Daal Makhni

Dals or lentils have a very important place in Indian food.  Whichever part of the country you go to, staple crop: beans or legumes grown there become the important part of the meal. Check or my collection of dals and curries. Being a vegetarian, beans and lentils are a good source of protein and the combination with rice or roti also provides complete proteins to my family.

Kaali daal means black daal and it is a very popular dish from the Northern parts of India. You may also know this creamy and smooth dish by Dal Makhani or Ma ki daal as it is readily cooked in most North Indian homes. Being a Gujarati, and born and brought up in Mumbai, toor dal or Gujarati simple daal (without use of onion and garlic) is our staple. But, I do enjoy trying and experimenting various daals. I was never introduced to black urad dal or rajma while growing up. But when I entered into the kitchen and would check out various ingredients for my family, legumes and beans started looking attractive and interesting. I started cooking rajma/kidneybeans and eventually it became our favorite and staple.

Bought urad daal and fell in love with the taste and texture! I tried my way of soaking and pressure cooking and tempering with onions and spices. And it came out delicious. Then I tried to find out the nutritional value of this whole black dal...and WOW so tasty and full of fiber, protein, and perfect for women's health. This Daal is surely a keeper! Urad daal or kaali daal is now a staple in our family. It is cooked at least once a week and we love it! Urad daal has a slimy texture on cooking so this daal is naturally going to be smooth. Restaurant add makhan, butter, or cream to make it rich in texture. Adding cream is optional, and I do not do it every time. It does make this daal special for special occasions. Also, pressure cooking is easy. However, cooking in clay pot is easy as well as improves the nutritional value, and gives it a rustic flavor and aroma.

The clay pot used in the recipe in a pressure cooker made of clay. MittiCool makes various clay cooking utensils. This pressure cooker keeps the pressure in to cook the food but noes not whistle or release pressure. I like the flavors of the food cooked in clay. Clay cooking is also beneficial as it increases the alkalinity of the food and increases the nutritional value. Here is the link.

However, this recipe can be made in regular pressure cooker too with spices easily found at home. I am not from the Northern parts of India so this might not be the traditional method of preparation, but this recipe is surely delicious.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole black urad daal/black lentils
1/4 cup rajma/ kidney beans
2-3 tbsp. ghee (oil if you are vegan)
1 tsp. cumin seeds/ whole jeera
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped tomatoes
2-3 dry red chilies
Chopped green chilies
1 tbsp.chopped ginger
Around 2 tsp.salt
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tbsp. red chili powder
1 tsp. garam masala powder
3 tbsp. fresh cream (optional)
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves

• Wash and soak black urad daal and rajma in 3 cups water for 8-10 hours. Soaking makes them easy to cook.
• Remove water. In a pressure cooked add soaked daals with 3 cups of water, 1 tsp.salt, and turmeric powder. Cook for 1+1/2 hour (around 4-5 whistles on low to medium heat) This will help cook and soften dal.
• Open the pressure cooker. Mix and lightly mash dal.
• In a separate pan heat ghee. Add cumin seeds, dry red chilies, and chopped onions and saute well.
• When onions soften, add chopped tomatoes and green chilies. Add 1/2 tsp. salt and mix well. This will help tomatoes to soften and get mushy. Add chili powder and garam masala. Mix well and fry for a minute or two. Add this to the pressure cooker with cooked dal. Add 1 cup water to the pan to deglaze and get all the delicious spices into the dal. Add that water to dal. Add chopped ginger. Mix well.
• Add 3 tbsp. of fresh cream or malai from the milk. This is optional. I don't put malai on regular basis but just on special occasions or for guests.
• Simmer dal for 10 to 15 minutes and serve or cover the pressure cooker again and cook for an hour on low heat.
• Also use a hand blender to mash only a part of daal. I just keep the hand blender in one spot and turn it on for 30-45 seconds. That way only partial daal is mashed to form a homogeneous mixtures. I like few bits of daal and rajma to be seen. If you like the entire daal to be smooth, blend it using hand blender. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
• Add chopped coriander leaves.
• Serve with rice or roti.

