Bengali moong dal | Bhaja Muger Dal

Ever since the Bengali Cholar Dal from Dassana's blog was declared a hit at the dinner table, I have been on the lookout for other similar Bengali dishes to break the monotony of the regular tried and tested dals. That's when I chanced upon the Bhaja Muger Dal. This Bengali Moong Dal recipe makes use of fried moong dal. Bhaja in Bengali means "fried". Moong dal is much easier to digest in the night, compared to the channa dal in Cholar Dal, making it a winning combination with roti for dinner. So if you are bored of the regular dal fry or dal tadka and want to try something new, then Bhaja Muger Dal is an excellent option.
After trawling a few bengali cooking websites, I found that the tempering was similar to the cholar dal. So I decided to follow Dassana's recipe itself. It's just got a handful of ingredients going into it. What's more, it is really simple to make and has its distinct taste that comes from the roasting and the tempering.

So how does one make the Bhaja Muger Dal ? Here's how.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 Minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients for the Bhaja Muger Dal

1 cup of Moong Dal
2 tbsp ghee / clarified butter
1 bay leaf
1 pod cardamom
2 dry red chillies ( I used the byadgi variety)
1 inch cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1/2 tsp jeera / cumin seeds
A large pinch of turmeric powder
A large pinch of asafetida (optional)
1 inch ginger grated
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste

How to make Bhaja Muger Dal

In a wide pan, add a tbsp of ghee and roast the moong dal in it, till it imparts a nice aroma. This will take about ten minutes. Do not let the dal burn or brown. So that means, giving ten minutes of your undivided attention to the dal, since once this is done, you are pretty much set with your dal. 

Now pressure cook the dal with enough water in a pressure cooker. I cook for two whistles on low flame and then a third on high. It takes about ten minutes to cook a cup of dal.

While the pressure in the cooker subsides, you can get started with the tempering. Heat the remaining ghee in a pan and throw in the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaf into it. Once their fragrance starts wafting out, add in the rest of the dry spices - jeera, chillies, turmeric and hing. Fry for a minute.

Now top this with the cooked dal. Season with salt and a little bit of sugar. Grate in about an inch of ginger into it. Of late, I have started adding the ginger towards the end of the cooking rather than the beginning. That way, the ginger does not get stuck to the bottom of the pan and its fresh taste is more prominent in the dish.

Simmer for five minutes. Given the presence of spices like cardamom and cinnamon, this dal tends to be a little on the sweeter side. You can up the hotness of the dal by increasing the number of chillies going into it. 

Once all the flavors come together, turn off the gas and serve it hot with phulkas or rice. I served it with methi rotis and a carrot-ridge gourd sabzi on the side. 

Under 15 minutes hakka noodles

There are days when there is very little left over from lunch and I am either too lazy or too caught up with other things to whip up the whole roti + dal/vegetables and raita dinner. On one such days, the husband asks me, why don't you ever make hakka noodles? Well, maybe because I have never made it before, maybe because the sight of the over oily hakka noodles at the restaurants got to me and I was plain not interested in making it. But seemed like it was something that he liked. So the next supermarket visit involved picking up a packet of Chings hakka noodles and a bottle of soy and green chilli sauce each.

When I went through the procedure, I was in for a nice surprise. There was hardly anything to the recipe. And now I make it often, on my lazy days and we happily follow it up with some curd rice and complete the meal. So here is how I make Hakka Noodles in less than 15 minutes. It will take you lesser time if you don't skimp on pots and pans. I do all the cooking in the same pan which doesn't let me do parallel processing.

I make it with very little oil. You may call me a killjoy, but I like it this way. Eaten hot, you won't notice the difference.

Ingredients

1 cup of veg - carrots, beans, spring onions, cabbage, capsicum, chopped lengthwise
1 packet of hakka noodles
salt and pepper powder to taste
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of green chilli sauce
2 tbsp of oil

Method

Clean and chop the vegetables lengthwise. I microwave vegetables like carrot and beans for a minute since I don't like them too raw in the noodles.

