blueberry muffins..

Near my house, there is a small bakery shop around the corner. It is a family owned shop and they do some serious business. I love all their bakery items! There is always a mad rush and if you are late then you probably won't find your favorite items. I am super addicted to their blueberry muffins- Soft, moist and it simply melts in your mouth. Inspired by lindsey and her lovely blog, I baked my very fist batch of Blueberry muffins- Absolutely divine!

Blueberry muffins-
(adapted from Gingerbread Bagels)

Ingredients-
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter (slight variation, she had baked it with oil and I switched to butter)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon zest (slight variation, original recipe calls for orange zest and I switched to lemon)
2 large eggs
1 cup yoghurt

Preparation-

In a bowl mix flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, yoghurt, sugar, vanilla and melted butter. Add in the lemon zest and give it a quick whisk. Start mixing the flour to the yoghurt mixture and gently whisk. You have to slowly mix them and not overbeat the ingredients. Don't worry if you have lumps in the batter. Add the blueberries and gently blend them with the mixture (with the help of a spoon). Line a muffin tin with muffin liners. With the help of a spoon gently pour the batter in each liner. Bake it at 200 degree celsius for 20 to 25 minutes. Once baked allow it to cool and gently remove them from the muffin tray. Enjoy!

Eggplant pizza

It's all in the dough- that's what I realised yesterday when making my pizza. The art of making a pizza completely depends on how well you get the dough. I worked hard on my base yesterday and made a good one! Toppings are just a matter of choice and I chose eggplant. If you search the web for pizza, you will have millions of search results and zillions of websites all trying to teach you the art of perfect pizza making. My blog post is another drop in that ocean- If you are new to pizza making and have never tried it from the scratch then you are in the right place.....

For the base-

2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp Italian herbs (optional)
Olive oil
1 tsp dry yeast
warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

For the toppings-

1 eggplant chopped
3 cloves of garlic- crushed and chopped
1 medium sized onion chopped
crushed pepper (optional)
green chillies (2) chopped
standard pizza sauce (you can get it from the store or make it yourself)
Mozzarella cheese shredded (3/4 cup)

Dough preparation- 

Allow your yeast to awaken by mixing it in a small cup of warm water and sugar. Wait for five minutes and allow the yeast to froth up. In a mixing bowl add flour, salt, Italian herbs and mix well. Make a well in middle and pour the yeast mixture. Slowly start mixing yeast water with the flour. Add a bit of warm water and knead your dough till it is soft and elastic. Add around 1 tbsp olive oil towards the end and give the dough one final kneading. Store the dough in a fresh bowl and cover it with damp cloth. Allow it to raise for an hour.

Toppings- Saute garlic and green chillies in olive oil for a couple of seconds before adding onions. As the onions begin to turn brown in color, add eggplant. Toss in the pepper and adjust salt according to taste. Cook till the eggplant becomes soft and tender.

Final preparation-

After an hour or so, when the dough has doubled in size simply punch out the air from it and gently knead it on a floured surface. Flatten the dough to a square shape and fold the edges. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on the base before adding the pizza sauce. Spread the pizza sauce, eggplant topping and mozzarella cheese on the base. Bake it for 15 to 20 minutes @ 220 degree celsius.

Paneer Kathi rolls!

Saturday evenings before the telly always requires some kind of finger food- Yup, something finger looking good! Introducing, Paneer kathi rolls- Cottage cheese cooked with Indian spices and tucked in rotis/flat Indian bread. Well, to make things easier I used tortilla soft wrap and tucked my paneer for a quick snack.

What do we need?

1 cup paneer (cottage cheese)

one medium sized onion sliced

one green bell pepper (chopped)
1 tomato (chopped)
3-4 tortilla wraps

I gave it a twist by marinating my cottage cheese in a yoghurt base-

For marination, we need-

1/4 cup yoghurt
red chilli powder 1 tsp
turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
ginger-garlic paste (1 tsp)
garam masala (1 tsp)
kasoori methi leaves (1 tsp)- Dry fenugreek leaves
gram flour (1 tsbp)

How did I put together?