Here is step-by-step pictorial recipe:

Wash and soak black urad daal and rajma in 3 cups water for 8-10 hours.

Remove soaked water. In a pressure cooked add soaked daals with 3 cups of water, 1 tsp.salt, and turmeric powder. Cook for 1+1/2 hour (around 4-5 whistles on low to medium heat) This will help cook and soften daal.

My terracotta pressure cooker from Mitticool.

Open the pressure cooker. Mix and lightly mash daal.

In a separate pan heat ghee. add cumin seeds, dry red chilies, and chopped onions and saute well.

When onions soften, add chopped tomatoes and green chilies. Add 1/2 tsp. salt and mix well. This will help tomatoes to soften and get mushy. Add chili powder and garam masala. Mix well and fry for a minute or two. Add this to the pressure cooker with cooked daal. Add 1 cup water to the pan to deglaze and get all the delicious spices into the daal. Add that water to daal. Add chopped ginger. Mix well.

Fresh cream or malai collected after boiling milk.

Cook for another hour.

Also use a hand blender to mash only a part of daal. I just keep the hand blender in one spot and turn it on for 30-45 seconds. That way only partial daal is mashed to form a homogeneous mixtures. I like few bits of daal and rajma to be seen. If you like the entire dal to be smooth, blend it using hand blender. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Add chopped coriander leaves.

Enjoy Smooth and Silky
Daal Makhni!

Rawa Idli

The beginning of the long weekend with a light but a lavish breakfast/brunch!! No just kidding, this breakfast looks lavish but it is the simplest and the quickest breakfast I could make today. We are out of regular bread, no milk for tea or coffee or cereal, no poha either. So most of the breakfast ingredients are missing today. I did have semolina. fine rawa, but my husband is not a big fan of upma. So making upma on a weekend would not have been a very good idea. The best I could do is quickly whip up some instant idli batter. With my instant idli chutney powder that I store in the refrigerator, serving idli this morning was super easy. 

Rawa and Kanchipuram idli would be my favorite at restaurants but not many restaurants served it, and that made me really sad. I used to make rawa idli at home all the time and thought that it was kanchipuram idli. :) Little that I knew that they were different, and just realized that they are not the same. How ignorant could I be. But anyways my family loves these idlis. They are so easy and quick to make, and looks great too. Love the soft and puffy idlis with slight crush of veggies and fried cashews in it. I make this for lunch too...tastes delicious when dipped in hot sambar. 

Also the star of this plate and what made my husband go WOW today is serving my simple and quick idlis on our fresh banana leaf. Some of you would know that we have few banana plants growing in our front yard. I had planted these specially because banana tree and leaves are auspicious to us and it would also provide privacy from the street. We do not separate pups from the mother plant so we almost have a banana tree jungle now and we love it. Here are the pictures.

Ingredients: (makes around 20 idlis)

1+1/2 cup rawa or fine soji or semolina

1/4 cup yogurt

1+1/4 cup water

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup veggies (green peas, chopped green beans, chopped carrots)

2 tbsp. oil

1 tbsp. urad dal

1 tsp. mustard seeds

2-3 tbsp. cashew nuts

1+1/2 tsp. ENO fruit salt

• Mix rawa with yogurt and water to make a batter. Keep it aside for 5 minutes.
• Add chopped veggies and salt and milk well.
• In a temper bowl, heat oil. Fry urad dal, mustard seeds, and cashews till they turn brown.
• Pour temper into the rawa batter. Mix well.
• Keep the Idli cooker ready with water to start steaming. Grease idli molds.
• Add ENO to rawa idli batter. Mix well. The batter with bubble and froth.
• Pour spoon full of batter in each idli mold.
• Steam for 8-10 minutes.
• Turn the steam off and remove the molds.
• Let it rest for 2 minutes before removing idli out of the molds.
• Serve with chutney and sambar.
• Enjoy!

Here is step-by-step pictorial recipe:

Semolina/rawa/fine sooji

Mix rawa with yogurt and water to make a batter. Keep it aside for 5 minutes.

Add chopped veggies and salt and milk well.

