Thotakura Majjigapulusu (Buttermilk with Amaranth leaves tangy soup)

 

Thotakura Majjigapulusu (Buttermilk with Amaranth leaves tangy soup)

 

Thotakura majjigapulusu is a very delicious, classic Andhra recipe made from amaranth leaves and sour curds, to be had with rice.

Ingredients:

1 bunch amaranth leaves plucked from the stems and chopped (the stems can be retained for use in another dish/pulusu)

1 small onion sliced

2 1/2 cups sour curds whisked in about 1 1/2 cups water

2 green chili sliced

2 tbsp dry coconut powder

1/2 tsp sambhar powder

2 level tbsp besan (chickpea flour)

for the tempering : half tsp each of urad dal seeds,  mustard seeds, jeera, 5-6 fenugreek seeds, 2 sprigs fresh curry leaves(cleaned and dried), two pinches asoefetida (hing), 2-4 dried red chili, 1 clove garlic

half a tsp turmeric pwd, salt according to taste, 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil

Bring buttermilk and besan to a boil

Tempering

Add sliced onion and coconut

Add amaranth leaves

Add buttermilk mixture

Add sambhar powder

Thotakura Majjigapulusu (Buttermilk with Amaranth leaves tangy soup)

Procedure:

1. Mix the chickpea flour in a small amount of water so that there are no lumps formed and then add this mixture to the buttermilk in a large vessel. Bring this whole mixture to a gentle boil and simmer for a minute and then set aside.

2. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed large vessel. Add urad dal, jeera, mustard seeds in that order. Fry for 3 secs or till they crackle. Add fenugreek seeds, fry and add red chillis, garlic, hing and the curry leaves. Add the sliced onion and green chili and fry for a bit. Add coconut powder and stir-fry.

3. Add turmeric powder, stir; add the chopped amaranth leaves and a little salt and stir-fry till the leaves are nicely done. (10-15 mins on medium heat)

4. Reduce the heat and add the buttermilk mixture, some more salt and bring to a gentle boil. Add sambhar powder. Simmer for some time (2-3 mins) on very low heat so that it doesn´t curdle.

5. Tastes great with rice.

 

Delicious Egg curry

Delicious Egg curry

Ingredients (Serves 4-6 persons):

6 boiled eggs

1 large onion chopped finely

2 green chili with slits made onto them

400 ml tin coconut milk

300 ml tomato puree´

1 tbsp canola or sunflower oil

Salt according to taste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 1/2 tbsp coriander powder

Whole spices: 1 inch piece cinnamon stick, 1 black cardamom, 1 star anise, 1 clove, piece of mace, 1 bay leaf

1 tsp jeera

1/2 tsp yellow curry paste or garam masala (optional)

chives and onion rings for garnish

Boiled eggs with slits

Fry whole spices, add onions and spice powders

Add tomato puree´

Add coconut milk and boiled eggs

Delicious Egg curry

Procedure:

1. Make long, vertical slits on the boiled eggs with a piece of an egg shell, so that the flavors of the curry get absorbed into them.

2. Heat oil in a large wok and add the jeera and whole spices and fry for a couple of seconds. You can also add curry leaves here. Add turmeric powder and coriander powder and stir. Add the chopped onion and chili and saute´ till golden brown.

3. Add the tomato puree´and cook with the lid on for 10-15 mins or till done.

4. Decrease heat to medium-low and add the coconut milk and stir. (optional:Add the yellow curry paste and stir so that the paste gets dissolved well.) Add the boiled eggs. Add salt and let the curry boil gently (without lid) for about 10- 15 mins. Garnish with chopped chives and onion rings.

