Dal Makhani aka Maa ki Dal - Punjabi Cuisine

After a hat-trick of sweet recipes, I thought I should post something spicy for a change. I am at my mom's place right now and she won't let me cook anything elaborate, so I browsed through my Drafts and found this one waiting to be beautified and posted :-)

I had made this months ago when I had invited some friends home for lunch on a Sunday.  Dal Makhani is a sumptuous dish full of nutrition from dals/lentils and the cream on top to finish just makes this a super-hit with everyone! :-)  It goes very well with both rice and roti varieties alike. I generally make a simple Garlic Rice or Jeera Rice and they make a good pair.

Dal Makhani

Let me take you through a pictorial first :-)

Rajma and Black whole Urad dal soaked in water overnight

Tadka with butter, zeera and red chillies

Onions fried

Tomatoes mushed up

Add spices, cooked dal and finish with cream :-)

What I Used -

Rajma / Red Bean- 1/2 cup

Whole Black Urad Dal - 3/4 cup

Onions - 1 medium

Tomatoes - 2 medium (Using additional Tomato puree greatly enhances the taste)

Fresh Cream - 4 tbsp + 1 tbsp

Spices To Temper - Tadka - Thalikka -

Butter - 1 tbsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 4

Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Turmeric / Haldi - 1/4 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp (I used Kashmiri variety for a rich color)  

Dhania powder / coriander powder - 3/4 tsp

Cinnamon, cloves, cardamom spice mix - 3/4 tsp (you can get them pre-made from your Indian store or powder them yourself using your dry spice grinder)

Kitchen King Masala - 3/4 tsp

Salt - taste

How To -

• Soak the lentils overnight with enough water. Drain the water and pressure-cook the dals with sufficient (fresh) water for 4-5 whistles (It's okay to over-cook than to under-cook the lentils) .You could add salt as well. Wait for the pressure to get released naturally.
• Take a kadai, melt butter and add jeera. When they crackle, add red chillies and then add ginger-garlic paste.
• Add finely sliced/chopped onions and let them turn brown.
• Add chopped tomatoes and let them turn mushy.
• Add the spice powders - turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder, kitchne king and the cardamom-cinnamom-cloves spice mix.
• Add the water/ stock from the cooked dal and then slowly add the lentils and lower the flame. Let the dals absorb the flavors form the masalas. Close with a lid for about 5-7 minutes.
• Tip : I like to mash up about 4 tbsp of cooked dal and then add to the gravy. This gives thickness to the gravy and also a good flavor to Dal Makhani as such :-)

• Check for salt.
• Add cream and mix well and you can see the gravy coming together as a thick, creamy mixture :-)
• Serve hot. You could add another tablespoon of cream just before serving! :-)

Isn't it inviting ??

Instant Tomatoey Dosai

This is one of the dosas that you can make without prior preparation. Isn't it amazing that you can make dosa without dosa batter? Yes, all you need is rice flour and a little rawa (sooji/semolina)! Add tomato juice to it and spice it up - there you go, thats the batter! This is absolutely handy on those weekday-nights when you're exhausted and want to whip up something real quick for dinner.

Instant Tomato Dosa with Sambar

Yield - 6 Dosas
Time - 15 mins

What You Need -

Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Rawa/Sooji/Semolina - 1/4 cup
Ripe tomatoes - 3 medium
Jeera/Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida - a pinch
Salt - 1/2 tsp (adjust to taste)
Oil - as required to make dosas

How To -

• Chop off the root of tomatoes and cut each into 4 pieces, add the spices - jeera powder, red chilli powder, salt and asafoetida, and extract the juice using an electric mixer.

• Take rice flour and sooji/rawa in a bowl and pour in the tomato juice.

• Add some water if the batter is too thick.

• The rest of the procedure is familiar. You can choose to keep the batter kinda thick and make it like uthappam. Here, you can also add finely chopped onions as topping. 
•  Another option is to make thin batter and make dosas the way you would make rawa dosai - i.e., just pour the batter and not spread it with ladle, but allow the dosa to take its natural shape.
• Pre-heat tawa and grease it with a little oil before making the first dosa. Once the first side gets cooked, flip sides and let the other side cook too.