Mix all the ingredients for marinade and toss in the cottage cheese. Set it aside for half an hour till paneer absorbs the spices. In a wok saute onions, bell peppers and tomatoes. Add paneer mixture and adjust salt. Cook on a high flame for 5 to 8 minutes. Cook till the mixture is dry and set it aside. Spread the paneer mixture on tortilla wrap and roll up tightly. Enjoy! You can choose to just saute cottage cheese without the marination and use it in your wrap. Get creative and add ingredients according to your choice.

Rich and Flavorful- Dal Makhni (north Indian lentils recipe)

Dal Makhni is a very popular dish that is served in Indian restaurants. People generally assume that this lentil dish is healthy - The word "Makhni" means with butter and this lentil dish practically swims in butter and cream. But the taste is gorgeous and just melts into your mouth. It is assumed that if you can cook a good dal then you can manage the Indian cooking well. I like the dal without cream or butter and love to keep it simple. But when you crave for something rich and need that perfect restaurant dal then this dish is worth the effort.

What do we need?

Whole black gram (sabut urad dal)- 1 cup
Red kidney beans - 1/2 cup
Grated ginger- 2 inch piece
Butter- 4 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Onion- 1 big sized (chopped)
3 medium sized tomatoes (chopped)
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Fresh cream - 1/2 cup
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing
Garlic - chopped (7-8 cloves)
Salt according to taste

How did I make it?


Soak urad dal (black gram) and red kidney beans in water overnight. The next day, drain and pressure cook it with half portion of the grated ginger till they become soft (reserve the other half portion of grated ginger for later use). Melt butter in a pan. Add cumin seeds. As they start to change color, add onions. Fry onions till they become golden brown. Add garlic, remaining ginger and tomatoes. Cook till the tomatoes are mashed and has mixed well with the rest of the ingredients. Add cooked dal to this. Add two cups of water and adjust salt according to your taste. Mix red chilli powder, garam masala powder and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Add fresh cream and mix well. Cook your dal on a low flame for 5 minutes. Serve with rotis/rice. Works great with naan! Garnish with coriander leaves and decorate it with a bit of cream.

There are two versions of making this dal- with/without onions- I find it more flavorful with onions and it really adds that zing to your dal!

Lemon Vermicelli

Small black mustard seeds merrily bouncing in a pan- happy, carefree till they meet up with rough and hot green chilli pieces. A savory story unfolds in my kitchen with the main star as vermicelli (type of pasta, thinner than spaghetti) and carrot pieces, green peas, green beans acting in a supporting role. The story becomes vibrant with turmeric powder in a special role and of course one can't undermine the role of lemon juice which becomes the whole essence of our savory story. The story rocks the box office with every bit of vermicelli lapped up by the hungry audience :) -

Ingredients-

Vermicelli - 2cups

1/2 cup green beans

1/2 cup carrot (sliced)

1/2 cup peas

curry leaves (4-5 leaves)

mustard seeds 3/4 tsp

cumin seeds 1/4 tsp (omit if you want)

1 tbsp lemon juice

turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

grated ginger (1/4 tsp)

1/2 tsp gram dal (yellow lentils) 

green chillies (2 ) chopped

coriander leaves chopped for garnishing

**Generally this dish is made without the vegetables- but then my savory story had to be different! 

How did I make it?

Cook vermicelli in boiling water with a little bit of oil (so that it doesn't stick together). Once cooked, drain excess water and keep it aside. This removes the starch and makes it non sticky! Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds. As they begin to sputter, add gram dal (yellow lentils), ginger, curry leaves and green chilli pieces. Add turmeric powder and mix well. Toss in the vegetables and cook on a medium flame till the vegetables become soft and tender- sprinkle a bit of water to cook the vegetables. Once the vegetables are cooked, add lemon juice. Mix in the vermicelli and adjust salt according to taste. Garnish with coriander leaves!

Red quinoa & green beans medley!

I was late in joining the quinoa cult- though late, I am glad that I joined :)- The good thing is, working with quinoa is super easy and you can be really creative with it. It works great with Indian flavors and there isn't any spice I haven't tried with Quinoa. To be honest, when I purchased it for the first time I had no idea what to do with it. I kept staring at the packet for a long time...I cursed myself for the impulsive purchase and googled all the recipes that can be found on Quinoa. Finally, I decided to boil it and make it into a salad. I boiled it, mixed it with cucumber and tomatoes and made it into a salad- I will be lying if I wrote that I loved that damn dish. It was a disaster. Those were my initial days with Quinoa- Now, I can work magic with Quinoa and anyone who doesn't like quinoa will think twice if they tried it my way (with Indian spices).

