Dal Makhani

Raise your hand if you have not tasted this epic North Indian dish - Dal Makhani yet! Raise both hands and go run like this to a roadside dhaba or a small Indian restaurant near you and dig in to this divine dish. 

Believe me this is no punishment, only a reward. Dal Makhani is a creamy Punjabi lentil curry simmered and slow cooked until the black gram lentils and kidney beans almost turn to a mush. 

It is generally cooked with lots of butter and then finally smooth layers of cream are added to finish this aptly titled 'Dal Makhani'.

Makkhan in Hindi translates as butter in English and in India, especially Punjab, a lot of dishes have "Makhani" added to their name.

Their are some very rich gravy dishes with Makkhan cooked in Punjabi style like Paneer Makhani (cottage cheese cooked in butter and cream and tomato gravy) or Murg Makhani (Chicken in a thick creamy buttery sauce).

Usage of dairy products like milk, cream, butter, ghee (clarified butter) and paneer (cottage cheese) is profound in Punjabi cooking. Almost all Punjabi dishes have either one or more of these dairy products in them.

Before I share the recipe here, let me say that like many slow-cooked recipes, Dal Makhani turns out best when you take your time to cook it at leisure. It is not a dish in a jiffy and making it is time-consuming but once you scoop it with pillow-y bites of layered parathas (pan-fried flatbread), you forget about the time and effort put into making it.

I love eating my dal out of the fridge next morning served with hot parathas fresh off the tawa. Believe me, it tastes even better the next morning. This is the way breakfast has been happening at my naani's (grandma's house) since my childhood. Leftover dal from the night served with hot fluffy parathas.

Since it takes long for the black gram lentils and kidney beans to cook, I use a pressure cooker and soak both overnight in water.

Prepping Time: 8 hours
Cooking Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Black lentils (whole): 3/4th cup
Kidney Beans: 1/4th cup
4-5 tbsp butter
2-3 cloves
1tsp cumin
2 green cardamom
1 black cardamom
1 bay leaf
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tomatoes, pulped
4-5 green chilies
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
salt, to taste
coriander leaves, for garnish
cream 3-4 tbsp

Method:

1) A night before or at least 4-5 hours before cooking soak black gram and kidney beans in enough water to speed up the cooking.

2) In a pressure cooker, heat four cups of water. Add some salt, turmeric powder and pressure cook for on medium to low flame for about 30 min.

3) Take a pan, heat butter with just a tbsp cooking oil to avoid it from getting burnt.

4) Now add bay leaf, cloves, cardamom.

5) Put in the cumin seeds and stir until it changes colour and you smell a nice roasted fragrance of cumin.

6) Add chopped onions. Stir fry.

7) Until the onions brown, prepare ginger-garlic paste. Keep aside.

8) Keep checking on the onions and stir. Meanwhile, blend together tomatoes and green chili.

9) Set aside the tomato-green chili paste.

10) Stir the onions.

 11) When onions look like such....

 12) ...put in the ginger-garlic paste and stir fry until the raw smell disappears.

13) Now add in the tomato-green chili pulp.

14) Stir well. When tomatoes seem to be cooked and left some oil on the side, its done.

15) Now add in the red, chili powder, coriander powder, salt. Stir and saute for 2 min.

16) When it looks like this, your tadka is ready! Once the pressure cooker releases its steam, open carefully and add the dal to the tadka. Do not add all the remaining water. You can add it later in parts when the dal is simmering with the tadka. It should be thick and not runny so add little water every then and now. When the dal seems to be mixed well with the tadka, add in the cream and turn off the gas.

Serve hot with paratha or fuluffy phulkas (chapati)!

How do you like to eat your dal?

With parathas or naan? 

Tell me all, I'd love to read what you think!

Thanks for reading! :-)

Bhindi fry - Okra stir-fry

Bhindi or lady finger or okra is one of my favourite vegetables. I am so enticed by the simple flavours in the Punjabi dish version of this unique vegetable. With only a few ingredients and less than 20 min to prepare it, the flavours in this dish are worth talking about.

