentils found in Indian cuisine are as follows:
Urad Dal (Black lentil)- without skin whole and split (white colour) whole with skin
Chana Dal (Bengal Gram)- comes from black gram which is skinned and split to obtain yellow grain.
Moong Dal (Moong lentil)- whole comes in green, without skin in yellow colour. Essential ingredient for kichdi, a food for the invalids.
Arhar dal (Yellow lentil) also known as tur dal in the western part of India and very popular menu items in Indian restaurants.
Masoor dal (Red  lentil), the whole lentil with skin is similar to beluga or puy lentil, the skinned is known as masoor dal which is the inspiration of so many lentil preparation.
These are the traditional lentil and the other being choole (chickpea), kala chana (black/horse gram) etc and I am sure that there are so many across the world along with their recipes.

The skinned grains have short cooking time when compared to the whole one and are generally boiled into stew and tempered as per the choice. They can wither be boiled in a suitably large vessel or pressure cooked to save on time. The grain bursts open during the cooking process and thickens the preparation, but if required they can be thinned with hot water.

Apart from being a very good source of protein, they also contain carbohydrate, dietary fiber and also a good source of iron and vitamin B1. The blogs to follow will be dedicated to some of the lentil which we have listed above and their recipes.

Tags: gosht, sambhar, chettinad, handi, balti, chana, tikka masala, lentil, karahi, curries

Sesame seed:  Also known as til are available in black and white form. They also provide oil by cold processing process. It is used in Hyderabadi cuisine most notably in Baghare Baigan, Muslim cooking of Mumbai. They are also used in sweet making like til laddo, a favorite for Makar Sankranti festival which marks the beginning winter solistice.

Til ki Chutney
This chutney is one of the most famous recipes from the land of mountain, Uttarakhand. It also provides some heat in the coldness of night when it is enjoyed with either rice or local bread.
½ cup black sesame seed
2-3 Green chilies (amount can vary to contain the spice level)
1 big handful Coriander leaves, cleaned and chopped
5 Garlic cloves
2 lime, juiced
Salt to taste
Sugar 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method:
Dry Roast Til seeds in a pan on a moderate flame for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the pan and put in a plate to cool down.  In a blender grind together sesame seeds, green chilies, chopped coriander leaves, garlic cloves with little water until smooth. Remove from blender and add lemon juice, salt and sugar.
Serve with either rice or kuttu roti (buckwheat flour flatbread).

Chaar Magaz: It is not a very popular terminology in common parlance but most of the professional Indian cook will vouch for their prominent role for their exotic gravies reserved for special occasions. Char literally translated means four and char magaz consists of pumpkin seed, melon seed, water melon seed and cucumber seed. Some of the mix also uses sunflower seeds known as Charoli. They are used in paste form in many preparations with white gravy and and in desserts and Thandai.

Pine nuts: Also known as chilgoja in Hindi which is almost becoming extinct due to shrinkage in its cultivation area in North Indian mountain region. It is one of the most important ingredients for Italian Pesto sauce and to certain extent for India desserts and curries.

Walnut: while most of the people are not familiar with the culinary usage of walnut because it is eaten in India mostly on its own. Even oil derived from walnut is very popular in India either. They are also a popular snack item on its own where they can be spiced with the mixture of chili powder, cumin powder, curry powder, salt and egg white (for binding) and roasted in a moderately hot oven.

Makhana: It is a roasted and popped kernel of lotus seed and is very popular as a fasting food item and also considered pure enough to be offered to God during the fasting period. It is easily digestible and has positive nutritional aspect and is also a very famous and light pass time snacks. Please find below the most famous recipe of Makhane ki kheer and enjoy

Makhane ki kheer
3 cup tightly packed Makhane
5 cup full fat milk
½ cup Condensed milk (optional)
½ cup Sugar
Cardamom Powder
For garnish
Almonds sliver
Cashews, sliced thinly
Pistachios sliver
Golden raisin

Method:
Roast the makhane in a pan/ oven until dry and crispy but not colored. Remove from pan and allow cooling. Pulse them coarsely in food processor or alternatively chop them roughly.

Bring the milk to boil in a large deep bottom pan and add the coarsely chopped Makhane. Cook on low heat, stirring from time to time to prevent sticking to bottom.
When makhane has mixed completely in and the mixture has turned creamy, almost 60-90minutes.

Now add condensed milk, sugar and stir to dissolve completely.  Add raisin and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and garnish with almond, cashewnut and pistachio.

Tags: indian curry, bhatura, dosa, palak, chana, sambhar, chicken, indian food, desi, roti

Most of us are fortunate to have snacked on nuts like cashews, almonds, pistachios, peanuts either plain or toasted and know the taste and flavor. Their culinary usage does not bring vivid memories except, perhaps for peanut chutney. The diverse range of seeds also intrigues the conventional cooks and challenges their expertise to successfully incorporate them in their day to day cooking. It is not that the challenge is not there for the Chef but what comes to their aid is their continual exposure to variety of them including imported.