Ingredients-

2 small cups red quinoa

1 cup green beans- 

1/2 cup carrots

1 medium sized onion (sliced)

1 tomato chopped finely

1 tsp cumin seeds

curry leaves- chopped

salt according to taste

asafoetida powder (dash of it will do- omit if you want)

chopped green chilli pieces (2 green chillies used)

2-3 tbsp grated coconut

1 tsp hot madras curry powder (alternatively, you can work with garam masala)

How did I make it?

Bring some water to boil and put your quinoa in it. Allow the quinoa to cook for 15 to 20 minutes (till it is soft and well cooked). Once your quinoa is cooked, keep it aside. In a separate wok, heat oil and add cumin seeds & dash of asafoetida powder. Allow the cumin seeds to sputter. Add onions and green chilli pieces, fry them till translucent. Toss in the tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes. Mix green beans, carrots and toss well. Allow the vegetables to cook and become tender. Add salt, grated coconut, curry powder and curry leaves. Mix it thoroughly by adding a bit of oil. Blend in the cooked quinoa to this mixture. Cook for five minutes on a medium flame. Garnish with coriander leaves!

Aloo Gobi!

I realised that one Indian dish which has become universal is Aloo gobi. I was talking to a swiss lady in the tram and she confessed that she loved Indian dishes. In her german accent, she said- I love aloo gobi! A very popular menu in Indian restaurants, it sure has caught the fascination of people- Cauliflower (gobi) florets & potatoes (aloo) sauteed with Indian spices!

Ingredients-

1 medium sized cauliflower (seperate the florets from the stem)

4-5 potatoes - peeled and cut in small cubes

one medium sized onion (chopped finely)

garlic & ginger paste 1 tsp

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

cumin seeds - 1 tsp

red chilli powder- 3/4 tsp

garam masala- 1 tsp

coriander powder- 1tsp

salt according to taste

kasoori methi leaves (dry leaves crushed) 1 tsp (fenugreek leaves)

How did I make it?

If you are a bit careless, you will land up making this dish into one soggy yellow paste. The potatoes take a longer time to cook and cauliflowers cook pretty easily. First step is to heat oil and add cumin seeds. As the seeds start to sputter, add onions. Fry the onions for 3-5 minutes till they become translucent. Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for a couple of minutes. In a small bowl of water, mix coriander powder, garam masala, chilli powder and turmeric powder to a liquid paste. Add this paste to the onions that are getting sauteed and cook for a couple of seconds. Mix in the potatoes and cover the wok to cook. When potatoes are half done, add the florets and salt. Cover to cook. Open after a few minutes, add kasoori methi leaves and mix them thoroughly. Sprinkle a bit of water, if need be. Allow the cauliflower to cook with potatoes for 5-8 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy it hot!

Onion 'n' coriander Naan

Get the dough right, flatten it with stuffing inside and pop it in the oven- sounds simple, eh? Well, those are the steps for getting a good home baked naan! Traditionally, naan is prepared in a tandoor (a clay oven which uses charcoal/wood). With the help of yeast, baking soda and yoghurt you can get a good texture to your naan while baking at home. When served hot with a butter coating, it absolutely tastes divine.

What do we need for the dough?

2 cups all purpose flour

warm water

2 1/2 tbsp yoghurt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

pinch of baking soda

1 tsp yeast

Filling ingredients-

1 big onion chopped finely

a good bunch of coriander leaves (finely chopped)

3 big cloves of garlic (crushed and chopped)

chopped green chilli pieces (used 1 green chilli)

salt according to taste

How did I make it?

For the dough, we need to activate our yeast first by mixing warm water, sugar and yeast in a small cup. Allow the yeast to froth up and leave it for five minutes. In a large bowl, mix salt, baking soda and flour. Add yoghurt and start mixing the dough with the help of yeast water. You have to work on the dough for 5 to 10 minutes- Knead till it becomes a soft, smooth dough (use a bit of oil to get a glossy texture). Place the dough in a clean bowl and cover it with a cloth. Put it in a warm place and allow the dough to double in size (should take an hour and a half).

For the filling, mix all the above ingredients and toss them well with a bit of oil. You can saute the onions and garlic, if you want. I like to use them raw for the flavors to come out well in the naan.

