Creamiest Dal ever

So this was a completely flukey discovery I made a few weeks ago - and have since repeated it like 4 or 5 times because both me & Saugar love it. Made it this past weekend for my in-laws as well and they enjoyed it too.

 

I was about to make dal and instead of the usual toor dal I decided to use moong dal and added a new ingredient as a random experiment and it turned out brilliant.

 

In a pressure cooker cook a cup of moong dal (the yellow version) with whatever veggie you might want to add (optional). I usually add roughly chopped carrot or spinach. You only need to cook it for 1 whistle because moong dal cooks super fast.

 

In a pan fry some jeera, mustard and garlic with green chillies and curry leaves. Add half a cup of chopped onions and let them cook till light brown. Into the pan add the cooked dal. Once you mix in the onions and tadka into the dal properly, add a cup or so of soy milk (this was the random discovery...the dal had turned out too thick and instead of adding water I added soy milk). Add salt to taste. Turn the heat down and let it simmer slowly till you get the consistency you want.

 

My mother-in-law when she had this said she wouldn't mind taking it to work just by itself to eat as soup. It was just very creamy and comforting. Plus it's added protein!

 

Give it a try! :)

Trick to 'phooli-phooli' rotis

This is a VERY special technique for two reasons: Firstly you will get a phooli-phooli (blown up) roti every time if you follow this technique.  Secondly my naani ma taught me this and that is partly the reason I have been very reluctant to tell this to people as it makes me feel like naani ma has passed on a legacy to me. :) But the sisterhood needs to know and this awesome technique needs to be out there! :P

 

So first you have to make sure you bel (spread with the rolling pin) out the roti as evenly as possible. Then make sure the tawa is hot (I ususally use somewhere between medium and high)! Put the roti on the tawa for literally 5 seconds then flip it. If the tawa is the right temperature it would have just lightly browned that side. So once you have flipped it (after 5 seconds).. wait ... till little bubbles start appearing.. the bubbles will be like small bumps uniformly spread around the roti. Once you see them flip it again.. now this side will be completely cooked i.e. roti will be the whitish colour with light brown spots where the bumps had grown. Now you take a clean kitchen cloth and lightly press the roti (I have a dedicated cloth that I keep just for doing this). Once you start pressing you will start to see the roti blow up - almost instantly. Encourage it by lightly pressing the blown up bits so it spreads around. And thats it!! :)... fully cooked.. phooli phooli roti!!

 

PS: no oil needed to cook it... not even while kneading the dough.. just warm water and a little bit of salt while kneading.

 

S

Finally the fourth sister is here! Anchal's fancy-shmancy pasta sauce

Heheheehe I'm jealous i have no one to cook for and you girls aren't even around tsk :(

 

BUT here is a recipe for Pasta Sauce

Chop one large red onion, crushed garlic and sautee in olive oil....keep cooking this until the onions start to go a bit brown then add slices of portabello mushrooms (button mushrooms wont have the same affect) and wait till they cook right down and almost start to blacken.  Add salt and pepper to taste and then add half a cup of red wine to deglaze the pan, this should take off all the bits from the bottom (this is where all the yummy flavour is :) ).  To this add a can of chopped tomatoes....and the sauce should go to this really nice brown colour....trust me it doesn't taste tomato-ey at all, to add a little bit of richness add a tiny knob of butter and that'll make the sauce all shiny.  I usually make this with penne pasta or with spirals but you can try anything.

 

As for cooking brown pasta my tip is to heavily salt your water and not add the pasta until the water is bubbling and then just to keep the pasta moist add a tsp of olive oil or a small bit of butter....it wont let the pasta stick or dry out but it'll get taken out with the water so you wont be having fat either.

 

Ooohhh another tip I have is for cooking rice, when you cook basmati rice instead of cooking it in a rice cooker or a pressure cooker...cook it in a kadhai or an open pan....after the rice is cooked put it in a sieve and pour boiling water over it...this takes all the starch out and makes the rice nice and fluffy, you'll be amazed at how light the rice is and it doesnt leave you feeling sleepy or lathargic.

