Baingan Mussalam & Mixed Dal--A tribute to Tarla Dalal

The news of Tarla Dalal passing last week came as a total shock to me. I still remember watching her cooking show like it was yesterday, but it was some 14~15 years back. She was like the Julia Child of Indian cooking, both in terms of cook books she wrote and also cooking shows on TV. She was a natural in front of the camera and all her dishes seemed very doable.

I remember pestering my mom to exotic ingredients from the supermarket after watching Tarla Dala's cooking show. She was the one who introduced baby corn to me way back in late 90s. Also paneer was a foreign ingredient in my mom's kitchen in those days and it was Tarla Dalal's recipes that made us acquainted to it. 

She will be missed immensely in the culinary world, but her legacy is going to live forever through her dishes. Her recipe videos are available on youtube and Tarladalal.com is a great online resource for all Indian recipes. As a small tribute to the diva our Blogging Marathon group is going to post Tarla Dalal's recipes today.

Read more »

Darbaari Dal

Name of this dal definitely sounds very royal and elegant. That’s what I thought when I saw this on Tarla Dalal’s weekly newsletter with Pressure Cooker recipes. My son loves dal and so I made it right away. What’s not to like about smooth, creamy and mildly spiced dal which goes well with both rice and rotis.

Ingredients:

Masoor dal (Red lentils) – 1/3 cup

Moong dal – 1/3 cup

Toor dal (Kandi pappu) – 3tbsp

Onion – 1 medium, finely chopped

Tomatoes – 2 medium, finely chopped

Ginger + garlic paste – 1tsp

Kasoori Methi – 2tsp

Turmeric – pinch

Red chili powder – 1tsp

Coriander powder – 1tsp

Cumin powder – ½ tsp

Garam masala – ½ tsp

Cumin seeds – 1tsp

Yogurt – 2tbsp

Cream – 2tbsp

Salt – to taste

Method:

• Rinse dals and soak them in water for about an hour.
• Heat 2tsp oil in a pressure cooker and add cumin seeds; once the seeds start to sputter, add kasoori methi and onions and cook until translucent. Add g+g paste and cook for another minute.
• Next add the tomatoes and all the powders and salt; cook until tomatoes turn mushy.
• Next add the soaked dals; mix well to coat them with the spices.
• Add 2½ cups of hot water; close the lid and cook for 3 whistles on high. Lower the flame and cook for 1 more whistle.
• Wait till the pressure releases, open the lid and stir in the yogurt and cream. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with steamed rice or roti.

Don't forget to leave a comment on this post to enter into the CSN Giveaway. Contest ends on Saturday night, February 5th.

Strawberry Ice Cream

This is definitely not a low-fat or low-calorie recipe. But it’s filled with the farm fresh strawberries that smell and taste awesome. We went strawberry picking in the beginning of June and bought home about 4 lbs of fresh strawberries. After devouring about half of them fresh, I made this ice cream with the rest.

Recipe is from Tarla Dalal’s website.
Ingredients:
Milk – 2 cups (I used 2%)
Heavy cream – 1½ cups
Strawberry puree – 1½ cups
Powdered Sugar – ½ cup
Corn starch – 2tbsp

Method:

• Mix corn starch with ¼ cup milk and set aside.
  
• Heat milk and bring to a boil. Add the corn starch mixture whisking constantly and add ¼ cup sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook till it thickens. Once cool, refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.
  
• Beat the cream with the remaining powdered sugar until soft peaks form.
  
• Gently fold in strawberry puree and cooled milk mixture into the cream.
  
• Pour the mixture into Ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions. Alternately pour the mixture into a shallow container and freeze until slushy. Remove and blend until soft and creamy. Freeze again until firm. Scoop and serve.

I served with some of the strawberry puree.

Punjabi Thali for RCI-Punjab

I finally made it before the dead line for the RCI-Punjab event hosted this time around by Richa of As Dear As Salt. I thought I was on top of it till the 15^th of this month and never realized it’s already the 23^rd.

So here is my Punjabi thali (in Anti-Clockwise direction) Tandoori Naan, Jeera Rice, Tandoori Gobhi, Paneer Makhmali and Mango milk shake.

Both the curry recipes are adapted from Tarla Dalal’s Swadisht Subzi recipe series. I served the curries with store-bought Tandoori naans and jeera rice (sautéed cumin (jeera), caraway seeds (Shah jeera), bay leaves and green chilies in 1 tsp oil and mixed this with rice).

For dessert I made thick mango shake instead of mango lassi, because my husband is not a big fan of yogurt and lassis. For the milk shake, I blended chunks of fresh mango with light cream and sugar till light and fluffy.

On the whole, this is not a very heart healthy thali, but definitely delicious and satisfying. (A 30 minute work-out might help you with the guilt)

Tandoori Gobhi

This can be served as a side dish for rotis, chapathis and naans or as an appetizer (with less gravy). This dish is my new favorite. All the masalas (spices) blend so well that it tasted nothing like I imagined and my husband didn’t even notice the yogurt.

Ingredients:
Cauliflower (Gobhi) – 1 small, cut into florets
Onion – 1 medium, thinly sliced
Green peppers – 1 medium, thinly sliced (I used half green, half red)
Cumin seeds – 1tsp
Salt – to taste

For marinade:
Yogurt – ½ cup, beaten
Besan (Chickpea flour) – 3 tbsp
Chili powder – 1 tsp
Ginger paste – 1 tsp
Garlic paste – 2 tsp
Kasoori Methi – 1 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp

Method:

• Microwave cauliflower in some water for 3-4 minutes or parboil on stove top.
  
• Mix all the ingredients for marinade thoroughly. Add cauliflower florets and leave for at least 15 minutes.
• Heat 1 tsp oil, add cumin seeds and after they splutter, add onions and peppers and sauté till transparent about 8-10 minutes.
  
• Add cauliflower along with the marinade and cook for 7-8 minutes or until cauliflower is cooked through. Season with salt and serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.
  

Paneer Makhmali

Slightly different take on our regular paneer recipe and tasted awesome with naan and rice.

Ingredients:
Paneer – 3 cups, cubed
Onion – 1 medium, chopped
Tomato puree – 2 tbsp
Garam masala – ½ tsp
Milk – 1/4 cup (I used light cream)
Salt – to taste

For the marinade:
Mint leaves – 1/2 cup
Coriander leaves – 2 cups
Green chilies – 3-4
Ginger paste – 1 tsp
Lemon juice – 3 tsp
Cashews – ¼ cup
Salt – to taste

Method:

• Grind all the ingredients for the marinade into a thick paste with little water.
  
• Marinate paneer pieces in this mixture for at least 15 minutes.
  
• Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan; add onions and sauté till pink. Add tomato puree and 1/4 cup water, cook covered for about 5 minutes.
  
• Slide in the paneer pieces and cook for 8-10 minutes.
  
• Add milk (or cream) and cook on medium low flame till the milk cooks and evaporates.
• Add garam masala and season with salt. Remove from heat and serve immediately.