5. Serve hot with any Indian bread.

Dal Makhani (Lentils and beans in creamy sauce)

Dal Makhani (Lentils and beans in creamy sauce)

Dal makhani is hugely popular in Indian restaurants; it is rich in protein, cream, butter and calories!…….., incredibly delicious and thats the way its meant to be enjoyed, with butter; makhani meaning buttery. This is one if those dishes that cook well in a slow cooker, simmered slowly for 6 – 8 hrs. But you can cook it the normal way too, its pretty simple, when done with a little bit of thinking ahead because the lentils and beans have to be soaked overnight. This dish is made with whole urad dal with the skin on, which gives it, its unique taste, along with red kidney beans; you can also optionally add some chickpea/chana or garbanzo beans to this mix.

Ingredients: (for 4-5 persons)

200 gms whole urad dal with skin (black lentils)

50 gm red kidney beans or rajmah

500 ml tomato puree´

1 heaped tbsp ginger garlic paste

3-4 green chillis

salt, red chilli powder according to taste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2-3 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp sugar

whole spices: 2 small pieces cinnamon stick, 1 black cardamom, 1 clove, 1 star anise, 2 small bay leaves and 2 tsp jeera

1 heaped tbsp kasoori methi

2 tbsp oil

50 gm butter

200 ml whipping cream

Whole urad dal and red kidney beans

Fry spices

Add ginger garlic paste and turmeric powder

Add coriander powder

Add tomato puree´

Add butter

Add water, bring to boil and add the cooked lentils, salt, red chilli powder and kasoori methi

Add whipping cream

Dal Makhani

Dal Makhani (Lentils and beans in creamy sauce)

Preparation:

1. Soak the whole urad dal along with the red kidney beans in sufficient amount of water overnight.

Procedure:

1. Rinse the soaked lentils and beans in fresh water 2-3 times and cook in a pressure cooker for 5 mins (or till they are soft and well-cooked) along with a cup water, one green chili and a small piece of cinnamon stick.

2. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed vessel. Add the jeera and whole spices and fry for a couple of seconds. Add chopped green chillis. Add some water to the ginger garlic paste and add this mixture to the vessel or pan. Stir and cook for a couple of seconds.

3. Add turmeric powder and coriander powder. Stir well.

4. Add the tomato puree´, salt and red chilli powder. Add half the butter. Stir well. Cover and cook till the oil starts separating.

5. Add a cup of water to the gravy and bring to a boil. Add the cooked lentils and beans along with the water in which they are cooked in from step1. Add sugar and crushed kasoori methi. Simmer on medium low heat for 20-30 mins. Adjust seasonings.

6. Add whipping cream, rest of the butter and simmer for another 5 mins.

7. Serve with a dollop of butter or cream with roti or nan.

Kadhai Paneer (Bell pepper with Indian cheese)

 

Kadhai Paneer with Chapathi

 

Kadhai Paneer is a somewhat dry dish, the bell peppers taste great here:

Ingredients:

350 gm  paneer

15 small cherry tomatoes

1 red capsicum, 1 yellow capsicum and 1 green capsicum

1 tsp jeera and 1 tsp shah jeera

handful methi leaves (fresh fenugreek leaves)

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

3 green chili

1 tbsp coriander powder

5 dried red chillis

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp ghee

2 tbsp raps oil or vegetable oil

Preparation:

1. Blend tomatoes along with the green chili in a blender. Set the puree´ aside.

2. Chop the bell peppers into bite sized pieces. Chop methi leaves.

3. Cut the paneer slab lengthwise. Heat ghee or butter in a non-stick frying pan and place the slabs on the pan. Sprinkle a bit of salt and red chili powder. After one side is golden brown, turn them and fry on the other side, again sprinkling some salt and red chili powder. Remove and drain on paper napkins and cube them. In the same pan, add the bell peppers and fry on high heat for a few minutes. Reduce heat to medium and and fry for another couple of minutes till they are soft but not mushy. Drain on paper napkins.

4. Grind the dried red chili into a powder.

5. In a small bowl, add the red chili powder (from the above step), ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, coriander powder and a few tsp of water and make into a paste.

