Ingredients :
1. Brown Lentils 200g
2. Tomatoes 200g
3. Salt 1/2 tsp
4. Chilli Pepper 1 tsp
5. Turmeric 1/4 tsp
6. Coriander 1/2 tsp
7. Cumin (crushed or whole) 1/4 tsp
8. Ginger 1/2 tsp
9. Onions (100g)
Preparation time : 40 mins
Recipe:
A lot of purvanchal recipes do start with a fried onions. Given that onions were not known in India before the arrival of Portuguese, it is somewhat what onions form the basis of so many dishes in not just purvanchal but most of North India.
This onion base is easy to prepare - just take a tablespoon of vegetable oil, heat it up for 5 minutes at 150 C. If you're using ground cumin (and not whole cumin) add all of chopped garlic (1 tsp) at this point otherwise (if you're using whole cumin) just use half of the garlic. Let the mix brown (a few minutes) and add 100g onion. Fry the onions until it turns red. This is the point where you can add more spices depending on what you want to cook. Simple.
For Masoor dal, you can 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp chilli powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ground or crushed ginger and 1/2 tsp coriander powder. If you prefer crushed cumin you can add them now, otherwise it's better to use the whole cumin seeds later (as part of tadka which is explained later on).
Leave the spices cooking for 6-8 minutes, at which point the spices should mix with the onion-base well enough that it moves with the oil in the pot. You can add the brown lentils (masoor dal) and one whole chopped tomato (100 g) now. Churn the mix, cover it with a lid and leave it cooking for another 5 minutes. At every minute make sure that there is liquid in the pot. Add a few spoons of water if the mix dries out (depending on how much water is in the tomatoes you've added).
You can turn the heat up now to 200 C and add 2.5 cups of water. If you're using a pressure cooker use 3 cups of water. Cover the mix and let it cook for 25 mins. If using a pressure cooker, only 1 whistle would be necessary.
If you have not used crushed cumin wait until the lentil soup is cooked. Fry the cumin in a little bit of fat. Add the half of garlic which you've kept aside. Add this mix hot-hot in the mix. This is called tadka - which is useful for many
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
arhar dal
Dal in Hindi, or pulses (in Indian English) are really lentils of different kinds that are available in Purvanchal. There are five varieties of lentils commonly used - arhar, moong, masur, urad, chana. Our of these urad, masur and moong are eaten in husked and non-husked forms. That is more than one for every day in the week.
Lentils are a good source of proteins, the reason why a vegetarian meal inextricably depends on lentils. There are many ways to cook lentils, but the one that requires least spices and is arguably the healthiest - is that of arhar dal (pigeon peas).
The preparation is extremely simple. You take half-pound pigeon peas, wash it and add it to boiling water. In about two minutes, add salt and turmeric (1/2 teaspoon). Nothing else needed. Remember that turmeric is not a hot spice and so adding more of it would not make the lentil soup spicier. To spice it up you would need some more work. Generally though the spices are added in other side-dishes.
Dal is meant to be simple and soupy - so that it mixes everything else in itself. Since turmeric is not an intense in taste by itself, it lets the real taste of arhar come out in the soup. The arhar plants are harvested in spring and leave behind the tough stems after the harvest. The smell of arhar still reminds of the few attempts I had made to walk through the arhar fields at night, only before my getting my feet hurt.
The other dal that is very often made with exactly the same recipe is red masoor. There are many other ways turmeric is used that we would cover later in other posts.
Lentils are a good source of proteins, the reason why a vegetarian meal inextricably depends on lentils. There are many ways to cook lentils, but the one that requires least spices and is arguably the healthiest - is that of arhar dal (pigeon peas).
The preparation is extremely simple. You take half-pound pigeon peas, wash it and add it to boiling water. In about two minutes, add salt and turmeric (1/2 teaspoon). Nothing else needed. Remember that turmeric is not a hot spice and so adding more of it would not make the lentil soup spicier. To spice it up you would need some more work. Generally though the spices are added in other side-dishes.
Dal is meant to be simple and soupy - so that it mixes everything else in itself. Since turmeric is not an intense in taste by itself, it lets the real taste of arhar come out in the soup. The arhar plants are harvested in spring and leave behind the tough stems after the harvest. The smell of arhar still reminds of the few attempts I had made to walk through the arhar fields at night, only before my getting my feet hurt.
The other dal that is very often made with exactly the same recipe is red masoor. There are many other ways turmeric is used that we would cover later in other posts.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Fish Curry - the first recipe
Purvanchal is the eastern region of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous and one of the poorest states of India. It has a great past and an interesting history, interesting enough not to have let its people fully adopt the ways of modern India.
The unprecedented drive for making big money is seen all over in the cities of India, but you can find the sort of peace that India was known for in the provincial India. There is decay, corruption and general impoverishment but some of the old world is still intact in the stone paved streets and the rituals of antiquity.
There is a possibility to find peace in this home - lush greenery of the plains that gets weathered with harsh summers and compensating monsoons. Here in this blog, I have made an attempt to share the feeling of this love by talking about the food from eastern part of the provincial India.
I must being with talking about coriander or cilantro - known as "dhania" in Hindi - which is an ingredient immensely used in the purvanchal cooking. It would appear in many forms - most times powdered but also used in chopped minced for garnishing or otherwise.
Personal tastes do vary, but somehow cilantro is enjoyed very much in almost everything from purvanchal cuisine.
The preparation of fish curry that I am used to is one which uses a lot of cilantro. With the other prime ingredient being garlic this dish is to be cooked a mile away from any serious Brahmin or Jain.
The recipe interestingly enough is very much influenced by Bengali cuisine. I say that because mustard is rarely used with so much excess in purvanchal.