One might have come across kormas dishes and the one described as being in white gravy, which traces its root from Mughal kitchen, uses a blend of nuts and seeds paste and impart their own rich character to the finished dishes.

Some of the notable dishes where one may come across their application, even though they are becoming expensive with each passing day & also witness their less favored substitute, are kormas- both vegetarian and meat, chutneys like sesame and peanut, desserts mainly as garnish like slivered almond and pistachio.

Here we list some of the most famous nuts and seeds as follows:
Almond: While most of the original Lucknowi recipes which has been using almonds for centuries, they are being replaced by easily available and less costly cashew nut as India is a major processing centre of imported kernels. They are also used extensively for garnishing a variety of Indian dishes in slivered form.

Cashew nut: Grown extensively in South India (Kerala) and Goa, they hardly find their way into local cuisine. They come into three different varieties like broken, half and full.

Peanut: Grown in most part of India they are used extensively in west coast cuisine and in the most famous peanut chutney from South India. It is also the most famous time pass snacks, as it is called in common parlance, for common people travelling by train or bus.

White poppy seed: Primarily used a thickening agent in the form of a paste in Mughlai and Hyderabadi cuisine. Some of the people also make Halwa (Indian pudding). It comes from the same plant which produces opium but in no way used for their narcotic values as it loses most of its sedative properties when it ripens.

Mustard seeds: Mustard seeds as a paste are almost exclusively used in Bengali cuisine and seeds as a tempering are used in South India cuisine. Mustard and fish are natural companions and western cuisine are replete with recipes of the same but confined to just Sarson Maach and some other vegetable preparation in West Bengal.

Pista: known as pistachio in English, it is a popular snack item with drinks when salted in their own shell. They are also used as a garnish on Indian sweets like kheer (Indian milk pudding) and the most famous of all the pista Kulfi (Milk and pista ice cream) and pista burfi (Indian milk cake).
While the reading on nuts and seeds and their application are always very interesting particularly on the backdrop of their vast culinary usage, rest of the information will be carried on in the second blog of nuts and seeds.

Tags: bhatura, chana, curries, paneer, karahi, kebab, gosht, lentil, balti, roti

Even though the first nine days of Navratri celebration will essentially be vegetarian cuisine for most of the household celebrating the festival, it will keep the housewives, accomplished as well as the amateur cooks busy in honing their skill to prepare a lavish spread. The cost of vegetables are proving to be a dampener this time in this part of world due to unprecedented rains in most part of Maharashtra and flood at Nasik which is main source of supply to Mumbai and adjoining regions. Nevertheless, once in a year event will prevail and curries and kormas will again demand the limelight.

If one carefully browses through the menus available during the feast, most of the dishes would be similar to certain extent but the taste and flavor would be unique to each household.  Today we will take a look at the various menu options available which will help you to plan your menu for the occasion if you are looking for more than the usual festival foods.

Sweet Dishes:
Malpua (pancake in sugar syryp), Misti Doi (sweetened and thickened yogurt), Cheenar Payesh (Milk and nuts pudding), Rasgulla and rasmalai(sweetened cottage cheese dumpling), Kesar kheer (saffron flavoured rice pudiing), sabudana ki kheer (sago and milk pudding), makhane ki kheer (lotus root and nut pudding), Mingi paak (melon seed and reduced milk pudding) etc.

The appetizer may include:
Traditional aloo chaat, kurkure aloo (stuffed crispy potato), crispy colocassia (kurkuri arbi), Baingan bhaja (Aubergine fritter), sabudana vada (sago fritter), Dahi –papdi chaat (yogurt and semolina crisp appetizer), ghughni (spicy black gram preparation), exotic kachouri with chutneys etc.

The mention of main courses will sound like the never ending fable consisting of pleasant surprises such as
Gatte ki subji, matar paneer, dal panchratan, gul gobhi etc from Rajsthan to Tooriya posto charchari, aloo potol, cholar dal with coconut slivers, Luchi (Bengali pooris), sukhto (mix vegetable with bitter gourd). The western region may boast of preparations like kacche kele ke kofte (plaintain dumpling), aloo khus khus, kuttu ki poori and parathe (variety of buckwheat bread), cumin tempered rice, sabudana khichdi (sago and vegetable gruel), etc.

And the peripherals like pumpkin chutney, peanut chutney, aubergine pickle, moong sprout salad, tandoori fruit salad etc. Some of the very exotic recipes are also contained in the Indian Curry Manual available with us, so go ahead and try. Happy Navratri and Dusshera.