This green vegetable is slim as a lady's finger, so rightly called. It has a neutral taste but don't go by its simple looks, it is packed with fiber, Vitamins and minerals. When I had just gotten married I had no experience of cooking and even selecting vegetables while buying. I remember going to the supermarket and asking a lady to help me select the 'good' bhindi pods. In the store, select the pods that look crispy. One can check that by trying to break the tip of the pod. If it breaks with ease and a crunch, you have found the right bhindi. Also, choose the smaller pods, as they are fresher and tend to be free of worms and will have lesser or smaller seeds. Avoid the pods that look over-ripe, mushy, dull coloured or sunken. If you want your bhindi to be crispy and not slimy or mushy or lacy upon cooking, then you must wash the lady finger whole and then spread them on a newspaper or large cloth to dry overnight or at least an hour before chopping and cooking.

The recipe I am sharing today is a typical Punjabi way of cooking bhindi as a stir fry with lots of onions. Onions are sliced and a few small sized onions are added whole to the stir fry. Just a few slits on top and they are added to the wok. This one tastes great when cooked in slightly smoked mustard oil as it gives the strong pungent flavour of mustard to the bhindi.

Difficulty Level: Easy
Cooking Time: 20 min.
Serves: 4
Ingredients:

Lady finger (500 gm), washed and dried overnight or until completely free of moisture

2-3 onions, sliced

1-2 small-sized onions, whole

2-3 green chilies, chopped

1-2 green chilies, whole

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chili powder

1/2 tsp amchur or dry mango powder

2-3 tbsp mustard oil

salt, to taste

Method:

1) Start by chopping the dried bhindi into one-inch pieces. Keep aside.

2) Heat mustard oil in a wok, Let it smoke a little and then turn of the gas.

3) Carefully put onions (both sliced and whole) to it and now turn on the gas.

Add in the green chilies and saute on low flame until onions look golden brown but not burnt.

4) Add all the spices and mix well. Put in the chopped bhindi. Mix well but be careful to not break the bhindi pieces. Saute for 2-3 min. Now cover the wok with a lid and allow the bhindi to cook for about 7-10 min.

 

5) Open the lid, saute and check if the bhindi is done. If not, cover and cook for another 3-5 min.

6) Serve hot with chapatti.

Hope you liked this simple recipe!

How do you like to make your bhindi?

Do you like the aloo-bhindi version - a stir-fry with potatoes or do you like it to keep it simple with loads of onions?

Tell me all, I'd love to know what you think!

Thanks for reading! :-)

Cook With Kids: Bread Pizza

This is the first recipe I am sharing that can be made easily with kids. Bread Pizzas are so versatile that you can make them interesting in so many ways. Layer them with different vegetables and loads of cheese and it becomes kids favourite instantly.

Ideal to pack for kids lunchboxes, I often send it to Little M's school. Plus its easy, quick and loaded with the goodness of veggies and cheese. What more can a mom ask for? :-)

Involve kids in making these beautiful bread pizzas on weekends and set a happy tone to a dull evening. I have already listed here the benefits of cooking with kids in the last blog post. Have you seen it?

These stove-top bread pizzas are so easy that I didn't feel the need to list out the method step by step. However I will still try to explain the process in detail.

Preparing Time: 10 min

Cooking Time: 5-7 min

Ingredients:

Bread slices

2 tbsp olive oil

2-3 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 cup blanched and chopped baby carrot, baby corn, sweet corn

1/2 cup of finely chopped onion, tomatoes

Cheese strips

See how Little M helped me make this super snack.

I asked Little M to slather tomato ketchup and olive oil on the brown bread slices and then arrange veggies that I had blanched and chopped beforehand.

His favourite part was topping his bread pizza with oodles of cheese. :-)

These bread pizzas can be made on the tawa (griddle).  After Little M finished decorating the pizza, I handed him a plate and ketchup squeezer and told him to make a ketchup smiley (a good way to work on those fine motor skills too).

Meanwhile, I heated the tawa and then put two of these colourful pizzas on top and then covered the tawa by turning a large bottomed bowl upside down on it.

I have seen my mother use this method and now I use it to roast beetroots or make stove top pizzas. Just wait for 5-6 min for the cheese to melt and your bread pizza is ready.

Note: Try and not leave the pizza bread on the heat for a long time as it can make the bread too hard. Keeping it for 5-6 min helps make the bread crispy and soft from top.

Do you like getting kids in the kitchen? What are your favourite recipes to whip up with the kids?

Tell me all. I'd love to read your thoughts.

Thanks for reading! :-)