 

Procedure:

1. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed vessel. Add the jeera and shah jeera and fry for a few seconds. Add the spice paste (from  preparation: step 5). Cook for a few seconds.

2. Add the tomato paste and stir well. Add salt and methi leaves. Cook till done (10-15 mins).

3. Add a few tbsp of water if necessary and bring to a boil.

4. Add the fried paneer and capsicum. Stir. Simmer on low heat for 5-10 mins. Adjust seasonings.

6. Serve hot with chapathis or nans.

Fry Paneer

Fry Capsicum

Fried Capsicum

Make tomato chili puree´

Spice paste

Add spice mix to oil

Saute´spice mix

Add tomato puree´

Fresh methi leaves

Add methi leaves to sauce

Add fried paneer and capsicum

Kadhai Paneer with Chapathi

 

 

Sunnundalu (Urad dal ladoos/ Sweet lentil balls)

Sunnundalu (Urad dal Ladoo)

Sunnundalu are very easy to make, the only thing to remember is  that the fried lentil has to be pulsed to a very fine sand like powder.

Ingredients:

1  cup urad dal (without skin)

3/4th cup white sugar or mix of white and brown sugar

1/2 cup melted ghee (clarified butter)

2 pinches cardamom powder

Procedure:

1. Heat a large non-stick wok and the urad dal to it. Dry roast the dal on medium heat for 25-30 mins or till it starts turning reddish in color. Add the cardamom powder.

2. Remove from heat and pulse the roasted urad dal in a grinder to a powder of fine sand-like consistency. Add the sugar and pulse again.

3. Remove to a large vessel and add the calrified butter/ghee just enough so that you can make press balls out of the mixture.

4. Let cool and store in air-tight containers. Keeps good for a few weeks.

Dry roast urad dal

Roasted dal

Add ghee to the dal and sugar mixture

Press balls out of the mixture

Sunnundalu (Urad dal Ladoo)

Palak Paneer (Spinach with Indian cottage cheese )

Palak Paneer with Chapathi

Palak paneer is a very popular Indian dish, one that is delicious and good for you at the same time. You can cut back the calories in this dish by switching from whipping cream to sour cream, which has only half the calories  (check the labels though, for there are  seemingly endless variations out there on the aisle) and tastes (almost!) as good or you can also use condensed milk or else cut out the cream altogether (not so recommended!)

The basic onion-tomato sauce or gravy is the same for many of these Indian dishes, the key to getting a good one is in frying the onions properly. It has to be done till the oil starts separating and they get golden brown, its not enough if you fry them till they are translucent, you wont get the same rich taste.

I had seen this way of frying paneer in a Sanjeev Kapoor video, its way more easier than frying them as small pieces and tastes better too!

Ingredients:

Whole spices – 1 tsp jeera, 1 inch piece cinnamon stick, 1-2 bay leaves, 1 star anise , 1 clove, 1 black cardamom

300 gm  paneer

2 medium onions

7-9 small cherry tomatoes

300 gm frozen spinach (look for finely chopped and in portions)

1 heaped tbsp kasoori methi

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

3-7 green chili depending on taste

salt, red chilli powder according to taste

1/2  tsp jeera powder

3/4 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp garam masala powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

2-3 tbsp ghee

200 gm whipping cream

Preparation:

1. Quarter onions and blend them along with the green chili in a blender. Set the paste aside.

2. Puree´the tomatoes in the blender. Set aside.

3. Thaw the frozen spinach. You can give optionally (since it is already finely chopped) gives this a whirl in the blender but do not blend it for a long time, it makes the spinach slimy later on.