Once you have the dough and filling ready, preheat your oven to 200 degree celsius. Equally divide the dough into medium sized balls. On a lightly floured surface, flatten your dough to a small circle. Place about a tbsp of filling in the middle and seal the ball into a pouch. Flatten this pouch on a lightly floured surface into a teardrop shape or oval shape. Brush it lightly with oil and put them in the oven for baking. Bake it till it becomes puffy and golden brown in color! Before serving, gently coat the naan with butter for a great taste...Enjoy!

carrots & potatoes cooked in a masala gravy

Nothing fancy about this dish- all I can describe is - hearty, comforting with simple flavors to go with roti or rice! I just made this dish and my whole house is smelling of a lovely coriander flavor with garam masala wafting through out the house. Should get that appetite up and running, shouldn't it?

What do we need?

2 cups chopped/cubed carrots
1 cup chopped/cubed potatoes
garlic/ginger paste - 1 tsp
cumin seeds
1 green chilli- chopped
garam masala 1/2 tsp
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 cup tomato puree
salt according to taste
1/4 tsp red chilli powder

How did I make it?

Once the veggies are chopped, cooking the dish takes about 10-15 minutes. It is a gravy based dish and works well with rice dishes. Heat oil in a wok. Add cumin seeds and allow them to sputter. Add green chilli pieces and chopped onions. Fry them for about 2 minutes till the onions become translucent. Mix the garlic/ginger paste and toss them for a second. Add the tomato puree and cook for a couple of seconds. Blend in the garam masala and red chilli powder. Add the carrots and potatoes to this mixture with a bit of water for them to cook. Adjust salt according to your taste. Cook on a medium flame till the vegetables are cooked. Bring in the magical coriander leaves for garnishing! Enjoy :)

Lentil dumplings in Yoghurt (Dahi vada)

Cricket has become a religion for India- There is a buzz in the air when you gotta match on weekends. Especially, when your home country is performing badly (the atmosphere is tense)- players are criticized for their techniques, captain takes the blame, there is disappointment written all over the faces of viewers...and then things start turning in your favor. Last few overs are thrilling when the match is evenly paced and you are not sure if your team is going to win... Food becomes critical for such crucial matches- I threw in some bruschetta and a south Indian lentil dumplings to go for the occasion. Of course, things turned out great with a win for India and my lentil dumplings in yoghurt was a hit! Simple to make, the dumplings taste awesome when soaked in yoghurt seasoned with mustard and coriander- a true match winner :)

Ingredients- (for dumplings)

Urad dal ( 1 cup)- white gram/lentils

2 tsp rice

chopped curry leaves

salt according to taste

black peppercorns (1/2 tsp)

1 green chilli

For yoghurt base-

Thick yoghurt

corriander leaves finely chopped

green chilli pieces (finely chopped)

salt according to taste

mustard (1/2 tsp)

broken red chilli pieces

oil to saute

Preparation-

Batter preparation is the tricky part. Soak urad dal (lentils) with rice in water for an hour. Drain the water completely after an hour and blend it in a mixer to a smooth dough by adding green chillies, pepper, salt. The batter should be firm and not watery. Avoid using water when blending in the mixer. Once batter is ready, add chopped curry leaves and blend it well. Heat oil in a wok. When the oil is hot, shape batter like a doughnut with hole in middle and fry it to golden brown on both sides.

Yoghurt base preparation-

Blend chopped coriander and green chilli pieces in yoghurt. Add a bit of water and whisk it to a smooth texture. Adjust salt according to your taste. 

Final preparation-

Soak the lentil dumplings in hot water for few minutes till it becomes soft. Squeeze water gently from the dumplings and drop them in yoghurt. Allow the dumplings to absorb the yoghurt. In a small frying pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds, broken red chilli pieces with asafoetida powder. As the mustard begin to sputter, remove from fire and add them to yoghurt. Chill it for half an hour and serve!

Ven pongal- South Indian Festive rice!

One of the 28 states, Tamilnadu has historically been an agricultural state for India- It is also the leading producer of agricultural products in India (source- Wikipedia). Come January, the whole state gets ready to celebrate "Pongal" also known as harvest festival! The idea is to thank god for the bounty harvest and is celebrated at harvest time.

