Dal Makhani

This post is all about “My Legume Love Affair”. Yes I’m posting all my entries for MLLA-7 in one single post. MLLA is a brain child of Susan @ Well Seasoned cook, and is being hosted by lovely Srivalli @ Cooking4allseasons.

First up is my Dal Makhani. I make dal makhani with whole moong dal (green gram dal) instead of whole urad. Here’s my recipe:

Ingredients:
Red Kidney beans – 1 cup, cooked
Whole Moong beans (Pesalu) – ¾ cup
Onions – 1 cup, chopped (from 1 large onion)
Ginger + garlic paste (g+g)– 1 tsp
Tomato puree – 1 cup (I used canned crushed tomatoes)
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – ½ tsp
Red chili powder – 1 ½ tsp (or to taste)
Amchoor powder – ½ tsp (or to taste)
Half & Half – ¼ cup
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Salt – to taste

Method:

• Soak the beans separately for at least 8 hours. Pressure cook them for 4-5 whistles (depending on the cooker) until tender.**
• Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large sauté pan; add cumin seeds and after they splutter, add onions and sauté until they are slightly brown.
• Add g+g paste and cook for a minute. Add tomato puree; cover and cook for about 8 minutes.
• Then add all the spice powders; cook for another 2 minutes.
• Add the beans, salt and 1 cup of water; cover and cook for at least 20 minutes, but ideally up to 40-45 minutes; stirring occasionally.
• Add half & half; simmer for another 2 minutes. Can be served hot with almost anything; pulao or roti.

** I usually make a big batch of beans every two weeks. I soak and cook about 2-3 different types of beans (separately of course). After thoroughly cooling them; I store about a week’s worth in the refrigerator in plastic containers; all the rest get stashed in the freezer in freezer-safe bags for later use. It’s extremely convenient to have cooked beans on a weekday; also I figured it’s much cheaper to cook them at home than buy canned. I do have few canned for extremely urgent situations.

I’m always looking for new baby recipes to make for my son. I borrowed Super Baby food by Ruth Yaron from the library. The book has rather small section on recipes, but the entire book is covered with good tips on how-to make, store & freeze homemade baby food.
There is a great recipe for “Super Porridge”; it is 2 parts whole-grains to 1 part legumes. According to the author when approximately 2 parts grains are mixed with one part beans or legumes protein is formed that is as high a quality as that from eggs or meats. To make the mix take 1/3 cup each of any whole grains and 1/8 cup of any beans/peas/legumes.

I made three different mixes for my little one:
1. Brown Rice + Rolled Oats + Adzuki beans

2. Brown Rice + Quinoa + Red Kidney beans

3. Millet + Pearl Barley + Moong beans

To cook, boil 1 cup of water in a saucepan, sprinkle in 3tbsp of the mix; cook covered on low heat, stirring occasionally until cooked, and takes about 15 minutes. Serve with cooked vegetables, yogurt or fruit. I usually serve the porridge with any curry that I make for us and my son seems to like it. Give it a try for your little ones.