- Kuntal

Tags: chana, indian curry, tandoor, sambhar, karahi, vindaloo, kebab, desi, tandoori, handi

It is a happy co-incidence that last few days of Ramazan which culminated with Eid overlapped with the beginning of the days of Navratri which will culminate with Dusshera, the biggest festivals of Hindu. This assumes significance and encourages people to celebrate the festivals with each other, share the festive cuisine and develop the understanding for each other’s religion. It should also help bridge the gap of opinions and opinion-makers who should take pride in the long standing tradition of mutual trust and respect.

The celebration of Navratri is an opportunity to showcase the multitude of cuisine on offer across the whole of India and also re-emphasize the complexity and vastness of regional Indian cuisine. Some of the people who observe a fast during the day eat only one meal after the sunset without any intake of cereals or cereal based products. Even the salt used for the preparation of simple food is not so commonly used (Sendha namak), otherwise known as Rock salt. The food for the entire nine days of fasting is simple vegetarian and some of the houses do not even use onion and garlic to ensure “Saatvik (aesthetic) meal experience for the entire family.

In the parts of Maharashtra and Gujrat, the festival provides a unique opportunity to flex the dance skill popularly known as Dandiya/Garba which is played with two sticks. It does require some skill to play the sticks in tandem with each other and people do practice a lot to appear good in the company of other skilled players.

The feast in the east involves the best of fish dishes with generous amount of sweet dishes like payas (rice, milk and nuts pudding), and sandesh (range of reduced milk based sweets). It also brings the rich version of Indian cuisine which otherwise remains subdued for most part of the year barring few such occasions. One of the very popular recipes found during the occasion is “kachori” which can either be sweet or savoury with or vary from place to place as far as stuffinf is concerned.

Kachori
1 Cup refined flour
2tbsp ghee
½ cup split moong lentil(soaked)
¼ tsp Fennel seeds powder
¼ ajwain seeds
½ tsp Cumin  powder
¼ tsp Garam masala
½ tsp Red chilli powder
Pinch  Baking powder
Vegetable Oil for frying
Salt to taste

Method:
Sieve flour with baking powder, add salt and stir well. Add enough water to make a smooth but semi hard dough. Rest for 30 minutes to improve the gluten.

Grind the soaked moong lentil coarsely. Heat ghee in a frying pan, crackle ajwain seeds followed by ground lentil and cook on medium heat to remove extra moisture. Add all the powders and stir to mix well. When the moong lentil paste will be almost semi-dry, remove from heat and allow cooling.

Divide the dough into equal balls, roll the dough a little, encase a small amount of stuffing and roll the dough ball round. Flatten a little using the palm of one hand and fingers of another. Heat the vegetable oil in a kadhai/ wok and deep fry the kachoris/ patties until nice golden brown. Drain on a kitchen towel to remove excess oil and serve with either chutney or pickle of your choice.

- Kuntal

Tags: tikka masala, indian food, karahi, paneer, chicken, indian curry, balti, bhatura, chana, kulfi

Celebrations of festivals have assumed significant proportions in the wake of religious unrest and much could have been contained by understanding the true values behind the festivals.

Sharing the food with neighbours and relatives has always been at the forefront of the culmination of these festivities which fostered brotherhood, understanding and empathy. While tracing the history of communal dining, one comes across the real purpose and noble motive behind such occasion.

Eid markes the end of fasting during the months of Ramazan or Ramadan and is celebrated starting on the first day of the lunar month of Shawwal. I also recount some of the occasions of lavish dining along with some of my friends celebrating Eid . How can I forget the aroma which used to permeate the entire room with exotic spices and curries. Zarda pulao, meat curries, biryanis, sewai (sevaiyan) laden with nuts,  evoke some fond memories of those evening experiences in the company of friends.

Recipe : Zarda Pulao
1 cups Basmati rice  (Long grain rice as a substitute)
1 ½ cups milk
½  cup water
½  cups sugar
½  cup ghee
½ cup mixed dried fruits
6 whole cloves
3 sticks cinnamon
few strands of saffron diluted with warm water
Pinch of salt

Method:
Wash the rice with soft hand twice or thrice until the water runs clear and then, soak for 15 minutes.
Melt ghee in a cooking pan and add cloves and cinnamon, fry for a minute until fragrant. Add rice and continue frying until all the grains are well coated with ghee. Pour milk and water over the rice and raise the heat to medium high. Add sugar and diluted saffron and cook for another 10minutes until the rice is cooked and fluffy.

Note: Some of houses also use canned pineapple which is diced and added to the pulao during the last minute of the cooking of rice. If using fresh pineapple, simmer on low heat in sugar syrup before adding to the rice.

Tags: roti, vindaloo, tikka masala, paneer, desi, tandoori, curries, sambhar, bhatura, murgh