4. Cut the paneer slab lengthwise. Heat ghee or butter in a non-stick frying pan and place the slab on the pan. Sprinkle a bit of salt and red chili powder. After one side is golden brown, turn the slab and fry on the other side, again sprinkling some salt and red chili powder. (Great to offer some of this to children at this point of time)

Procedure:

1. Heat ghee in a heavy-bottomed vessel. Add the whole spices and fry for a few seconds till they release their aromas. Add the onion and green chili paste. Stir, cover and cook till they are half done. Add ginger garlic paste, cover and cook till the paste is golden brown or till the oil starts separating. (keep stirring in between)

2. Add turmeric powder, give it a stir, add kasoori methi, salt, red chili powder jeera and coriander powder, fry, taking care not to burn anything. Optionally, add a bit of garam masala powder.

3. Add the tomato paste, cover and cook till done (10-15 mins).

4. Add the thawed spinach. Cook for 15 min or till done without covering so as to retain the green color. Adjust seasonings.

5. Add the fried paneer and whipping cream. Simmer on low heat for 5-10 mins.

6. Serve hot with chapathis or nans. Yum!!

Palak Paneer with Chapathi

Fried Paneer

Whole Spices

Fry spices and saute´onion-chili paste

Add spice powders

Add tomato paste

Gravy is done

Add spinach

Add paneer and cream

Aloo Paratha (Potato stuffed flat bread) and Spicy potato tacos

Aloo Paratha with Curd

Spicy potato tacos

This potato stuffing is basic to a lot of Indian dishes like this recipe of aloo paratha; you can use it for these taco shells; with a little bit of variation, you can make it advance and use it for evening snacks like aloo bondas, spicy bread pockets, cutlets or tikkis, samosas etc.

Ingredients (for the potato stuffing):

4 medium sized potatoes

1 medium sized onion

paste made from 4-6 green chilis

salt and red chilli powder to taste

pinch or two turmeric powder

pinch hing

1 tsp  jeera

1 tsp each of jeera (cumin powder) and coriander powder

garam masala according to taste

small bunch coriander leaves

sprig curry leaves (optional)

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

Procedure:

1. Boil the potatoes in a pressure cooker. Peel and mash. Finely chop the onion.

2. In a large wok, heat oil and add jeera. As the jeera starts to crackle, add  the ginger garlic paste, onion and green chili paste. Fry till golden brown. Add the cumin and coriander powders and stir well. Add garam masala, chilli and turmeric powders.

3. Add the mashed potato to the onions. Add salt, stir and add chopped coriander leaves. This mixture should be quite dry. Leave to cool down a bit and then add the lemon juice.

4. For the stuffing for the taco shells, you can leave a few pieces of the potato without  mashing it up completely. Optionally, add spiring onion leaves.

Potato Stuffing

Ingredients (for aloo parathas):

2 cups whole wheat flour

potato stuffing (as above)

1/2 tsp ajwain powder

oil or ghee

Procedure:

1. Add a bit of salt and oil and the ajwain powder to the wheat flour and mix. Make a dough out of this with some water. Keep closed (with a paper napkin lined along the lid to absorb moisture) for half an hour to one hour.

2. Knead the dough once again and take a medium sized ball out of it. Flatten it with a rolling pin such that the circle made is thinner at the edges and thicker at the centre. Now place two tablespoons (or less if making for children) of the potato stuffing and palce at the centre. Gather the edges of the circle and make a twisting motion with the hands and nip off the excess dough.

place the stuffing at the center

fold over along the edges, twist and nip off excess dough

3. Sprinkle some dry flour on top of it and flatten, then roll into a circular shape with a rolling pin.

flatten the dough

roll out into a circular shape carefully

6. Heat a large non-stick frying pan to medium high. Place the paratha and let it cook till bubbles start forming on top of it. Remove with a wooden spatula, quickly pour a few drops of ghee on the pan and place the paratha on its reverse side. Let it get browned and remove. Serve with yoghurt or a raita of your choice.

Aloo paratha

Ingredients (for the taco shells):

potato stuffing (recipe above)

4 taco shells

lollo mix leaves

shredded cheese and onions (optional)

place taco shells on baking sheet and bake in oven

Procedure:

1. Spoon the stuffing in the taco shells and top with other optional ingredients of your choice like cheese or onions etc.

