Dal Makhani

Continuing on with the meal, the next on the list is dal makhani, which I have now nailed after several attempts in the last year and a half. I have learned that you cannot make dal makhani from recipes online. I have read so many recipes that I've lost count. I even tried to make it from this one post that claimed it was the same recipe of dal makhani from the Oberoi Hotel. Whatever. It wasn't all that great. Many recipes forbid using onions for dal makhani. I have tried it with and without and I like it way more with onions. Anyway, here is my take on this dish:

Ingredients:

1 cup whole urad dal (kaali dal)

1/4 cup red kidney beans (rajma)

5 tbsp chana dal (bengal gram)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3/4 cup tomato puree

5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped (I like to add half a tsp more in the end, as well)

1 Serrano pepper, finely chopped (green chili)

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp cumin

a pinch of asafoetida

2 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

3 tbsp garam masala

2 tbsp deggi mirch powder

4 tbsp full cream

cilantro for garnish

Method:

1. Soak the urad dal, rajma and chana dal in warm water. Let it sit for 2-4 hours. Later, in a pressure cooker, pressure cook the lentils with 4-5 cups of water, 2 tbsp of salt, half the ginger and a pinch of asafoetida, until they are soft. Once they are cooked, release the steam and open the pressure cooker to check if the lentils are soft enough to eat. Don't cook too much or too less. The lentils should retain their shape and still be soft from the inside.

Warning: Do NOT attempt to open the pressure cooker without releasing steam. You may severely end up burning yourself if you try to do that. If you're not comfortable using a pressure cooker, boil the lentils in a pot. It'll take much longer that way.

2. Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and a pinch asafoetida.

3. Then add chopped onions, green chili, ginger and garlic.

4. Once the onions turn translucent, move them to one side of the pan and add tomato puree on the other side and cook.

5. Mix everything together. Add salt, coriander powder and turmeric powder. Cook for ten minutes until you have a nice thick masala (called tadka) ready.

6. These were the main steps. Now comes the easy part. Once your tadka is ready, add it to the cooked lentils. There should still be enough water in the cooker to mix the tadka and make a curry. If you feel there isn't enough water and the curry is starting to look thick, add some hot water according to your desired consistency. Let it come to a boil. Add any remaining ginger.

7. Then add the cream, garam masala, deggi mirch powder and salt according to your taste. Keep stirring and let it come to a boil again. Keep boiling until the curry becomes consistent and mixed with all the ingredients. You should have a creamy texture to the curry. Let it simmer for 15 minutes. Taste check for salt and spice levels. Add more garam masala or salt, if needed.

8. Before serving, garnish with chopped, fresh cilantro.

And that's it! Some people like to add butter to it in the end and more cream and what not. I like to keep it as healthy as possible and I think it still tastes pretty good without the butter or extra cream.

Dal makhani tastes even better when reheated the next day.

Hope you like it.

x

Shahi Paneer

Last night, I made shahi paneer, dal makhani and naan. I've made shahi paneer once before. It was good but not amazing. Last night, it was amazing. I'm so proud. 

I have read all sorts of complicated recipes to make this, involving a gazillion spices, yogurt, cream, etc. Here is MY version of the recipe (which is brilliant, by the way) and requires nothing complicated. No butter, no cream, the healthier-than-usual shahi paneer or paneer makhani. Whatever you want to call it.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 pound (»450g) paneer (cottage cheese), cut into 2 inch cubes

1 cup of tomato puree

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

paste of 4 large cloves of garlic

paste of 2 inch piece of ginger

1 tbsp cumin seeds

pinch of asafoetida

4 tbsp of cashew nut paste

2 tbsp of coriander powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp of deggi mirch (I use this specifically to give the dish a bright orange color and a little heat)

Deggi mirch is an important Indian spice made from a unique blend of special varieties of colorful red capsicums and Kashmiri red chilies. It has a mild heat and a deep red-orange color. It can be found in Indian grocery stores.

1 tsp sugar
Salt to taste

Method:

1. In a pan, heat the oil. Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and asafoetida. 

2. Once the cumin seeds turn into a light brown color, add the onions and the ginger-garlic paste. Once the onions are translucent, add the tomato puree. Now I said 1 cup puree, which I thought was good enough but if you want more curry, go ahead and add more. 

3. Add coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt. Meanwhile, take a quarter cup of cashew nuts, soak in hot water and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes. 

4. Microwaving makes the cashew nuts softer and easier to grind. Add some water to them and grind into a smooth paste.

5. Add this paste to the curry and mix well.

6. By this time, the curry will become thick so add some hot water to it to reach your desired consistency. I don't like it to be too dry or too watery. I like a semi-thick curry.