Serve hot with sambar or onion chutney or  vegetable chutney.

Malai Kofta (Deep fried paneer & potato dumplings in rich creamy sauce) - Step-by-Step recipe

Malai Kofta is a rich dish popular in North India, originally from Punjabi cuisine. It's very delicious, loved by everyone and best suited for lunch/dinner parties. Who wouldn't like something that has paneer, cream and potatoes in it? ;)

My hubby loves Malai Kofta :)  Sadly, the only Indian restaurant closest to our place doesn't list Malai Kofta on its menu.  Hence, I have been wanting to try and make this at home for a long long time. Inspired by Geetha chithi's mouth-watering pictures and simple recipe, I was much tempted and finally made this today for lunch.  I modified the recipe slightly and was immensely happy that it came out very well and we both enjoyed our meal. I served it with chapathis but Malai Kofta goes equally well with rice varieties.

Malai Kofta

What You Need -

For the Koftas -

Paneer - 150 g
Potatoes - 3 small/medium
Green chillies - 3 (finely chopped)
Jeera/ Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Raisins - as required

Maida/All-purpose flour - 4 tbsp (Can substitute with corn flour)
Oil - for frying

For the gravy -

Onions- 2
Tomatoes - 2
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Cashewnuts - 12  nos.
Raisins - 20 nos.

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 3/4 tsp
Salt - to taste

Cream - 4 to 5 tbsp
Cilantro - to garnish

How To -

• Boil potatoes. Peel the skin and mash them.
• Mash paneer and mix it with mashed potatoes, along with chopped green chillies, jeera, pepper and salt.

• Mix maida in some water. This makes our batter. 
• Divide the dough into small ping-pong sized balls. 
• Stud each ball with 3-4 raisins.
• Dip and roll the balls into maida batter and deep fry in hot oil.

• Make sure the oil is hot enough else the balls might disintegrate!

• A batch of 4 koftas would take about 5-7 minutes to get cooked and fried enough on all sides. You can remove and drain the koftas on kitchen tissues when you see them turning golden in color.

Golden Koftas - yummy as such :)

• These are just yummy as such and you can eat them right away with tomato-ketchup or any chutney :) But, save them if you want to eat them with the rich creamy gravy!

• To make the gravy, you need 4 kinds of pastes/juices. 

(1) Soak chopped onions in hot water for 15 minutes and grind them to a paste

(2) Blend ripe tomatoes in a juicer
(3) Ginger-garlic paste (you can go with the store-bought version too)
(4) Soak cashews and raisins in hot water for 15 minutes and grind to a paste

• Take a kadai, heat 2 tsp of oil and fry the onion paste and let it cook for 5 minutes.
• Next goes the ginger-garlic paste.
• Now, add tomato puree and add salt.
• Follow with all the masala powders - turmeric, garam masala, coriander and red chilli powder. Let boil.
• Once all these are well incorporated, mix in the cashew+ raisins paste and boil for another 2-3 minutes. 
• Finally, add in cream and garnish with coriander leaves/cilantro.

To Serve : Pour the gravy over the koftas just a few minutes before eating, to prevent them going soggy. I like soaked koftas in my gravy, so I soaked just 2 koftas right from the beginning and then crumbled them in the gravy. This also gives some thickness and texture to the gravy.

Happy to send this to Sinful Delights! Very apt description, indeed for Malai Kofta :)

Bread Upma - Quick 'n' Tasty Snack

This is something I make from bread that remains, when I want to use them up before its expiry date.  This is clearly Indianized, something conceived by an Indian housewife, probably in the '60s or '70s, b'coz this is "upma" from something like bread that's of European origin!  Traditionally, upma refers to hot breakfast porridge, popular in South India and is made from rice, broken wheat or other grains, vegetables and is often spiced with green chillies.

My mom-in-law makes bread upma a lot and I picked up the habit (and recipe) from her.  It takes less than 15 minutes to prepare this and doesn't require funky ingredients!