2. Bake according to instructions on the label, typically around 5-7 minutes in preheated oven.

3. Serve with salad leaves.

Capsicum Curry (Bell pepper curry/ Capsicum Bhaji )

Capsicum Curry with Chapathi

 

Eating dry coconut cleans the intestines in the way a bottle brush cleans a bottle! Sesame seeds give added nutrition to this flavorful dish. Bell peppers don´t taste good when cooked to the level of mushiness, they should be soft and well done but still retain a bit of their crunchiness; so its best to cook them on high heat while tossing now and then rather than cooking them with the lid on, on slow heat as this releases a lot of moisture from these vegetables which causes them to become slushy.

Ingredients (for 3 persons):

3 bell peppers of any color

1 small onion

2 green chillis

For the tempering : 2 tbsp sunflower oil, 1 tsp jeera and 2 tbsp sesame seeds

salt (1 tsp or less), red chili powder (1 tsp), turmeric powder ( less than a quarter tsp)

1 tsp coriander powder

2-3 tbsp dry coconut flakes or powder

Procedure:

1. Chop the onion and green chili very finely. Thoroughly wash the bell peppers, dry them and roughly chop into slightly smaller than bite-sized pieces.

2. Heat oil to medium-high in a large wok and add the jeera and sesame seeds. You can add curry leaves here if you wish.

3. Add the onion and green chillis and fry till golden brown.

4. Add the chopped bell peppers and toss on high heat for a few minutes. Add salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder and the dry coconut. Stir well and cook on medium heat without covering for 20 minutes or till done.

5. Serve hot with chapathi or roti.

lightly fry sesame seeds and jeera

saute’ finely chopped onion

add capsicum

add spice powders and coconut powder

cook without lid till done

Capsicum Curry with Chapathi

Oven-fried Salmon

 

Oven fried Salmon

 

Oven-fried salmon is very easy to prepare, delicious and healthy at the same time:

Ingredients:

2 fillets organic frozen salmon

dash of salt, pepper and dried thyme

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

olive oil

Procedure:

1. Thaw the fish to room temperature.

2. Mix the lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, salt, pepper, thyme, a tbsp of oil to a paste and marinate the fish fillets in this for upto 2 hrs in the fridge.

3. Preheat oven to 200°C.

4. Brush some oil on a baking sheet arranged on a baking tray. Place the fillets on the sheet and bake for half an hour. You can turn them once in between.

5. Towards the end, change the setting of the oven to the grill function and grill till the fillets are slightly charred on the outside.

 

Punugulu (with idli batter)

 

Punugulu

There are many ways of making these type of snacks called ‘punugulu’ in Telugu, these here are made with idli batter which are very crispy, another type of punugulu can be made with wheat flour called ‘maida punugulu’ which are soft and taste quite different and I like those ones the better!…

Ingredients:

1 large cup left over idli batter

1/3rd cup rice flour

1 small onion finely chopped

6-8 green chillis finely chopped

a few sprigs coriander leaves chopped

a few curry leaves finely chopped

1 tsp jeera

oil for deep frying

Procedure:

1. Heat the oil in a large wok.

2. Combine all the ingredients together with a little water if necessary, but the batter should not be runny, i.e its consistency should be thick.

3. When the oil is well heated up, drop the batter into the oil in small rounds either with the hand or with a spoon.

4. Deep fry till cooked on the inside and crispy on the outside and drain on paper napkins.

5. Serve hot with a sauce of your choice or any chutney like coconut, ginger or peanut…

 

 

Mango Milkshake

 

Mango Milkshake

 

Ingredients: (for 2 persons)

1 cup milk (boiled and cooled, organic)

1 cup alphanso mango pulp (from tin)

2 tbsp kewra water

pinch cardamom powder

2 tbsp finely chopped almonds

Procedure:

