Onion Garlic Dal

Image via Wikipedia

I know, I know, you are probably going to say that “most people know how to make Dal, what’s so new about yours ? “ 

What I have realized after making Dal so many times is that Dal is best made simple.  I have tried to make it taste different by adding peas or basil or garam masala but the award for the best Dal goes to “plain Jane”. It is best made in a pressure cooker for optimum taste. Using spring onions also made it better somehow. So here goes:

 

Ingredients:

1 cup Toor Dal(togri bele in kannada)

1 bunch spring onions (scallions) chopped

Half a lime

2 tsp Ginger and Garlic paste

1-2 tsp oil (I used olive oil)

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1-2 green chillies chopped (depends on how hot you want it)

For tadka: jeera and mustard seeds

Salt to taste ( 1.5 tsp should do it)

Water to cook

Some Coriander leaves(cilantro)

Directions:

Prep: Clean and soak the Dal in water for at-least half an hour). Even if you don’t do this, it turns out well . Anyway, try !

Put the oil in the cooker or pan (pan should have a fitted lid).  Add the tadka and wait till the mustard seeds start flying around. You now have a lot of cleaning to do.

Fry the spring onions till translucent. Add the ginger garlic paste and sauté till the raw smell is gone.

Now add the turmeric powder, chillies and lime to the mix.

Now add the Toor Dal, and around 2 cups of water. Mix well.

Add salt to taste. You can cross check this by tasting the water.

Here’s how the finished stuff looks.

Pressure cook for 3 whistles.  Cook on low flame for another 10 minutes.  In case of a pan, cook for around 15-20 minutes. Garnish with coriander.

Dal’s done. In case you are not feeling lazy, you can also add hing (asafoetida) and curry leaves to the tadka. Don’t forget to add some sugar and some love for added measure

Related Articles

• Giving Food a thought (arwenevenstar.wordpress.com)

Deep Purple’s April

April is so long gone, so you know that this is an overdue post. It was lying around in my drafts.

The song belonged to the  album  Deep Purple and had the original band members for the last time. It was surprisingly, the third album by the band.The Songwriters Are Blackmore, Ritchie; Lord, Jon.

The band described “April” as a personal evocation of a beautiful and sad month(for them).

Following are the lyrics to this beautiful song. YouTube link follows.

April is a cruel time
Even though the sun may shine
And world looks in the shade as it slowly comes away
Still falls the April rain
And the valley’s filled with pain
And you can’t tell me quite why
As i look up to the grey sky
Where it should be blue
Grey sky where I should see you
Ask why, why it should be so
I’ll cry, say that I don’t know

Maybe once in a while I’ll forget and I’ll smile
But then the feeling comes again of an April without end
Of an April lonely as they come
In the dark of my mind I can see all too fine
But there is nothing to be done when I just can’t feel the sun
And the springtime’s the season of the night

Grey sky where it should be blue
Grey sky where I should see you
Ask why, why it should be so
I’ll cry, say that I don’t know
I don’t know

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx46nXinjCo

Post A Week Challenge

Sooo…. WordPress is having a post a week and post a day for 2011. I decided to sign up for post a week contest. It seems like a nice challenge to give oneself.  I found many bloggers signing up for the post a day challenge. Well, good luck to them .

Apart from the fitness routine that I am following these days,  my mind needs a workout too.  So, I am going to make use of ”The DailyPost“ to help me along the way, including asking for help when I need it and encouraging others when I can.

If you already read my blog, I hope you’ll encourage me with comments and likes, and good will along the way.

Here’s to creating meaningful conversations and exploring new ideas.

Giving Food a thought

I have been blog surfing a lot lately given my current “at-home” status. Wherever i clicked, there was a lot of food going around, figuratively..So I thought it’s probably about time I started blogging about my cooking disasters…ahem..no I meant cooking successes.
I have cooked based on either my mom’s recipes or the internet. I am badly in need of a cookery book so got myself one. So this first recipe is from that. Its called “The Best Ever Indian”. I made some changes to the recipe and it turned out well. In this curry, you can add more bell peppers for better taste.
Potato & Bell Pepper Curry

Time Req: 35 minutes

Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped

2 potatoes, cut into large pieces

2 1/2 green bell peppers, cubed

3-4 oz fava beans(I used sprouts instead)

7 oz/200 g canned tomatoes/2 medium-sized(chopped small)

2 small chillies, chopped(for spicy curry, add  another 1)

1/2 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

salt to taste

water/vegetable stock

2 tbsp oil(recipe said 3 ,but 2 is good enough)

My contribution

1 tsp Jeera

1 tsp garam masala

Directions :

1. Heat oil in a large heavy bottom pan. Add jeera, chopped onions and cook for about 5 minutes till its light brown and the raw smell of onions disappears, Add chilli powder, coriander, turmeric, green chillies and stir for a while.

2. Now add bell peppers and cook for about 4 minutes, while stirring occasionally

3.  After this,  you can add the sprouts or fava beans and tomatoes. Also, stir in some of the chopped cilantro, stock and let simmer for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Serve with Naan or Chapatis.

I cooked the potatoes in the microwave beforehand to save time during cooking. You could do the same. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures while I was cooking. Next time, I am gonna keep that in mind.