Dal Fry

Dal Fry is Indian Lentil soup. This recipe uses Towar Dal/ Arhar Dal aka Pigeon Pea Lentil tempered with Garlic and Green chilies.  You can replace Towar dal with Moong, Chana or Masoor Dal.

Serve it with Tandoori roti or steamed hot jeera rice.

[Tip- Add coal to the dal. It gives a nice smoky flavor.]

Ingredients:-

1 cup Towar Dal

2 tbsp ghee

4-5 garlic cloves, chopped

2 green chilies, chopped

1 dried red chili

1 onion, chopped

1 tomato, chopped (optional)

1 tbsp cumin

1 tsp Kasuri meethi

1 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp Red chili powder (optional), if you want it spicy

Coriander for garnishing

Method:-

1.   Wash the dal. Boil 2 cups water in a pressure cooker.  Add turmeric and washed dal and pressure cook it for 3-4 whistles. Remove the cooker from the flame and allow it cool.

2.   For tempering:-Heat ghee in a pan add cumin, garlic, chillies and onions. Fry it till onions gets golden in color.

3.   Now add kasuri meethi and tomatoes sautee it for 2 minutes on high flame.

4.   Pour this tempering over the cooked dal. Add water if required. Stir it well.

5.   Lastly add salt and lemon juice. Give it a nice stir.

6.   Boil it for 2 minutes and dal is ready to serve.

7.   Garnish it coriander.

8.   Serve it with Laccha paratha/ rice or Tandori Roti.

9.   To make it more rich Add another tempering of ghee and Kashmiri red chili powder. This will give a nice red color and also it enhances the flavor.

10.                     To give smoky flavor to the dal. Burn a coal and add the burning coal to the dal. [make a katori from aluminum foil keep the coal over it add little ghee on it so that smoke comes out keep this over the dal and cover it eith lid for 5 minutes. This will give a lovely aroma to the dal.

Hey Friends! If you like my blogs kindly post your comment below the post and do share your response. Looking forward for some new innovative recipes. Thanks for reading. HAPPY COOKING ! :)

Matar Paneer

If you are a die-hard Indian foodie and if you’re indecisive or super hungry opt for a Thali then.  Thali is a platter with a selection of various dishes. You get to taste varieties of Condiments, salads, Savory, Sabji’s also they serve different classic Indian Breads and Desserts. It is colorful, flavorful and at the same time packed with a balanced diet. The intention behind serving a thali meal is to offer 6 different flavors of sweet, salt, bitter, sour, spicy and acidic (astringent) on a single platter. In India you get two categories of Thali meal- Veg or Meat based. And the dishes varies from region to region. You get a wide variety from every region.  Mainly it has Dal, rice, Salad, papad, vegetable (sabji), Roti (Indian bread), pickles, Yoghurt (Kadhi/buttermilk etc.) and sweets. And there is a typical way of serving the meal.  Thali is quintessentially Indian.

I am sharing a Thali Meal recipe which has Dal Fry, Rice, Mint-Onion Chutney, Matar –Paneer (Cottage cheese-Peas Curry) and Paratha.

You can make thali meal using any combinations. Just make sure flavors are well balanced.

Try these everyday recipes. And make a habit of healthy cooking and healthy eating. 

Matar Paneer

Peas is something which we always have in our refrigerator. If guests pop in suddenly you should have few ingredients handy from which we can make any dish within no time. Pea’s is one of those magical ingredients. [Note- For matar paneer we fry the paneer cubes but here to keep it simple and healthy I’ll dkip this step.]

Ingredients:-

1 cup Pea’s (Matar)

1 cup Paneer (Cottage cheese), diced

2 onions, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

7-8 cashew or almonds

1 tsp cumin

1 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 inch piece of cinnamon

1 green cardamom

2-3 black pepper corns

1 tbsp Kasuri Meethi

2-3 tbsp oil/ghee

½ tsp turmeric

2 tsp Kashmiri Red chilli powder

¼ cup Curds

1 cup milk

2 tsp salt

Coriander, chopped for garnishing. 

Method:-

1.     In a saucepan add milk, onions, cashew/almonds, cardamom, black pepper corns and cinnamon. Boil it till everything is cooked properly it hardly takes 10 minutes. Allow it to cool, and then blend it into a smooth paste.

2.     Heat Oil/Ghee in a Kadhayi(pan), add cumin, ginger garlic paste and blended paste prepared in Step1 above.

3.     Sautee it till the paste changes its color. Then add chopped tomatoes, salt and cook till tomatoes gets mushy.

4.     Then add chili powder, coriander powder and curds. Mix it well and make sure that curd doesn’t get curdled. Cook it till oil separates from the masala.

5.     Add Pea’s and 1 cup water to form gravy. Boil it on high flame for 7-8 minutes. Then add diced Paneer. Stir in the gravy.

6.     Lastly to enhance the flavor and aroma add Kasuri meethi and Coriander.

7.     Matar Panner is ready to serve.

8.     It is relished with Paratha or Puri. 

For Dal fry and Mint Chutney click the following links-

Dal Fry-https://grannysreflection.blogspot.com/2019/02/dal-fry.html
Pudina(Mint) Chutney-https://grannysreflection.blogspot.com/2019/02/pudinamint-and-spring-onion-chutney.html

Hey Friends! If you like my blogs kindly post your comment below the post and do share your response. Looking forward for some new innovative recipes. Thanks for reading. HAPPY COOKING ! :)