Methi Dal | Lentil soup with fenugreek leves

I had this healthy and delicous daal first time in office canteen. I really like how healthy yet tasty it is. It also has all the qualities of a comfort food. What more, it goes well with rice or roti!!
But as I've shared before I was hardly interested in cooking while I was working full time. So never asked my colleagues who knew how to make it.
But after shifting to Noida, I've been missing this simple fare a lot. And one afternoon I decided to make it. I could have called my colleagues to get the authentic recipe, but I remembered that it was the weekly meeting time for them and I HAD to cook the daal. So I decided to just guess the recipe and make it..
This is by no means the authentic Andhra methi daal recipe, but it is delicious, healthy and gets ready in jiffy!!
Oh and the measurements are all eye balled. But that won't harm the taste of this simple daal much..

Methi Daal | Lentil soup with fenugreek

Ingredients:

1 cup Toor daal (Arhar daal / pigeon pea split)
1 onion finely cut
1 tomato finely cut
1 cup methi (fenugreek) leaves, cleaned, chopped and washed properly
1 sprig of kari patta (mitho limdo)
2 teaspoon oil
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai, sarson)
1 pinch asofoetida (hing)
salt to taste
1 teaspoon green chili, ginger and garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon dhania jeera powder (Cumin and coriander seeds powder)
1/2 teaspoon sambaar masala ( South Indian curry powder)

Method:
1) Wash the daal and soak it for 30 minutes. Then pressure cook it till tender.
2) Meanwhile in a pan take oil on medium heat. Add mustard seeds to it.
3) Once it crackles, add kari patta and hing. Then add green chili ginger and garlic paste.
4) Add onions and saute till it turns translucent. Then add methi leaves. Cover the pan and cook till methi cooks too.
5) Now add tomatoes and cook till tomatoes get cooked.
6) Add dhania jeera powder, turmeric and sambar masala. Mix well.
7) Now add the cooked daal to the mixture. Mix well.
8) Adjust water and add salt to taste.
9) Let it boil on medium flame for 10-15 minutes. keep an eye on it..

Enjoy with rice or roti.. I would recommend adding a dollop of ghee to it :)

+techie ZM 

Vaati Daal na khaman

For me Khaman means Vati Dal na khaman...I hardly ever had the Nylon Khaman...But Vaati Daal na Khamans were a regular feature at home :) Both the variety of khaman look alike but taste very very different!!! Yes, this is called Khaman in Gujarat, am not sure why people in other parts of the country call khaman as dhokla?!?!

I find this khaman healthier compared to Nylon khaman( which is all juicy with sugar syrup)....

In Ahmedabad, there is a shop called Daas na Khaman...Khaman from this shop are my all time favorite, whenever i visit Ahmedabad, i have to have khaman from here!!!

Daas na khaman - Ahmedabad (Image from here)

But what when i am away from Ahmedabad??!! Of course, i have to make my own khaman. And i am very proud to report that after few trials and errors my khaman, now tastes as good as the Daas na Khaman, yippeeee.......

Vaati Daal na Khaman

So before i forget, i'll record the recipe here...

Ingredients:
For Khaman:
1 cup chana daal (Bengal gram)
1 tablespoon sour curd
1 pinch of meetha soda
green chili ginger paste 1/2 tablesppon
2 pinches of turmeric powder
1 pinch of Asofoetida
Salt to taste

For Tadka:
3 Tablespoon of oil
1 teaspoon of Mustard seeds (Sarson/Rai)
1 teaspoon of Sesame seeds (Til/Tal)
2 pinches of Asafoetida (Hing)
Cilantro - Cleaned and Finely Cut

Method:

1) Wash the daal and soak in water. While soaking water level should be little more than daal...

2) After 4 hours, grind the daal to a COARSE paste with little water.

3) Add the curd, mix well, cover and keep in a warm place for 7-8 hours for fermentation.Proper fermentation is the key to great taste. So ensure that it takes place....

4) Once fermentation takes place, add salt, green chili ginger paste, turmeric powder, Soda and Asofoetida. Mix well.

5) Now take a big pateela (deep pan), take water in it, put a stand inside(or a bowl on which you will be putting your khaman plate) put it on a medium flame. Cover it using a lid (Wrap the lid in a cloth to avoid soggy khaman).