Next, in a pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil and add to it the onion (i used the onion from the spring onion) and capsicum. You can add minced garlic to this if you want. On high flame, saute this well. Add to this the microwaved vegetables and stir.

In the end, sprinkle the chopped spring onion shoot from the top. To this, add the soy sauce and green chilli sauce. Mix really well. All of this is done on really high flame. Turn off the gas and remove the vegetables in a bowl.


In the same pan, heat sufficient amount of water and cook the noodles as per pack instructions. I add some oil to the water itself to prevent the noodles from sticking. Cook on high flame. It takes less than 2 minutes for them to cook. Turn off the gas when they start frothing up.

Strain it in a colander, run under some cold water to stop the cooking process and add another tsp of oil on it and mix well with your hands to prevent it from sticking. Now, in the same pan, take your prepared vegetables.

Add the strained noodles to this and toss well on high flame. Season with some salt ( the soy sauce already has enough salt and we cooked the noodles also with some salt, so go easy on it) and white pepper powder. Serve hot!

Mint Pasta | Lunch Box Series

So like i have written before, since pasta is simple to make and is packed with vegetables, good fat and flavors, it makes a weekly appearance in the lunch box. It is a one pot meal that i can never tire of. Each week it is a different shape and a different sauce.
This week, there was mint in the fridge, left over after making mint chutney. There was the spiralli pasta and some assorted vegetables.
Short of other ideas for the dabba, it was decided that the next day would be the "pasta day". I have never really put too much thought at the measures of ingredients that go into the pasta. It was a learning by trial and error and i continue to cook the same way. I tried to keep a track of what all goes in and in how much quantity in order to write out the recipe. Difficulty level is medium. Anybody who is quick with the knife and can taste and adjust flavors can make decent pasta! And trust me you, once you start making it by yourself, you would never shell out that crazy amount in the restaurants for a single serving of pasta!

Preparation Time: 20 Minutes
Cooking Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Pasta of your choice
Water to boil the pasta
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 capsicum, finely chopped
5-6 baby corns, sliced into rounds
1 large carrot, cubed
Salt to taste
1 tbsp cream
1 tbsp cheese spread
1 tsp Pasta Seasoning/ Oregano

For the sauce:

3 large tomatoes
1/2 cup of mint leaves
5-6 pods of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Method: 

Bring a pot with sufficient water to boil. Add a tsp of salt and a tsp of oil to it. Into the boiling water, add the pasta. Cover, and cook.
On the side, chop and microwave the vegetables that need cooking- the carrot and baby corn here with some water and salt for two mins.

While they are cooking, place the ingredients for the sauce in a mixer and grind well.

Stir the pasta in between and keep checking to see if done. It should be cooked al dente. Takes about 10-15 minutes depending on the brand. Check the instructions on the pack to get a better idea.
Strain it through a colander. Save about half cup of pasta water. Now run cold water on the colander.

In a pan, heat some olive oil and add the chopped capsicum. Fry. By then, the vegetables should be done in the microwave. Add the veggies to the capsicum and stir.

Now add the prepared sauce into the vegetables. Cover and cook for a minute or two. Add the cream and the cheese. I used the Britania Mexican Chilly spread here. While adding salt in any step, be mindful of the salt in the cheese. You can add more cheese if you want a richer, creamier pasta.
Stir in the pasta into it and gently toss, without breaking the pasta.
Add the pasta water to get some more sauce into the pasta. You could add some skimmed milk too. Toss well.
Top with some oregano or the seasoning that comes along with the pizzas, in case you have any.
Serve hot, or pack it for the dabba. I like it both hot and cold!

Mix veg-Lemon Soup

There are some days when you keep thinking of food- all the time. Nothing you eat would seem to satiate that appetite. It comes with the territory of cooking light food. Less oil, less carbs and add to that super fast metabolism (touch wood!), end result is perpetual hunger. 

