Dal Pakhtooni and Sanjeev Kapoor

This particular recipe is from Sanjeev Kapoor's cookbook- Khazana of Indian Vegetarian Recipes. It was a gift from my MIL when I was married and soon after moved to the United States in a month. In those days (yeah, can't believe its been 10 years.) Just celebrated our 10th anniversary on Valentine's Day. Alright readers, Its only been 10 years, the way I have described it makes me look ancient..which I'm not..LOL.

In those days we did not have as many blogs to look out for new recipes like today. If I was in a mood to try my culinary adventures I would take ideas from this book. It was my GOTO book. If I had friends coming over and had to decide a menu for a party, this was the book to go to. Every party hosted in those days had recipes from this book, atleast one. This was before I had kids. After I had kids, it was'nt that I did not cook, but had fewer parties. But by then I was confident enough to try out my own recipes.

So you get the idea I hope, how special this book has been to me in my early married life and I'm sure Sanjeev kapoor may have inspired so many of you and he still inspires people with his passion for cooking and his great presentation skills. I must say I had a fantastic time with his recipes with great results and many happy people. Now if they are reading this they will know where I got all those awesome recipes from. Well, the secret is out Now. If you have such stories, incidents and secrets, would love to hear from you.

Here is a youtube video I found of the same recipe presented by none other than Sanjeev Kapoor himself. What more can you ask for..Its the same recipe from this book. I made this Dal Pakhtooni following the directions on this video and the results were amazing.

I'm listing the ingredients and preparation for the benefit of many who may not have the book or may not be able to spare time to watch this video.

Ingredients :

• 1 cup Black whole urad /Black gram
• 100 gms butter (1/2 cup)
• 2 tbsp ginger paste
• 2 tbsp garlic paste
• 1 tbsp red chilli powder
• 1 1/2 cups tomato puree
• 2 tsp Garam masala powder
• 1 cup fresh cream
• salt to taste

Preparation :

• Wash the black urad and soak it in four cups of water overnight.
• Cook it in four to five cups of water along with salt, red chilli powder and ginger paste. Bring it to a boil. Reduce flame and simmer till it is completely cooked and tender.
• Melt butter in a thick bottomed pan and add garlic paste dissolved in half a cup of water. Cook for about two minutes stirring constantly.
• Add tomato puree, garam masala and cooked dal. Cook on a low flame for an hour. Stir occasionally. Add water if required.
• Add fresh cream and simmer for about ten minutes.
• Serve hot with any Indian bread of your choice or even rice.
• This recipe serves 4.

You could even do the quick soaking method if you do not have time to soak it overnight. Just wash the Black urad and soak it in boiling hot water for 30-40 minutes covered.

Khatti-Mithi Dal - Gujarati Dal

This dal as the name refers is little khatti (sour) little mithi(sweet). It is another way of preparing our Tuvar dal ( Arhar, toor, Split red gram). I love this recipe for its simplicity and ease of preparation. Another thing I like about it is I can use peanuts in this. So its an easy and healthy dish.

This is also known as Gujarati dal. This is my MIL 's recipe. I did tweak it a little though. Had to learn this dal as my husband simply loves it. For a North Indian this was a different way to make it. I know when we just married and whenever I made Tuvar dal , my husband would just sneak in the kitchen and add a little sugar or jaggery to the dal when it was simmering. I would think silly me why does my dal taste sweet..must be the water here in the US. Until I found out..Since then decided to make this dal once in a while just like his mom did...This is his Comfort food. Now even I and my kids love it .

Now for many of us this could be an acquired taste as it does require a little jaggery in it. But if you skip it it will still taste good.



Ingredients:
1) 1 cup Tuvar Dal
2) 1/3 cup peanuts
3) 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
4) 4-5 green chillies slit
5) 1 inch piece of ginger chopped
6) 1 piece of jaggery around 2 tablespoons (optional)
7) 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
8) 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
9) 1/2 teaspoon cumin-cilantro powder
10) 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
11) 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
12) 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds(methi)
13) pinch of asaf0etida (hing)
14) 4-5 curry leaves
15) 1-2 whole red chillies
16) salt to taste
17) 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (adjust the amount to taste)
18) Oil for tempering


Preparation
1)Wash Tuvar dal in a pressure cooker and add peanuts,chopped tomatoes, ginger, green chillies, and about 6 cups of waters. Add Salt and turmeric.

2) Pressure cook until dal is slightly overcooked so it looks like its well blended.

3) Now add a piece of crushed jaggery to this dal. Cook for 2-3 minutes till the jaggery dissoves.

4) Lets get ready for the tempering. I always like to keep the ingredients handy so I don't forget to add anything and there's less clutter on my kitchen counter and lastly my tempering doesn't get burnt trying to find the various ingredients .

5) Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a tempering pan or small pan. Add mustard seeds. When they splutter add cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds(methi). Fry for about half a minute then add whole chillies. Followed by curry leaves and then add hing. Remove pan from the flame and while oil is still hot add red chilli powder and cumin-cilantro powder. Add the tempering/seasoning to the dal.

6) Cook the dal for about 2-3 minutes. Add the freshly squeezed lime juice. Garnish with freshly chopped Cilantro.

7) Ready to serve with Rice, Papad and Pickle.

Now its Award Time :

My dear Blogger Friend Sangeetha @ Kothiyavunu. com has been kind enough to let her fellow bloggers share this award with her. She received it from our dear fellow blogger PreethVijay @ Luscious Indian Recipes.

Thank you both, Happy Blogging.

In the Spirit of Sharing and giving let me dedicate this recipe to all my fellow bloggers.