1. In a blender, combine the milk, mango pulp, cardamom powder and kewra water and give it a few spins.

2. Pour into two glasses and top with the chopped almonds. Enjoy!!

 

Raclette Cheese and Zucchini Omelette

Raclette Cheese and Zucchini Omelette

We had our friends over for lunch the other day, and they had bought a lot of this raclette cheese along with its complete setup of the electric table-top grill with small  pans (coupelles) to heat the slices of cheese in. The grill has a hot plate on top of it to keep the cheese warm after it has been melted. Scrape it on top of boiled potatoes, a dash of pepper, and hey, presto! a delicious and quick side dish.

Raclette Cheese has its origins in Switzerland and France. Long, loooooong, way long ago, the Swiss cow herders used to take it with them while moving along pastures in the mountains and in the evenings, they used to sit around camp fires and melt the cheese to top over their breads.

Anyway, we had a lot of this left over, so I decided to make an omelette with it for breakfast the next day…..I am not a big fan of  the strong smell it has when it is being melted but its taste is  sooooooo delicious ….. I love its soft goeeyeness, so here´s the recipe: a treat for a hungry stomach!

Ingredients: (for 1 person)

quarter of a small zucchini

2 cherry tomatoes

1 slice raclette cheese

1 large egg

1/2 to 1 tbsp olive oil

dash of salt, white pepper and dried thyme

Procedure:

1. Chop the zucchini and quarter the tomatoes.

2. Heat oil in a small, non-stick frying pan and add the zucchini and toss around for a bit, then add the tomatoes and a dash of salt. Fry for a minute or so.

3. Scrape the veggies to one side and melt the slice of cheese in the centre of the pan till slightly brown on the underside. Remove the whole mass to a heated plate.

4. Mix salt, pepper and thyme to a tsp of water in a bowl. Break the egg into this and whisk well.

5. Pour this egg mixture into the hot pan and drip oil on the edges. Lift one side of the edge with a wooden spatula and lift the pan so that the liquid from the centre flows into this area, repeat with edges all around the omelette; so that you have a small flower formation going there..

6. Slide the omelette over the cheese and veggie mixture and enjoy as is or have it on toast.

making Raclette Cheese and Zucchini Omelette

Mango-hazelnut and white chocolate Muffins

 

 

Mango-hazelnut with white chocolate Muffins

           Yum! Lecker!!

Ingredients: (makes 12 muffins)

50 gm baking chocolate (white)

120 gm flour (half and half of whole wheat and white )

100 gm sugar

110 ml sunflower oil

2 large bio eggs

6 gm baking powder

pinch salt

60 gm hazelnut powder

100 ml mango pulp (alphanso mango pulp from tin)

2-3 tbsp milk

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 190° C.

2. Sift both the flours, salt, hazelnut powder and baking powder together.

3. Melt the chocolate. Do this by the double boiling method: break and place the chocolate in a small vessel and place this gently in a bigger vessel containing boiling water. Donot let the chocolate come into contact with the water. Continue boiling till the chocolate is melted.

4. Whisk together the sugar and oil nicely. Add the eggs one by one and whisk for 2-3 mins.

5. Fold in the dry flour mix from step 1 and mix.

6. Add the mango pulp and mix. Add the melted chocolate and mix well. Add a few tbsp of milk, just enough to get the right consistency for the cake batter.

7. Pour this cake mixture into cupcake liners arranged in a muffin tray. Donot fill upto the top of the paper cups so as to leave room for the cakes to rise.

8. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 20 mins or till done.

melt chocolate

add eggs to oil and sugar mix

whisk for 2-3 mins

add the flour mix

add mango pulp

add milk

arrange cupcake liners

fill cake mix upto 2/3rds capacity

bake for 20 mins

these bats serve well for a cooling rack!