In a temper bowl, heat oil. Fry urad dal, mustard seeds, and cashews till they turn brown.

Pour temper into the rawa batter. Mix well.

Keep the Idli cooker ready with water to start steaming. Grease idli molds.

Add ENO to rawa idli batter. Mix well. The batter with bubble and froth.

Pour spoon full of batter in each idli mold.

Steam for 8-10 minutes.

Turn the steam off and remove the molds.

Have a Great Weekend!

Schezwan Noodle Frankie

If you are from Mumbai, you will surely know of this popular street food! Growing up in Mumbai this was my favorite too. Just an introduction: Frankie is a roll or a wrap with burst of flavors. A simple street -food years back has turned into fun and staple of most youths in Mumbai. If you go to a Frankie stall you would mostly see college students there. It is supposedly a popular hangout place for them.

I love the taste and texture of Frankie, and I remember making my first Frankie when I was 14... I had just come home from school with Frankie on my mind and had to recreate the recipe. And you know who my critic was then? my darling, my sweetheart, my sister. She liked it and she approved it!!  More than 20 year now, I have followed my same created recipe, shared Frankie with my friends and family, made it for picnics and parties, and it has always been loved by all. Check out my post and recipe or Mumbai Potato Frankie by clicking on this link.

Although we loved street-food Frankie, we did not belong to the family where street-food or outside food or fast-food was allowed. We were not given allowances or pocket money to spend on whatever we wanted. There was surely a check on what we would do and where we would go. The easiest option to all this was to replicate delicious food at home. And this practice still prevails!

Base of Frankie roll is a crepe made of all purpose flour/maida. I do substitute this for whole wheat flour and it still is delicious. My earlier Frankie post is made of organic whole wheat flour. Growing up, there were not many stuffings offered. It would either be a vegetarian one made with potatoes and a non-vegetarian one with chicken. But now, various flavors and stuffings are available, but the simple one is still my favorite. In Mumbai I would stop and go over their entire menu but order the simple old fashioned Frankie.

This post is my trial to different stuffing. This Frankie is stuffed with spicy schezwan noodles. On the bed of crunchy cabbage and chopped onions, it has perfect flavor and texture.

Ingredients:
To make 6-8 crepes:
2 cups maida/ all purpose flour
1 tsp.salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 +1/2 cup water
Oil for shallow frying

For stuffing:
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup shredded chabbage
1/4-1/2 cup schewan sauce
Vegetable schezwan noodles
Chaat Masala

To make crepes:

• Mix all purpose flour, salt, baking soda, and water to make a thick pouring batter.
• Heat a non stick griddle.
• Pour around 1/4 to 1/2 cup batter on a medium hot griddle and spread it evenly neither very thin nor thick. Use few drops of oil around and on top of the crepe and fry till cooked on both sides. 
• Leave in a plate and stack all the crepes on each other.

Make schezwan noodles and keep them aside. Check my recipe here.

To assemble:

• Heat the griddle once again.
• Put the prepared crepe and press lightly and fry on both sides till it turns slightly golden brown.
• Remove in a plate. Spread some schezwan sauce on the crepe. Spread shredded cabbage and chopped onions. 
• Put some schezwan noodles and sprinkle chaat masala. 
• Roll it lightly and place the Frankie roll in a bag or wrap with paper and serve.

Here is step-by-step pictorial recipe:

Mix all purpose flour, salt, baking soda, and water to make a thick pouring batter.
Heat a non stick griddle.
Pour around 1/4 to 1/2 cup batter on a medium hot griddle and spread it evenly neither very thin nor thick. Use few drops of oil around and on top of the crepe and fry till cooked on both sides.

Leave in a plate and stack all the crepes on each other.

Put the prepared crepe and press lightly and fry on both sides till it turns slightly golden brown.

Remove in a plate. Spread some schezwan sauce on the crepe. Spread shredded cabbage and chopped onions. 

Put some schezwan noodles and sprinkle chaat masala.

Roll it lightly and place the Frankie roll in a bag or wrap with paper and serve.

Enjoy Mumbai Style Schezwan Noodle Frankie!