And then there are those odd days when you go out and end up eating out. All the oil and masala in the food ends up creating a really heavy tummy. For days like these, a soup and a salad are the best follow up meals. Light and filling, they help wash down all the junk. 

I was looking at making the lemon and coriander soup that is normally served in the restaurants. It is more like a dal with loads of coriander and lemon in it. While searching for a recipe, i stumbled upon this recipe on Good Food. 

I followed something similar to make a mixed vegetable and lemon (grass) soup. 

Preparation Time  15 Minutes

Serves  2

Ingredients:

Carrot         1 small

Potato         1 small

Onion          1 small

Garlic           a couple of pods

Lemongrass            about 4-5 blades

Cumin powder        half tsp

Coriander powder   half tsp

Split Moong Dal      3 tbsp

Salt               to taste

Pepper          to taste

Juice of half a lemon

Coriander      for garnishing

Butter            1 tsp

Method:

In a pressure cooker, add some butter. Add the sliced onions and garlic. Once it turns translucent, add the diced vegetables. I have added a potato and carrot here. 

Wash the moong dal and add to the cooker. Season with salt. Maybe add a chilli or two if you need it spicy. Add cumin and coriander powder to this. Add water until all the ingredients are soaked in it. Top it with the lemon grass.

 Pressure cook until 2 whistles. 

Once the pressure is off, remove and discard the lemon grass. Let it cool. Blend it in a mixer. I ground it slightly coarsely. The feeling when you get a piece of cooked, soft, slightly sweet carrot or potato in the soup is something else! 

Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Garnish with coriander and a dash of lime. Warm and hearty, this soup will never disappoint! Instead, it certainly will cheer you and your tummy up! 

One Pot Meal- Khichdi

What is the easiest thing to make after a long day out? Dal and Rice. Easier than that? Put the dal and rice together to make Khichdi :) It is my go to food when i am in a hurry. A lot of people don't like the look of it. But for me, it figures on top of my comfort food list. Hot and spicy, with a big dollop of ghee and my meal is taken care of!
To make it a little more healthy, i add some veggies to it. My Gujarati colleague told me that they normally pre soak the rice and lentils, fry the vegetables separately, and then cook everything together in a big pot. But when you are short of time and don't have the patience to go through any process, it is ok to take a short cut. Here is how i do it.

Preparation Time: 15 Minutes
Cooking Time: 20 Minutes
Difficulty: Very Low

Ingredients: 

There are some basic ingredients that need to go in. Beyond that, you can just add whatever you want. I just chopped up a little bit of this and that of whatever i had.

For the tadka:

Ghee                       1 tbsp
Mustard seeds         1 tsp
Cumin Seeds            1 tsp
Hing                         1 pinch
Turmeric                    1 pinch

Other Ingredients:

Assorted vegetables        1 cup
Rice                                1 cup
Dal                                 1/2 cup
Salt                                 to taste
Green Chillies                 Slit, as per your requirement
Ginger+ garlic                  1 tsp, chopped
Onion                               1, sliced

Preparation:

Wash the rice and dal and keep it aside. I normally use 1:1 mixture of moong and toor dal. Chop all the vegetables that you are putting in. I added potato, beans, capsicum and green peas. You can also add  Cauliflower, brinjal, carrots, double beans- anything goes!
In the pressure cooker, add the ghee and all the tadka ingredients one by one. I had fresh turmeric with me. So i skipped the turmeric powder in the tadka.
Now add the onions and fry well.

Once the onions turn brown, add all the other ingredients except the rice and lentils.

After it all fries for a few minutes, add the washed rice and lentils. Saute for five minutes.Add enough water for the rice and dal to cook. Adjust seasoning. Cover and pressure cook on low for two whistles.
Mash it a little after it is done. Check for seasoning. Add some ghee on top and mix well. Be generous this one time. It is the ghee that enhances the taste. :) Scoop out into a bowl, curl up in your favorite spot and eat a hearty meal!