When you talk about Pongal festival, you definitely gotta talk about the food delicacies prepared- sakarai pongal and ven pongal! These are rice based dishes and come in sweet (sakarai pongal) and salty flavors (ven pongal). Ven pongal is not just prepared for the festivities- It is a popular dish in many south Indian homes and is often served as breakfast/tiffin. It is rich in flavor and takes minimal effort. Rice cooked with lentils and combined with pepper, cumin seeds and curry leaves provides the flavors. Highlight of this dish?cashewnuts sauteed in butter/ghee simply catapults this dish to a different height! Don't believe me? Check out-

Ingredients-

1 cup rice
1/2 cup moong dal (yellow lentils)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp whole black pepper seeds
1/2 tsp grated ginger
dash of asafoetida powder
chopped curry leaves (4 to 5)
2-3 tbsp ghee or butter (generally you work with ghee for this dish- but I had to substitute cooking butter)
Salt (according to taste)
oil to saute spices

Preparation-

Step 1 is to cook the rice with lentils- Wash the uncooked rice and keep it separate. Dry roast the lentils on a pan before mixing to your rice-Cook the rice with roasted lentils by adding 3-4 cups of water and salt according to your taste. Once cooked, keep it aside. Coarsely crush the peppercorns and cumin seeds. In a frying pan, add oil and saute ginger. Add the crushed pepper and cumin seeds with curry leaves. Mix in a dash of asafoetida powder and saute for a couple of seconds. Remove from heat and set it aside. In a separate pan, fry the cashew nuts in 1 tbsp of ghee/butter till they are crisp. Add the roasted spices and cashew nuts to you cooked rice and ensure that the spices have blended well. Mix in the remaining butter/ghee to your rice and serve!

What is ghee? Ghee is clarified butter and works great with the above dish- The nuts and ghee accentuates the flavor of pepper and cumin to make it a wonderful dish!

Happy Pongal to all! Sending this recipe to an event hosted by a fellow blogger- Pongal fest event

Calzone

Calzone is one of my favorite Italian dish. I never got around to make it till yesterday. I thought that it was going to be a messy job to prepare it from the scratch. Surprise, surprise, I not only found it easy to make but realized that you could practically fill any leftovers and pop it in the oven for a refreshing snack!

Ingredients for the dough-

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp dry active yeast
1 tsp salt
olive oil to brush on flour
warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp any Italian herb mix

Ingredients for the filling-

1 onion chopped
2 ripe tomatoes (crushed)
3 garlic cloves crushed and chopped
salt and pepper (according to taste)
1 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)
veggies- I used artichokes and bell peppers (you can practically fill up the calzone with anything)

Preparation-

First you gotta get the dough ready- Mix yeast in warm water with sugar and allow it to ferment a bit (it tends to become a bit frothy- takes few minutes). Mix the flour, salt, italian herb mix in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dough and start adding yeast water to mix the dough. Knead the dough till it becomes soft. The test is, when you press your finger in the dough and leave it, dough should bounce back to normal shape (dough should be soft and elastic). Put the dough in a separate bowl and cover it with a clear film. Leave it for an hour till it has doubled in bulk.

Let's get our filling ready- In a pan saute onions and garlic in olive oil. Combine crushed tomatoes or tomato paste and allow it to get incorporated. Add any seasoning you fancy. Mix salt, pepper and allow it to simmer till it reaches sauce consistency.

After an hour, press the dough to release air and knead for 2-3 minutes. Divide the dough into small balls. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a circle. On one half of the piece of dough, spread the sauce and veggies (artichoke, bell peppers). Make sure you leave the edge of the dough. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top of your vegetable stuffing. Fold the other side of the dough completely over the filling and seal the exposed edges. With a fork or a spoon press the edges (this will make a good pattern and completely seal calzone). Dust the top of calzone with olive oil and bake till it is golden brown (12 to 15 minutes, 230 degree celsius). Enjoy!

Punjabi cholay

Cholay is a very popular chickpea dish in northern India. Cooked in a rich brown gravy with exotic spices this dish tastes heavenly with roti, rice or bhature. Chickpeas can be cooked in a simple normal gravy with spices but then if you ever had the chance to taste punjabi cholay you will never want to eat anything else! So, take a plunge and get cooking with something exotic and flavorful.

