Dal Makhani

Dal makhani sans butter and cream makes this dish light and healthy. It's surprising that my blog which is a collection of over 160 recipes does not have a basic recipe for dal! Hence I thought of posting this simple recipe which amateur cooks will find useful.

Ingredients:

1. Whole Black urud dal-1 cup
2. Oil-1 tbsp
3. Jeera-1 tsp
4. Chopped ginger-1 tsp
5. Chopped garlic-2 pods
6. Green chilli-1 slit into two
7. Cloves-3
8. Cinnamon-2 inch stick
9. Onion-1 small
10. Tomato-1
11. Salt
12. turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
13. Hing-1/4 tsp
14. Red chilli powder- according to taste
15. Kitchen king masala-1/2 tsp

Method:

Soak dal overnight. Pressure cook till it turns soft.
Heat oil a wide pan. Add ingredients 3 to 8. Fry for a few seconds.
Add chopped onions and sprinkle some salt. Fry till they turn soft.
Add tomato and rest of the ingredients. Add some more salt. Fry till tomato turns soft.
Add cooked dal and some water  and bring the mixture to a boil.
Simmer and cook for at least 15-20 minutes. The longer it simmers, the tastier it gets.
Garnish with coriander leaves.
This recipe can be used as a base to make dal with any lentil.

Note:
It is customary to use red kidney beans along with black urud dal in this dish. It makes the gravy buttery and yummy. In this case, use 3/4 cup of black urud and 1/4 cup of red kidney beans.
For rich gravy, top it off with 1/4 cup of heavy cream and saute the veggies in butter.
Soaking is not required for mung dal/green gram dal/thur dal. Cream is not added when these lentils are used to prepare dal.

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Here are the major signs of a damaged or obstructed sewer line:

• Slow-running or backed-up drains (sinks, tubs, toilets)


• Frequent back-ups of basement drains or laundry tubs


• Gurgling drain noises


• Toilet bowl water levels rise and fall


• Sewage odor inside, outside and around your house


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More Info...

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Poha BisiBeleBath

During our last trip to Mumbai, we made it to Shirdi too. On our return trip to Mumbai from Shirdi, we travelled by the day bus and reached my uncle's house at 10 p.m. We were all tired by the journey and just wanted to have some curd rice (That's the comfort meal especially after a tiresome journey) and hit the bed right away. Our bus was expected to reach by 8:30 p.m. Lalitha mami had made bisibele bath (BBB) and curd rice for dinner. As I said we were in no mood to relish BBB. On first look, the texture of BBB was different and with the taste of the first morsel, I asked what went in the BBB. It was made of poha. Poha has blended in well. I felt BBB with poha was light on stomach too. Here is my version of it with poha. I have followed the same method as I did with broken wheat before.

I washed and pressure cooked poha for 2 whistle. Just add enough water to moisten the poha. Take care to use the thick variety of poha.  Else it will get dissolved on cooking. I used the thick brown variety which is more nutritious too.

I used two cups of poha. Rest of the ingredients are same. The quantity was enough to serve 4. On my first attempt I didnot pressure cook the poha. I soaked it for 15 minutes and drained it. I mixed it along with the veggies and cooked. I felt the poha was dry and not soft and the pressure cooked method gives soft poha and it blends well. You can choose to MW also.