Mango-hazelnut with white chocolate Muffins

Almond Cinnamon cupcakes with clementine glazing for the festive season

 

Almond Cinnamon Cupcakes

Really, really delicious cupcakes (if I say so myself!) with or without the glaze, my son licked half off them clean, within hour an hour of my baking them! I always like to put some chopped nuts in my batter and for these I tried out almonds, here´s my recipe:

Ingredients: 

100 gm flavorless oil, like sunflower oil

100 gm white flour (I`ve used 80% white and 20% whole wheat flour)

100 gm sugar (half and half of white and brown sugar)

2 medium bio eggs

40 ml clementine juice

2-3 tsp lemon juice

6 gms baking powder

2 pinches salt

30 gm almond powder

20 gm hacked almonds

1 packet vanilla sugar

1/2 -3/4th tsp cinnamon powder

Procedure:

1. Heat the oven to 190 degree C.

2. Sift the flour and mix it with the baking powder and salt.

3. Whisk the oil along with the sugar in a mixing bowl till smooth. Add the eggs one by one and whisk for 2-3 mins. Add the flour little by little, add the almond powder, hacked almonds, clementine juice, lemon juice and vanilla sugar and whisk till you have a smooth, creamy mix. If the consistency is too thick and the mix does not fall easily, add some more lemon juice.

4. Line a muffin tray with cupcake forms. Fill the forms with the cake mix upto two-thirds capacity.

5. Place the tray in the preheated oven and bake for 20 mins or till cakes are golden brown.

6. Remove and cool on a cooling rack before frosting. This lets air circulate from above and also from underneath the cakes.

For the clementine glaze:

100 gm powdered sugar

2-3 tsp clementine juice

Take the powder sugar in a bowl and add the clementine juice and mix till you have a thick glaze. Glaze it on top of the cooled cakes with a spoon and top with a sugar decor, crystals, hacked almonds and cinnamon powder.

Parsi Dhansak (Pumpkin dal)

Parsi Dhansak with rice

This dal is made from three types of lentils and pumpkin; its really  delicious and tastes good with chapathi or with rice:

Ingredients:

150 gm lentils (tuvar dal , masoor dal and moong dal in equal quantities)

10-12 cherry tomatoes – chop into quarters

2 green chillis

2 cups of large cubes of pumpkin pieces

1 small onion quartered and one small onion finely chopped

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1 tbsp kasoori methi (dry fenugreek leaves)

small bunch coriander leaves

salt to taste, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1 to 2 tsp red chilli powder, asoefetida (hing), 1/2 to 1 tsp tamarind paste depending on sourness of tomatoes

for the tempering: 2 tbsp oil, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp jeera, 1 tsp split urad dal, 4-6 fenugreek seeds, sprig curry leaves

for the masala: 1 inch piece of cinnamon stick, 5-7 pepper corns, 1 small cardamom, 2 tsp jeera, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 6-8 dry red chillis

Procedure:

1. Wash the dal and cook in pressure cooker along with some water, pinch asoefetida, the quartered onion, pumpkin pieces and slit green chillis. Set aside.

2. Grind all the ingredients for the masala in a mini grinder.

3. Heat oil in a deep vessel and add urad dal, mustard and jeera and fry till mustard starts to pop and then add the fenugreek seeds. Fry for a second or two. Add curry leaves and two pinches hing and toss.

4. Add the finely chopped onion and saute’ till golden brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and kasoori methi. Fry for a few seconds. Add the masala powder from step 2 and stir well.

5. Add the tomatoes and let them cook for 10 mins or so till it starts getting dry. Add turmeric powder and stir. Add red chilli powder, salt and the cooked dal (along with pumpkin). Stir well and add a cup of water and stir. Check for taste and add tamarind paste. Let the mixture come to a boil and let simmer for 5- 10 mins. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

5. Serve with hot basmati rice and ghee or any Indian bread.

the three types of lentils washed

cook along with the pumpkin pieces in pressure cooker

grind the masala

tempering

add tomatoes

add the dal along with pumpkin

Parsi Dhansak with rice