You Need -

Bread - 5 slices
Onions - 1 medium (chopped)
Tomatoes - 2 small/medium (chopped)
Oil - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds (கடுகு)- 1 tsp

Urad dal (உளுந்து)- 1 tsp

Channa dal (கடலை பருப்பு) - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Red chilli powder - 3/4 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Cilantro/Coriander leaves - for flavor and garnishing (optional)

Paneer (shredded) - optional (for decorative purpose;)

How To-

• Take a kadai, splutter mustard, urad dal, channa dal. These two dals give the crunchy effect amidst the soft bread and tender tomatoes n onions.

• Fry chopped onions, followed by tomatoes.

• Add salt and let them cook for 3 mins.
• Cut bread slices using kitchen scissors and add them in. You don't have to sprinkle water as the moisture from onions and tomatoes is more than sufficient. 

• Add red chilli powder and a pinch of turmeric and mix well.

• In 5 minutes, bread upma is done :)
• Garnish with cilantro and shredded paneer, if you feel like :)

Paneer Butter Masala - Quick & Tasty + Restaurant ki Swad

We all love paneer :) Paneer by itself is yummy and you can make your food even more delectable by adding stuff like tomatoes, onions and spices. I can't imagine how boring Indian vegetarian cuisine would have been, had paneer not been invented! Paneer is a type of cottage cheese of Indian origin. You can make delicious kurmas/curries with paneer or make Paneer Biriyani with rice.

Whenever I want to whip up a quick yet delicious meal (and I mean 15 minutes!) on a lazy Saturday afternoon, I end up making Jeera rice or Garlic rice and Paneer Butter masala. I would like to share with you, this really quick recipe for Paneer Butter masala that tastes just like the one you get in restaurants. Yes, bilkul asli taste :)

I have passed on this recipe to a my family and friends (which in turn, has been spreading like viral!) and everyone who tried it has absolutely loved it! :)

Paneer-Butter Masala Restaurant-Style!

You Need -

Paneer - 20 cubes of 1 cm (You can find cubed Paneer in the Indian grocery stores in the Frozen section)
Butter - 1 tbsp
Fried Onions - 3 tbsp (optional, for added crunch)
Onions (chopped) - 1/2 cup
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Tomato puree - 3 tbsp OR Tomato paste - 2 tsp
Dhania powder (Powdered Coriander seeds) - 1 tsp
Garam masala -1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 3/4 tsp
Kasuri methi - 1/2 tsp
10 Cashews soaked in 3 tbsp hot milk -> Make a paste of this and use
Salt - to taste
Milk - 4 tbsp
Cream - 2 tbsp (minimum)

Steps -

• Take a bowl, mix together the spice powders - dhania, chilli powder, garam masala and kasuri methi. Then add tomato paste and mix everything together adding water little by little. Alternatively, you may add tomato puree, but note that paste is more concentrated and should be used in lesser quantity than puree, as specified. Add the cashew paste too. Finally, add milk to this mixture. Whisk everything in the bowl together. 
• Now, add paneer cubes into the mixture in the bowl, let it coat every piece and let the paneer marinate for about 30 to 45 minutes atleast. This marination step is cruical, more so if you're using Tofu.
• After 45 minutes, Take a pan, Melt butter , add ginger-garlic paste and fry for 2  minutes.
• Fry freshly chopped onions for a while and then optionally, add fried onions for a crunchy effect.

• Pour the marinated mixture into the pan and cover for 5 minutes.You may add a little water (100 ml) as well and let it all boil together.
• Add salt.
• Keep flame on "Sim/Low".
• After 5 minutes, add cream finally, mix well and switch off after 2 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves, if you like :)

Wasn't that quick 'n easy?

Paneer-Butter Masala in 15 minutes!

Serve with roti /chapathi /phulka /naan or any Pulao rice :)

Note:  

Cream is the secret to that perfect restaurant-style taste. I have tried Nestle, Amul as well as Bulla Thickened cream and they are all good. Feel free to use fresh cream, if you have the time and patience to prepare it at home. You'll need full-cream milk (milk with atleast 6% fat) to extract cream.

