Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Dal Makhani-Moti Mahal Style

From: http://cooks.ndtv.com/article/show/who-invented-the-dal-makhani-475860

Ingredients:
Black gram (urad whole)- 500 gm
Kidney beans (rajmah)- 250 gm
Bengal gram (channa dal) - 250 gm
Milk- 1 litre
Tomato puree- 1 ltr
Salt to taste
Red chili powder- 25 gm
Cumin (jeera) powder - 25 gm
Garam Masala- 25 gm
Cream 500 gm
Butter 1 kg

Method:

Pick and clean the dals and rajmah. Add salt and rub gently with both hands; rinse with water. Soak the mixture overnight in water.

Take a utensil with a heavy base, add the drained dal mixture and double the quantity of water; cook over low heat . At the restaurant, we put it in a tandoor for a while to simmer slowly.

Stir the mixture vigorously enough to mash it.
Once the mixture thickens add milk and cook till the milk is completely absorbed

Add the tomato puree and all spices; cook (for about 30 minutes) till grams and beans are tender.

Add butter and cook for 10 minutes. Now add cream and stir for one-two minutes.

Remove and serve hot. Don't blame your guests if they go slurp, slurp, slurp!

Picture Courtesy: IANS
The author, Monish Gujral, is the owner of the Moti Mahal chain, a restaurateur, chef and food writer.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Paal Pavakkai/Bitterguard in milk

Did not find this on the net so far, strange...

2 bitterguards-sliced into discs, leave the seeds in.
2 onions-sliced-quanity should equal the fried slices of bitterguard
1 large tomato-cut into 1" cubes
1tsp fennel seeds
1tsp jeera
1" cinnamon
2 cloves
1tsp corriander powder
2 cups milk
1tsp chilly powder
1/2tsp turmeric

oil for deep frying.

Slice the bitterguard into roundels, not too thin.
Fry them up in oil till they are brown like chips. Rest them on tissues to pull out excess oil.
In a pan heat up a tblsp of oil.
Add the cinnamon, fennel, jeera and fry. Add the sliced onions and fry till translucent. Add the tomatoes, cook till tomatoes soften.
Add the turmeric, chilly powder and corriander powder. Fry for a minute. Add the bitterguard and salt. Cook for a minute. Add the milk and reduce heat to minimum and cook with lid on till it all thickens up. The bitterguard should soften up and almost all the milk should boil away.

Enjoy with roti/toast/rice.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Sweet and sour bitter guard - Pavakkai puzhi kulambu



Bitter-guard-quartered and sliced - 2 cups
One small onion-chopped
one tomato-chopped
1/2 tsp saunf
3 tblsp of thick tamarind extract
3 tsp jaggery
coconut milk-last extract-1 cup - optional
1 tsp ginger/garlic paste
1 tsp of corriander powder
1/2 tsp of cumin powder
1 tsp chilly powder

Boil the bitter guard slices in water with turmeric and salt till almost cooked
A tblsp of oil in the pan. Add the saunf, then the onion. Fry till translucent.
Add the gg paste and fry. Add the corriander, cumin powder, chilly powder.Fry for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and salt. Let them cook a bit and then add the tamarid extract. Cook for a minute and add the cooked bitter guard. Add a little water if needed. Once all the oil starts separating, add the coconut milk if using it. Check salt/heat. Let it come to a thick gravy and add the jaggery finally.