Ingredients

Chickpeas/garbanzo beans -1 cup

For the gravy

2 onions chopped
1 tomato chopped
Ginger - peeled and grated (about 1tsp)
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp red chilli powder

Spices

Coriander seeds 2tsp
Seeds of wild pomegranate/anardhana (omit if not available)- 1/2tsp
1 piece cinnamon stick
3 cloves
1 tsp black peppercorns
4 black cardamom
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
1 dry red chilli piece

Preparation

Soak the chickpeas overnight in water. It will double in size the next day. Rinse it thoroughly and pressure cook it with a tea bag. Yeah, yeah, you read it right- tea bag! Why tea bag? Punjabi cholay is known for it's rich brown color and when you cook it normally it turns out yellow in color. To give it a good brown color you always pressure cook it with a tea bag. The chickpeas should be cooked super soft and should melt in your mouth.

For the spices, roast all the above ingredients in a pan. Keep tossing them and do not allow them to get burnt. Once roasted, grind them to a fine powder.

Now comes the gravy- Heat oil in a wok and add the chopped ginger. Add the onions and sauté them till translucent. Add the tomatoes and cook the mixture till the oil separates (takes around 8 to 10 minutes). Add the fresh ground spices and garam masala with chilli powder. Cook on a medium flame till the masala gets incorporated. Mix the cooked chickpeas and adjust salt according to taste. Add a little bit of water to cook the chickpeas. Allow it to cook on a medium flame for 20 minutes(keep stirring it consistently). Garnish with chopped onions, lemon wedges, split green chilli pieces or coriander leaves. Enjoy!

Bread stix with a cumin twist!

Come winter, you always want to cuddle up with a hot soup at night. I have experimented with so many soups and probably have tried all the ready made soup versions I could find in the super market. The problem with soup is you want something crunchy to go along- something to dip in the soup. Garlic bread is my favorite and of course bread sticks taste great with any kind of soup- I did a batch of bread sticks and it tasted heavenly with my potato leek soup- Here is a simple recipe for bread sticks, enjoy!

Ingredients-

2 cups all purpose flour
cumin seeds approx 1tsp
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
lukewarm water to mix the dough
1tsp yeast

Preparation-

Mix the flour, cumin and salt in a large bowl. Add the yeast, then make a well in the center of the dough. Pour in the warm water and start mixing the dough. Add the olive oil and continue to mix till it becomes a soft dough. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes till it becomes soft and elastic. Put the dough in a separate bowl and cover it with clear film and leave for about 1 hour till it has doubled in bulk. After an hour, press the dough to release the air and knead for 2-3 minutes. Divide the dough into small balls and start rolling them into long sticks. Place well apart on a baking sheet and leave it aside for 15 minutes till they become puffed up. Bake for about 15 minutes till it becomes crisp and golden in a preheated oven (220 degree Celsius). Enjoy!

Masoor dal - red lentils

Cooking lentils is fun. You can mix and match different spices and give a new look to them. Tired and bored of cooking lentils in a simple manner I tried something different- check out!

Ingredients-


2 cups masoor dal (red lentils)
1 dry red chilli - broken to pieces
1 big onion chopped
1 tomato chopped and smashed
2 garlic pods - crushed & chopped
oil for cooking
red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
corriander leaves chopped for garnishing
mustard seeds -1/4 tsp
Salt according to taste

Spices-


2 tbsp corriander seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp white sesame seeds
2 cloves
cinnamon stick-1
bay leaf-1
black cardamom or badi elaichi- 1 (remove the skin and discard- just use the seeds)
black pepper seeds - 1 tsp
oil to roast the above spices

Preparation- spices

In a pan, heat oil and roast all the spices mentioned above till they turn dark brown. Just ensure that you don't burn the spices. Once roasted, remove it from fire and allow it to cool. Grind it to a fine powder-

Preparation- dal


Pressure cook the red lentils till they melt in mouth. In a pan, heat oil and add the mustard seeds along with the broken red chilli pieces. As the mustard seeds start popping saute garlic and onions on a medium flame for 5 minutes. Add the tomato. Cook for another five minutes till they are incorporated. Mix the above prepared spices and red chilli powder. Add dal (lentils) with a bit of water and allow it to cook well with the spices. Adjust salt according to taste and cook the dal for 5-8 minutes. Remove from flame and serve hot with chopped coriander leaves. Enjoy with rice/roti/naan!