Tip:  

If you do not have paneer at home and can't travel to your Indian store, just substitute it with Tofu, if its easier to find Tofu. It then becomes Tofu-butter masala, of course! While using Tofu, I suggest marinating tofu cubes with the bowl of spices + tomato paste + cream added. About 20 minutes would do. For those who are suspicious about Tofu's taste (and don't believe me!!!), use 50% paneer and 50% tofu and try for yourself! :)

Baingan Bartha (Mashed/Pureed Eggplant/Brinjal Indian-style)

Baingan, in Hindi means eggplant/brinjal/aubergine. Bartha means a mash-up or a mess, literally. Hence, this dish is a soft mixture of eggplant with tomatoes, onions, garlic, coriander cooked with selected Indian spices. I should mention that this is popular in the Northern India and I, being a South-Indian have tasted it(and loved it) in restaurants serving North-Indian fare. The original recipe I used, is from my chithi, who is well-versed in not just North-Indian and South Indian food but even Mediterranean, Mexican, Thai and Oriental cuisines.

I was not a big fan of brinjals until I was married and was shocked (slightly) when I knew my hubby loves them! Nevertheless, I wanted to cook brinjal for him. So, I started frying them well (for dry brinjal curry), added stuff like onions, roasted peanuts, and gradually, started liking eggplant over time :)

Baingan Bartha is recommended even for eggplant-detesters! Yes, the spongy nature of brinjal and its unique taste can be camouflaged by adding tomato-puree and onions and spicing it up with masala powders!

Choosing good quality eggplants is important and that determines the taste of your final dish as well. I prefer to buy firm ones with bright n shiny skin, not wrinkled and without any brownish spots/patches, and use them within 2-3 days of buying.

Ingredients:

Brinjal/ Eggplant - 2 (if long and slim like the ones I used), or 1 big fat one
Onions (chopped) - 1 cup
Tomatoes - 2
Tomato puree - 4 tbsp
Cilantro (Coriander leaves) - 1/4 of a bunch
Green chillies -3
Garlic - 4 pods
Ginger (shredded) - 1 tsp

Oil - 4 tbsp ( for massaging the skin before burning them + for tempering/tadka )
Cumin seeds (jeera) - 2 tsp
Dhania-jeera powder (coriander+cumin powder) - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp (adjust to taste)
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Pav Bhaji or Chole Masala - 1/2 tsp

Method:

• Wash and clean brinjals and pat them dry. I didn't hunt for the real fat brinjals, that's supposed to used for the recipe, but these were pretty good too.

• Apply oil all over the skin of eggplants and microwave for 10-15 minutes.
• The traditional recipe calls for roasting the eggplant on direct flame to give it a smoky flavor. But I use microwave or oven for speedier cooking! :P

Two of them have their skin on, while the one at the bottom has been peeled off.

• Allow it to cool and then peel off the skin. When using the flame, the peelability test tells us whether the brinjals are ready or not. Continue to heat more, if the skin does not easily come off. Mash-up the flesh of brinjals. You can also chop some of them, if you like to see whole cubes in your dish.

• Take a kadai or a pan, heat 2 tsp of oil, splutter cumin/ jeera seeds.
• After a minute, add the chopped onions and fry for one more minute. Add a little salt(1/4 tsp) for the onions.

• Now, make a paste of tomatoes, green chillies, garlic and coriander leaves and add to the kadai. Fry till the raw smell vanishes.

• I like to add tomato puree at this stage. This is optional, of course. I looove the rich tomato taste. The puree (I use Heinz) comes in handy especially when you don't get fresh, ripe and juicy tomatoes. 

• Mix in shredded ginger and stems of coriander leaves. This gives a nice crunch between the soft mashed-up brinjal.
• Add a little water and boil the mixture. 

• When it becomes a little thicker, add the mashed flesh of brinjal. 
• Add the spices - Red chilli powder, Dhania-jeera powder, Garam masala, Turmeric powder. 
• Check for salt and add if necessary.

