DAAL MAASH - MY MASHUP

Maash Ki Daal

Mummy, give me some more rice!

INGREDIENTS

1. Urad dal (white, split), 1 cup
2. Ginger (juliennes), 1 teaspoon
3. Garlic (chopped), 6 cloves
4. Onion (thin slices), 1
5. Green chili, 1
6. Cilantro (finely sliced), 1 tablespoon
7. Cumin seed, 1 teaspoon
8. Asafoetida, a pinch
9. Salt, to to taste
10. Ghee, 1 tablespoon

STEPS

1. Wash the dal well to remove the frothy surfactants as much as possible. To further reduce the gassiness that a dal can cause, soak in hot water for at least an hour and wash again

2. Cook the dal in a thick bottomed pan with at least double the amount of water ­ some people add some ginger juliennes and red chillies and peppercorns at this point and even salt. To make the dish even more exotic, boil it with a modicum of the whole garam masala spices such as one tej patta, 1 clove, a tiny piece of cinnamon, a soupcon of star anise, etc. You can even pressure cook it but when I do so the dal often gets overcooked

3. In the meantime, as the dal is cooking away, peel and thinly slice the onions, julienne the ginger and finely chop the garlic and cilantro. You can either slit the green chili or dice it and if you're not keen on chili spice, either omit it altogether or de seed it before use ­ do wear gloves or wash your hands well after touching chilies

4. Heat the ghee gently taking care not to burn it and crackle the cumin seed carefully as they should not get too browned. Add the onions, ginger, garlic and green chili until nicely golden

5. Check the dal. If the grains can be easily mashed with your fingers then it's good to go ­ if not cook further, add more water if need be

6. Pour the above onto the dal

The Real Deal 

If you want to make and taste the real recipe, just make sure you cook the dal right 

1. The finished product should look like fluffy rice 
2. Heat a dash of ghee and singe a dash of the finest hing 
3. Pour this over your dal, seasoned only with salt 

I've really not had this dish as cooked by my mother or her sisters, all of whom were raised on the North-West Frontier. I came to know about this dish because my mother often told me that it was my sister's favourite. 

Mummy, give me some more rice! 

Because, apparently, that is how the dish should look. As you can see, I've failed in that sense. To suit expectations, I cook it much as we cook most dals, tadka style. 

In any case, this is a royal dish and can be prepared with the least fuss which is, indeed, the hallmark of true royalty. 

Or you can make it with a lot or a little more pomp and circumstance - garam masala, whole or powdered; onions, garlic, ginger - an elaborate fried garnish.

And you can also go all creative and make it a cold salad dish by cooking the dal rather like a vegetable pulao with green peas, carrots and all and serve it tossed with fresh salad vegetables like cucumbers, lettuce and such.

CROQUETTES WITH LEFTOVER SPAGHETTI FILLING

Croquettes With Leftovers

My recent addiction to Japanese drama finds me a fan of the croquette! 

INGREDIENTS

3 medium sized potatoes
4 tablespoons leftover spaghetti/pasta with sauce and all - heat it to dry off excess liquid and further squeeze it out when cool, else the croquettes risk not holding together. Save the liquid to moisten the bread 
1 slice bread
Vegetable oil or any preferred cooking medium. These days I prefer ghee or coconut oil.
Salt
Pepper
Cheese, optional

STEPS

1. Boil, peel and thoroughly mash the potatoes 
2. Trim the crust off the bread 
3. Use any liquid in the leftover spaghetti to moisten the bread 
4. Squeeze out any excess liquid from the bread and blend it well with the mashed potatoes 
5. Season the mashed potatoes to taste with salt and pepper and any other dry seasonings you like
6. Separate balls of mashed potato and heaps of spaghetti to match ­ the amount of potato mix should always be much more
7. Make a kind of hollow in one ball and gently place a bit of spaghetti there. Cautiously draw the potato mix so that it covers the stuffing.
8. Do the same with the rest and shape the croquettes 
9. Heat the oil well ­ test by dropping a small piece of the potato mix and see if it rises quickly 
10. Lower the fire a bit and gently slide in a croquette 
11. Cook for a few minutes and gently slide over to cook on the other side 
12. Serve with onion rings, slices of lime and buttered bread 

Watch how it's done on a Youtube video

Red Greens? Red Amaranth On The Menu Tonight!

A lot of people dislike eating greens. And, conversely, greens are the main vegetables used by lots of people. But what about greens that are red?

Health Benefits of Amaranth Leaves

I loved my mom's dal saag and I tend to make it often. If I find red amaranth, I grab it. A touch of colour does wonders to food.

Whey Water Soups

I'd briefly used another platform for food blogging but it let me down and I shall be transferring posts from there on Khana Banana. I chose to post this one first as I recently made a very tasty soup. And the same recipe almost holds good. Only this time I added a small handful of coriander seeds and that made it very delightful!

Carrot-Pumpkin Whey Water Soup

Whey Tomato-Carrot Soup

INGREDIENTS

1/2 litre of whey, leftover from making paneer1 tablespoon homemade butter (any butter will do. It's just that I tend to make mine at home)

1 carrot, chopped
3 tomatoes, with slits cut into them1 or 2 onions, chopped coarsely6 cloves garlic1 or 2 green chilliesA small bunch of cilantro
1 bay leaf or tejpatta
3-4 cloves, optional
Oil for deep frying
Salt and pepper to taste

STEPS

1. Here's what you'll basically need

I've not used flour, as the soup was thick enough

2. Coarsely chop the onions and carrots. Slit the green chillies so they don't explode on heating. Peel the garlic cloves

You can avoid the chillies if hotness is not your cup of tea

3. Gently heat the butter. I've used homemade butter. You can even use store bought butter or olive oil or any other cooking oil that you prefer

Making butter at home is tedious but rewarding

4. Sweat the onions, garlic, chillies, carrots and bay leaf or tejpatta 

Keep the fire fairly low so nothing burns

5. Add the tomatoes 

I've made slits on them, in case I decided to blanch and peel them

6. Add the cilantro 

Folks add coriander seeds too. I didn't as we use too much in our daily cooking

7. Pressure cook for one whistle or boil in whey. I used a pressure cooker, adding part of the whey with the sauteed vegetables

8. Heat oil 

Use a nice, wide, thick bottomed Kadai/wok (pan)

9. Meanwhile chop some stale bread into cubes 

There are many ways to make croutons interesting and to avoid deep frying

10. Deep fry till golden and drain 

I left them on my tawa which I use for draining fried stuff. It conditions the tawa so that one can fry eggs or make dosas more easily

11. Blend the cooled vegetables 

You could strain it after blending if you want to be fancy

12. Add the rest of the whey and give it a boil, stirring continuously 

Keep the fire low and stir so that the whey does not curdle

10. To serve, garnish with cilantro (I used onion leaves from my garden), sprinkle some coarsely ground black pepper and keep a lime half handy for those who crave a tang 

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There's nothing quite like soup on certain days, cold days or hot ones, times when you're tired or sick or just for the heck of it

Very filling!

Notes:

Whey is high in protein which makes this soup very rich and substantial.

I'm a no frills homebody cook and can't find the time to be fancy but you can make this soup as lah di dah as you please by straining out the pulp after pressure cooking. That would be very tedious and you'd need some muslin cloth or such.

Then, you can thicken it by gently sauteing about a tablespoon of plain flour in a dab of butter or olive or any other oil. Just for a minute or two. Switch off the fire and slowly pour in about half a cup of milk, stirring continuously. This will give you a creamy soup.

For further indulgence, garnish with a swirl of beaten cream. Use malai if handy.