Wednesday 11 November 2009

Going green



So today at college we were talking about dietary requirements,Veganism, cooking for diabetics and celiacs and stuff. My friend being as self centered as she is, couldn’t understand how or why people would want to be a vegetarian let alone vegan!
Im not exactly a huge fan of meat, but I do love my fish, but I feel I could do without it.
But here I am now...Vegetarian for a week.
This doesn't bother me, because I love vegetables! I love my pulses and beans too and if anything I see this as an opportunity to get more intact with my roots. 
We are from the Indian part of Punjab you see!(well my family is)
Where foods like; Rajma,Rongi and saag are everyday foods! (Just to name a few of my favorites!)
As a student chef im always trying to new recipes and ideas, and I already find it hard to work with food, well taste it because I do not eat beef or halal.
Obviously Halal being cheaper for some unknown reason, we use allot more of it; I have no problem cooking it, its just eating it.
I struggle here because if I don’t taste it how do I know if I’ve cooked it right?!
But still enough of all this, im going to post you one of my favourite recipes!



Dhal Makhani!


150g whole urad daal
2 tablespoon Red kidney bean
1 1/2 litres of warm water
2 medium onions finely chopped
3 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoon turmeric powder
125g chopped tin tomatoes
25g Ginger piece
3 green chilies minced ( mine are really strong so adjust this to your chillies!)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
10 floz Double cream
2 tablespoons yogurt
2 teaspoons of tandoori powder
3 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoon Garam masala
Salt to your taste


Normally this dhal is cooked for about 3 hours! but i would say this takes just over a hour and a half..
Make sure the red kidney beans have been soaked the night before,just too speed things up a bit.(you can also soak your urad by the way)
The dhal should be cooked until soft,kidney beans contain toxins which can kill you!(eeek!) So please make sure you cook them properly,otherwise you wont be making my yummy dhal again,will you!!
To soak the beans just put them in a bowl and cover with boiling water and leave over night!The longer the better.

Anyway,enough of this morbidness!

Right!
In a largeish pan,heat your oil and heat your butter.
Temper your jeera.
Then add your onions and ginger,& cook until translucent.
Add your garlic and your chillies and cook until brown.
Add your Tumeric & tandoori powder,cook out for about a minute.
Then add your Urad dhal,and your tomatoes & cook out futher,until you feel the dhal starting to stick.
Add your water and you kidney beans and place a lid on your pan!
Leave for about half an hour and keep checking to make sure your dhal has plenty of water in it.
when you notice the water has reduced a bit,and the urad has started to fill out/split,test your dhal. Remove a kidney bean and urad dhal and squash it,there should be no hard bits in it.
If at this stage the shal is soft,add your yogurt & cream and salt and reduced to a desired consistency!


PS.
I will add pictures soon! and i am sorry about the state of this but the blogger editor is playing up and just making a bigger mess out of my mess :( !! HELP!!

P.P.S.
ive just returned from asda! i went to go get double cream so i can take pics of this for you people to see!
and the double cream split in the carpark and covered me! and im sticky and i probably smell like mouldyness and OH the shame :(  SEE WHAT I DO FOR YOU!







16 comments:

Namitha said...

We had a dal makhani post yesterday...So you are from Punjab..Waiting to see more Punjabi (yummy) dishes from you :-)

Bigarade said...

oh really!? i will have to check it out! ive been so absorbed into my own little world recently.Lol! yeah you will be seeing more punjabi food,but not traditional! it will be my twist on punjabi cuisine,il also make it easier than it already is! Thanks for reading :)

Unknown said...

My fav.. dal makhani love it!!!wow!!Looks so tempting!!Love to gobble it up with some roti now..

Bigarade said...

I already done that bit! lol was delicious so yum to have in this cold weather,thanks for stopping by!

My Little Space said...

Such a comforting food! Just take your time on the pictures. Cheers.

Reanaclaire said...

hey, this recipe dhal looks great.. wonder whether i can cope with that.. i m not a good cook as yet :(

Bigarade said...

Reabaclaire:you can cope with it! you can just stick everything in one pot if you want and then add the cream at the last minute! ive done that before! then i added tharka to it,which is basically onions garlic ginger and chilli and cumin fried until golden and added to the dhal! im glad you liked it though :)
My little space: It is a really comforting food! its the punjabi comfort food equivalent to thai green curry *drools*

Thanks both of you for visiting :)

Mae said...

Oh, yum, Dhal Makhani! It's the best way to eat kidney beans!

Good luck on your vegetarian week... I tried it for a year and it had it's ups and downs!

Bigarade said...

Lol thankyou!! yeh it does have its ups and downs! especially when my family are eating fish and other yummy stuff i really like!! i just chew my carrot and think of fish! :( lol!
im such a failure of a vegeterian!!

thanks for the comment!

Prasukitchen.blogspot.com said...

Yuumy and nice one !!

Bigarade said...

Thanks!!

Rohini said...

Yummy looking dal makhani.. Would you ever believe if I say I never had Dal makhani until a couple of years before??? I absolutely fell in love with it.. I make a simpler version though, sans Onions.. Will try this next time, looks promising!
Hey, btw thanks for dropping by my blog; I am so very stupid of not reciprocating your visit sooner! But you have a lovely space here, So I am gonna lurk around here often!! TC.. :)

Bigarade said...

Lol omg dhal makhani is a must have food! & lurk all you wish! all lurkers are welcome here! as long as they love food! Thanks for lurking!!

Mr. P said...

I love urad dal! I usually cook it a little differently, so I'll be sure to bookmark this.

When Mr. Other P and I have no money (which is more often than I like), we have dal weeks! Dal and rotis every night. But I love it! Sometimes we make paneer too, to break the cycle. But you can live really cheaply this way. More money to spend on baking! :)

Bigarade said...

Ooo! you seem quite clued upon your indian food! woo go you!!

Baking? pffft!
i need a car :(
Thanks for commenting:D

Prasukitchen.blogspot.com said...

yummy dal makhani...

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