• Let everything get mixed up together. The final consistency should be thick and pasty and not liquidy. Whirl them all together for a while.
• Finally sprinkle 1/2 tsp of pav bhaji masala or chole masala and mix. Your baingan ka bartha is ready to go :)

This makes a good combination with chapathis, rotis, phulkas or even plain rice.

Tomato and Basil Soup

I didn't know for a long time that Holy basil is our own Thulasi.  Yes! :)  Did you know that? ;)  No wonder it is called the 'king of herbs'. However, there are different varieties of basil and the one used in Italian cuisine is called sweet basil.  Soups are good for health any time of the day and helps to keep your calorie count down.  Let's make it healthier by adding some herbs to it!

Difficulty level - Easy
Time - 10 minutes

Ingredients -

Ripe tomatoes - 4
Red Onion - 1 (or 1/2 if its too big)
Olive Oil - 2 tsp
Basil leaves - 5
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt
Pepper

3 Easy Steps -

1. Blend together the tomatoes and onion with 1 tsp of sugar.
2. Pour the juice into a pot and season with salt and pepper. Add olive oil to it. Bring to a boil.
3. Sprinkle basil leaves before turning off the fire. 

Note: You may also add a mixture of Italian herbs in lieu of just basil.

Tomato Thokku (Indian version of Salsa)

It is a commonplace to find Tomato Thokku in the kitchens(rather refrigerators) of South India. I can describe it as the Indian-spiced concentrate of tomatoes. This makes a good side-dish for rotis/chapathis, goes well with rice, can be used as a bread spread or can even be eaten by itself, just like that :) Tomato thokku, really, is versatile, isn't it? This has made my guests go - wow!

Tomato Thokku/ Tomato Chutney / Thakkali Chutney

There are a couple of variations in the way this is made and I'm gonna describe the way my mom makes it. This is very simple and tastes yummy :) You can store this in a sealed container for up to 10 days in the refrigerator. But don't be surprised if the bottle is emptied in just a day or two :)  Make sure you use a dry spoon every time, while serving.

 

What You Need:

Ripe tomatoes - 8 to 10

Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Red chilli powder  - 2-3 tsp (adjust according to your family's spice level)

Turmeric powder / Haldi - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp (or as required)

Tempering:

Oil - 3 tsp

Mustard seeds(black) - 1 tsp

Urad dhall/ Black gram dal - 1 tsp

Asafoetida / Hing - 3 drizzles 

Final touch:

Jeera powder/ Cumin powder - 1 tsp

Amma's Home-made Curry powder - 1 tsp

Ghee - 1 tsp

Sugar or Jaggery - to taste (I prefer jaggery)

How My Mom Makes It:

• Soak the tomatoes in hot water for 15 minutes.
• Peel off the skin and mash the flesh of tomatoes (They are partly cooked by now, so it's easier to mash using a potato masher).
• Alternatively, you can just blend the tomatoes directly in an electric mixer/blender and get the juice from it. I'm just lazy, so I do this way :P

• Take a deep pan and pour oil and do the tempering  (add mustard, urad dhall and hing). Wait until the urad dhall turns golden from white color.  This gives off a nice aroma and I just love it :)

• Add Ginger-garlic paste and fry for 2 minutes. If you're using fresg ginger and garlic, blend them together with tomatoes and pour on to the pan.
• Now, pour the juice of tomatoes and add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt.

• Mix well, Keep it covered (for it will splash all over) and allow it to boil. 

• This takes about 20-30 minutes in Low-Medium flame. So, set an alarm and go and watch your favorite channel on TV :)

• Keep stirring until it reduces in volume and becomes kinda thick.

• Give your final touch by adding Jeera powder, Curry Powder, Ghee and Sugar/Jaggery. Of course, the ghee(clarified butter) and jaggery are optional, but it's always a good option to stock up your kitchen and keep these in your pantry, for you'll love these flavors, definitely! :)  The health-conscious can avoid ghee and sugar.

• Turn off after 3 minutes.

• When it has cooled, transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate.

Go ahead, taste it :)

Sending this to Srivalli's Condiment Mela