 

Those are my tips for today, quick recipes for cranberry cookies and ginger bread men coming up :)

 

Ohhh and also be careful with the choice of food processor you are using for your dosa batter, i've just recently burnt my blender because it couldnt handle the load so a food processor is a good idea and also make sure you check the wattage....i know this sounds so old fashione but the best thing i've found so far for dosa batter's is the sumeet mixi from india...they were fantastic!!!

 

okie ladies i have heaps more to share so i'm thinking do we want to start a blog of the sisterhood of the travelling kadhai?  what about sisterhoodkadhai@gmail.com as a common account and then we can just add things on the blog....what do you think??

 

love yaa

xoxoxxo

a

More foodprocessor discussion

Praneeti - YES please share the idli/dosa techniques...i haven't yet tried making them from scratch but would love to!!

 

Swati - i just got a food processor/blender...got a 7-cup one so it doesnt take up a whole lot of space.

but till now I was using this little smoothie machine http://www.thanedirect.co.uk/products/housewares/magicbullet/magicbullet.php

it did practically everything i needed - spice mixes, pasta sauces, the palak for palak paneer...

i finally decided it couldn't do EVERYTHING when i was trying to make this dessert for which i was making a paste out of dates and walnuts...and that proved too much for it...

but otherwise, it's the perfect tool and takes hardly any space - and it's enough when cooking for 2. (and it cost me $20).

But if you do want a proper one - get a combo food processor/blender - it does everything you could want from it

 

thanks for the tips on adding spices btw...will keep them both in mind

 

my one trick - passed on by my health-nut mum - before putting the onions in the kadhai - stick them in the microwave for 2 mins - they will turn slightly translucent - and take a lot less oil to brown and gets that sweetness...

 

as for brown rice - i've tried pulao and fried rice with it - it tastes fine - but white is obviously better

i'd say use brown rice for everyday eating - with daal, subzi...that way you end up eating more daal, subzi rather than a whole heap of rice...

but for special things like biryani - white's better - cuz brown tends to dry out quickly

 

Luv,

Megha

 

 

The third sister joins in! :)

hey sisters!!!
 
Brilliant ideas :) The name, the suggestions, the recipes, the plans, the LOT!!! :D Man, did we ever imagine we'd be doing this.. discussing cooking? well, actually , i think i did.. and come to think of it, i do remember discussing it with one of you guys last year or the year before too.. that soon, the future we'd be doing this ;)

I don't have any fancy recipes of mine.. I'm currently in the process of cooking so much indian food that I surprise myself with my dedication to our culture. Of course, that Ram's not a big fan of anything non-spicy is a factor too :P On that note, I'm a bit of a pro now at idlis n dosas so if u want any tips/recipes on that i can help :)

Pastas/rice: i used to eat red rice when i was at Vinthi's place.. it was really hard to eat at first but in a way guess that's good cos you eat less :P But once you get used to it, like Megha said, it is not that bad at all. Wholemeal pasta's yum, i actually think it tastes better almost than the white one.. what say you megha? We have the brown basmati at home, i haven't had the guts to try it yet though.. gotta try it sometime. Wonder if biryani tastes the same with it? Guess if it is meat biryani, shudn taste too different? Btw.. if u are making meat biryani, Shan Bombay Biryani Mix is the best one to try..

Along the same lines of swati's tip.. One of the most useful thing that mom told me is about adding spices when frying onions etc.. you have to add the spices when the onions are translucent.. rather than when they are golden brown or raw.. or like most ppl do, towards the end of the curry cooking process.. cos this way, the spices realllly get into the onions and they give the most awesome spice base.. :) 

ooh this is so exciting girls.. lets keep this up :) and eventually, i reckon, we should put up a 'book' or a blog together with all these... if not for others, for ourselves for future reference.. I've started writing all my best working/tasting recipes (that i collect from everywhere really) in a book.. dont have many as of now, but am gonna keep doing it.. we can do something like that collectively! :)

:)

 

Pasta Ideas

haha i absolutely love that name! :)

 

and i think you describe cooking so well...it's such a great feeling when something turns out really well and also interesting to figure out what went wrong when something doesnt!