Fish - Rohu, Bacha or other freshwater fish
Garlic - one whole (or 12 cloves)
Mustard - 4 teaspoons
Whole coriander - as much in volume as the garlic
badi-ilayachi/cardamom - half
Ponforon - optional (according to taste)
khatai/dried-mango -optional - 5-8 g
Notice that there is no ginger in this preparation. Ginger fused fish is something different and we may cover that at a later point.
The choice of fish really varies across purvanchal. Seafood is rarely eaten - even in Bengal where fish is the staple food. Salmon, tuna are ruled out. Most often you would find Rohu, Bacha or very rarely Hilsa. Hilsa might be your favorite, but I have mostly used the Rohu (Labeo Rohita) for this recipe and would recommend that.
The first step is the mixture of spices. The traditional way of mixing with sil-batta (grinding stone) is really the best. You are very welcome to use a blender if you want to save effort and time, but sil-batta is not recommended for no reason. Take garlic (one whole), 1/2 cardamon (black), 20g mustard and khatai. Grind them all on the stone or otherwise. If you can use coriander seeds grind them together (quantity of 20g) as well.
After you have this paste, you can start pan-frying the fish in very little oil. Any oil is OK, unless you really love mustard oil and would love to use that. Smear the fish in turmeric and salt before frying. Meanwhile heat some oil in a kadhai (wok) and start cooking the spice. This should give you idea of what the final result would taste like. The smell tells a lot about food in Indian cuisine. If you have some experience with spices feel free to adjust the content. A very popular "adjustment" is one with panchforon (which like the art of fish-eating itself comes from Bengali cuisine, and comprises of saunf/anise, jeera/cumin, proshto/sunflower-seeds, methi/fenugreek and mustard in equal proportions).
After you've fried the paste for 5 mins, add some water and then add fish that is already pan fried. Cook on slow heat for 10 mins, then add water and cover the mixture after adding more water. You should let this cook for 20 mins or so, while the fish becomes tender.
The fish curry is best eaten with rice. Personally I like it more with the chapatis. This is one of the spiciest preparations in purvanchal. Fish is not eaten by everyone in purvanchal. Yet I think it summarizes the basic features of the purvanchal cuisine that are worth mentioning in the first post of this blog.
The unprecedented drive for making big money is seen all over in the cities of India, but you can find the sort of peace that India was known for in the provincial India. There is decay, corruption and general impoverishment but some of the old world is still intact in the stone paved streets and the rituals of antiquity.
There is a possibility to find peace in this home - lush greenery of the plains that gets weathered with harsh summers and compensating monsoons. Here in this blog, I have made an attempt to share the feeling of this love by talking about the food from eastern part of the provincial India.
Cilantro and purvanchal
I must being with talking about coriander or cilantro - known as "dhania" in Hindi - which is an ingredient immensely used in the purvanchal cooking. It would appear in many forms - most times powdered but also used in chopped minced for garnishing or otherwise.
Personal tastes do vary, but somehow cilantro is enjoyed very much in almost everything from purvanchal cuisine.
The Coriander based fish curry
The preparation of fish curry that I am used to is one which uses a lot of cilantro. With the other prime ingredient being garlic this dish is to be cooked a mile away from any serious Brahmin or Jain.
The recipe interestingly enough is very much influenced by Bengali cuisine. I say that because mustard is rarely used with so much excess in purvanchal.
Ingredients
Fish - Rohu, Bacha or other freshwater fish
Garlic - one whole (or 12 cloves)
Mustard - 4 teaspoons
Whole coriander - as much in volume as the garlic
badi-ilayachi/cardamom - half
Ponforon - optional (according to taste)
khatai/dried-mango -optional - 5-8 g
Notice that there is no ginger in this preparation. Ginger fused fish is something different and we may cover that at a later point.
Choosing the fish
The choice of fish really varies across purvanchal. Seafood is rarely eaten - even in Bengal where fish is the staple food. Salmon, tuna are ruled out. Most often you would find Rohu, Bacha or very rarely Hilsa. Hilsa might be your favorite, but I have mostly used the Rohu (Labeo Rohita) for this recipe and would recommend that.
Mixing spices
The first step is the mixture of spices. The traditional way of mixing with sil-batta (grinding stone) is really the best. You are very welcome to use a blender if you want to save effort and time, but sil-batta is not recommended for no reason. Take garlic (one whole), 1/2 cardamon (black), 20g mustard and khatai. Grind them all on the stone or otherwise. If you can use coriander seeds grind them together (quantity of 20g) as well.
Frying the fish
After you have this paste, you can start pan-frying the fish in very little oil. Any oil is OK, unless you really love mustard oil and would love to use that. Smear the fish in turmeric and salt before frying. Meanwhile heat some oil in a kadhai (wok) and start cooking the spice. This should give you idea of what the final result would taste like. The smell tells a lot about food in Indian cuisine. If you have some experience with spices feel free to adjust the content. A very popular "adjustment" is one with panchforon (which like the art of fish-eating itself comes from Bengali cuisine, and comprises of saunf/anise, jeera/cumin, proshto/sunflower-seeds, methi/fenugreek and mustard in equal proportions).
Final touches
After you've fried the paste for 5 mins, add some water and then add fish that is already pan fried. Cook on slow heat for 10 mins, then add water and cover the mixture after adding more water. You should let this cook for 20 mins or so, while the fish becomes tender.
The fish curry is best eaten with rice. Personally I like it more with the chapatis. This is one of the spiciest preparations in purvanchal. Fish is not eaten by everyone in purvanchal. Yet I think it summarizes the basic features of the purvanchal cuisine that are worth mentioning in the first post of this blog.
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