Big Pateela/Pan before putting khaman plate - you can see the circular stand in center to keep the plate on it

After covering with a lid wrapped in a cloth

6) Grease a thali (deep plate), or dabba (or anything in which you plan to pour the batter for making khaman - But should be deep enough so that khaman can rise properly)

7) After the water heats, pour your khaman batter in the thali and put the thali inside the Big Pateela, on the stand (Or Katori, whaterver you chose).

8) Cover with the lid.

9) Steam the Khaman for 20 mins (or till the knife inserted in it comes out clean).

10) Once steamed take the plate out and let it cool. Once cooled, cut into square or diamond shape.

11) For tadka in a kadai, take oil, add mustard seeds.

12) Once they crackle, add Til, let them crackle then Add hing and turn the flame off.

pour the tadka on the cut Khaman.

Garnish with Dhania patta and grated cocounut/coconut powder and Enjoy with Chutney...

As i suggested in the recipe of Nylon khaman, in absence of the utensils mentioned, you can use your idli stand or Electric Rice cooker (or even regular cooker).

These khaman are not juicy like Nylon khaman. Also they are denser compared to them...I feel that this is kind of an acquired taste...Because, my hubby who initially didn't like these khamans (Instant khaman is still his favorite) has started liking these :)

+techie ZM

Gujarati Dal | Khatti Meethi Dal | Arhar Dal | Tuver Dal

In a Gujarati home, this daal is a staple food. Whatever else may have been cooked, you will find either this daal or kadhi made everyday to be eaten with rice. Though i don't make it everyday, i make it often as all of us like it :)

In different homes it is made differently, some make it thin, some make thick. Then some use kokam, some use imli and some use Lemon. Some use Sugar and some use Jaggery. My mom makes it a little thinner than what i like as my papa likes it that way, but I like it the way my grandmom makes it..thick, with jaggery and lemon...Perfectly sweet and tangy :)

And everybody in my family says that my daal tastes like my grandmom's daal, you know how proud i feel?!?!!

Well, the secret of the tasty daal is nice boiling over low flame. and secret behind my daal tasting good is that i keep it on the flame and then tend to forget that i am cooking it, till i get the delicious aroma of daal wafting through the house and telling my nose that it is cooked and about to get burnt ;) Some advantage of forgetfulness ;)

Gujarati Daal / Khatti Meethi Dal / Tuver Dal 

Here is the recipe for it..

Ingredients:

Toor daal (Arhar Daal) - 1/2 cups soaked and pressurecooked

Red chili powder - 1/4 teaspoon (or to taste)

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Dhania-Jeera powder - 1 and 1/2 teaspoon

Green chili and ginger paste - 1/4 teaspoon (optional)

Salt to taste

Grated Jaggery - 1/4 cup

Oil for tadka - 2 tablespoon

Rai/ Sarson for tadka - 1/2 teaspoon

Methi seeds for tadka - 1/4 teaspoon

Hing for tadka - 1 pinch

1 medium sized Lemon

Method:

1) Pressure cook the daal nicely.

2) Once it is cooked, beat it thoroughly using a beater or Valoni/Ravoi. You should not be able to see any grain of daal, it should all be liquidy.

3) Add water and make it of thin consistency (like sambaar)

4) Now add salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder (if using green chili and ginger paste then you can reduce this to 1/4 spoon), green chili and ginger paste, dhania-jeera powder and jaggery.

5) Mix well and keep on low flame. Keep stirring till the jaggery is dissolved, if you leave it un-dissolved then it will get burnt.

6) Now you can leave it on low flame, occasionally pop up in the kitchen and stir the daal.

7) Once the daal thickens (may take upto 20-30 minutes), it's the time for tadka.

8) So in a kadai (my mom uses a small iron bowl for tadka, as it adds extra iron to the daal), take oil, add rai/sarson to it and put on a low flame.

9) once the rai crackles, add methi seeds, and as they turn brown, add hing and turn off the flame.

10) pour this tadka over daal and mix well. Boil daal on high flame for 3 minutes

11) Add the juice of 1 medium sized lemon and the daal is ready.

With rice and ghee it tastes heavenly!!! If you eat ghee, then do add it. Ghee notches up the taste to a higher level.

Notes:

1) You can keep consistency as per your liking. for thinner consistency add more water, but boil it properly.

2) You can also have the daal with roti.

3) It goes well with any sweet made of wheat, like churma laddu, kansaar, laapshi etc.

Gujarati Daal / Khatti Meethi Dal / Tuver Dal 

Gujarati Daal / Khatti Meethi Dal / Tuver Dal 

Gujarati Daal

+techie ZM