 

firstly about wholemeal pasta and brown rice - i switched almost entirely to brown rice about 6-7 months ago...i'm completely used to it now - as long as it's basmati. the trick is to soak it for about half an hour before cooking it. and also to add a little more water than you would to white rice. definitely worth a try. i will say that it will take a few days to get used to it. i don't regret making the switch though. i only eat white rice when i'm out now...we decided not to buy any to avoid temptation :)

wholemeal pasta - most of the dried pasta (spaghetti or linguini mainly) that i buy is wholemeal...but we often buy fresh pasta (stuffed etc) from the supermarket and that one is usually white

wholemeal dried pasta tastes fine...just have to be a little more careful when cooking it to ensure it doesnt overcook...i know that's the general rule with pasta but with wholemeal pasta the texture is really off when it's overcooked...again worth a try

 

pasta sauces - the one totally original sauce i made that turned out great was with roasted red peppers/capsicum. you can roast it yourself too but i bought a bottle of pre-roasted peppers from the supermarket. i was tired of the tomatobased sauces so wanted to try something different. i put in the pre-roasted peppers with a handful of toasted almonds (i wanted something that would make it creamy and didnt have any cream so randomly decided to add almonds) with chilli flakes, salt and garlic into a blender and blended the whole thing together. the sauce can be used with anything - veggies, chicken etc...i did it with shrimp and mushrooms. (i usually use frozen pre-cooked shrimp cause i'm always up for shortcuts!)

 

my favourite pasta sauce - and this may sound really lame - is super super simple especially with stuffed pasta...olive oil, loads of chopped garlic and chopped basil/dried basil. as simple as it sounds i l-o-v-e it

 

my hubby came up with his own creation the other day - a "mushroom pesto" he called it. he put a bunch of button mushrooms with green chilli, garlic and olive oil into the foodprocessor. it was really good i have to admit :)

he also likes to use pre-bought store tomato based sauce but make it a 'meat sauce' - where he will saute vegetables and ground turkey in the pan and then add in the store bought sauce with more spices...that's pretty nice too

 

so there's a few ideas :)

 

luv

megha, another sister of the travelling kadhai

A name is born and madam ceo is on-board :)

Awesome idea.. we could be the sisterhood of the travelling kadhaai... hehe

I never used to cook at home.. and now that I have started, I find that I quite enjoy cooking. I am also enjoying the process of trial and error.  I think one of the things that I didnt used to like back home was the fact having mum or mum-in-law :P constantly giving tips over my shoulder.. it is nice.. but they never let me do anything wrong and learn.. But in fact I like making mistakes and then rectifying them next time.. I feel like the kitchen is a perfect lab where you can keep modifying ur experiments in a controlled way until you end up with the perfect dish! And jst like a lab you always discovering new tips/techniques/flavours accidentally.. (btw.. dont get me wrong.. I never discovered any 'flavours' accidentally in the lab.. lol.. except once when I acidentally majorly sniffed an unmarked bottle and it turned out to be formalin.. was a bit dizzy for a good 10 minutes after that!.. it prob killed a few brain cells.. )

So here is my tip-de-jour.. when adding masalas to your tempering.. like coriander powder, garam masala, red chilli powder, haldi , salt etc etc.. I dissolve all of them in a little bit (usually half a cup depend on how much masala you are adding) of water.. and then add it to my tadka/tepering (which is usually onion, tomato, chilli frying in oil).. doing this prevents the masalas from burning as it is added to hot oil.. and retains all its flavours and aromas.. it also spreads nicely.. and not in lumps.. and it helps make the gravy thicker.. also allows the tadka to cook for longer as it doesnt dry out quickly..

I got that tip from a friend here.. who I watched doing this once in her kitchen.. I have been using it all the time since then.. :)

Here is my problem for further discussion.. I think pasta is a very easy quick meal.. but the ready made pasta sauces taste crap.. I wonder if you guys have any tricks to make these sauces more zesty or have recipes for a sauce from scratch.. that can be made and stored?? also have you guys tried wholemeal pasta or brown rice?? how is it?

PS: lets keep the title of the email as random tit-bit.. as it will keep these emails all in one folder in gmail.. which is quite handy..

love and peace out,
s (sister of the travelling kadhai - UK) :D