7. After you add the water, add some deggi mirch powder. I actually added two tablespoons because my husband likes it spicy. But if you can't handle too much spice, stick to just one tablespoon. Add some sugar and let it come to a boil. Taste check for salt. Once you're happy with the taste of the curry, add cubes of paneer and stir it in.

If your paneer is store-bought, I would suggest soaking the paneer cubes in warm water to make them soft. My paneer was homemade and it was soft enough to eat so I just added it directly to the curry. 

8. Let it come to a boil and turn off the heat. And that's it! :)

9. Garnish it with some chopped cilantro and you're ready to eat.

It's that easy. No cream, no butter and it tastes just as creamy and tasty as it does in restaurants. Give it a try.

Love.

x

Mushroom and Garlic Pasta

I love mushrooms and I've been trying to find a good mushroom pasta recipe for a while. Today, I experimented a little and it turned out pretty good. It is super simple to cook, very little ingredients and it is packed with flavor. 

Ingredients:

1 package of spaghetti

1 large package of mushrooms (whichever kind you like), chopped

6 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 stick of butter

3 tbsp of olive oil

1 cup of fresh parsley, chopped

1 tbsp of dried basil

1 tsp chili flakes

1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Cook the spaghetti until al dente. I like to wait until boiling point, throw in a tbsp of salt and then put the spaghetti in. It cooks faster and more easily. Chop the mushrooms. I would say the more mushrooms the better because I like mushrooms a lot. But it's totally up to you.

I actually added more later.

2. In a separate pan, heat half a stick of butter (about 4 tbsp).

3. As the butter melts, add the chopped mushrooms and the minced garlic. Add salt, pepper and dried basil.

5. Cook until the mushrooms turn brown and soft and let out the juices.

6. Now add the remaining butter, olive oil, chili flakes and grated Parmesan cheese. Taste check and make sure there is enough salt. Once you're satisfied with the sauce, add fresh, chopped parsley.

7. Now add this sauce to your cooked spaghetti and mix well. And that's it!

Garnish with some more parsley to make it look pretty. Enjoy it with garlic bread. 

I made the garlic bread at home. I took regular old buttermilk white bread, spread butter, minced garlic and chopped parsley, with a pinch of salt and chili flakes on it. I baked it for about 10 minutes on 425 degrees Fahrenheit (preheat first). You could even put some mozzarella cheese over it to make it cheesy garlic bread! 

Try it! I'm sure you'll love it.

xx

Himachali Madra

Here is a simple Himachali Madra recipe. The first time I ate madra was at a dhaam (feast), during a wedding. Wedding madras are fatty with thick gravy, chickpeas and lots of dry fruits. It tastes brilliant, though. I've cooked it at home twice but considering my weight, I can't afford to make it too often. Haha.

This is a madra that Himachalis cook at home as part of a meal and it is quick and easy to make. Also, it isn't fatty at all. This recipe serves two.

Ingredients:

2 medium potatoes, parboiled and chopped into 1 inch cubes

2 cups of plain yogurt (or more depending on how much curry you want)

4 tbsp oil 

1 black cardamom

2 cloves

1 small stick of cinnamon

1 tsp cumin

1 tbs coriander powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red chili powder

A pinch of asafoetida (hing)

1 cup chopped cilantro for garnish 

3 tbs ghee (clarified butter)

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a kadai (large pan). Once the oil is hot, add cardamom, cloves and cinnamon.

2. Now add cumin seeds and asafoetida.

3. Once the cumin starts turning brown, add coriander powder, red chili powder, and turmeric powder. Cook for 30 seconds. If you let it cook too long, it'll turn black and all the spices will burn. So really watch out to make sure you don't burn anything.

4. Now add parboiled potatoes and cook it until the potatoes are soft enough to eat. It's just faster if they have been parboiled but if you can't be bothered, throw in regular potatoes. It'll just take longer to cook. I usually keep parboiled potatoes in the fridge to use whenever I want. It just makes life easier.

5. While the potatoes cook, take two cups (or more) of yogurt and mix it vigorously so it looks nice and smooth. 

6. Once the potatoes are cooked, splash the pan with 2-3 tablespoons of water just to cool the vessel a little bit. Bring the heat to the lowest point. Once the vessel is cooler than before, pour all the yogurt into the pan and keep stirring vigorously. If you don't keep stirring, the yogurt will curdle before you know it and you won't be able to eat the curry. Just make sure that once you put the yogurt in, you keep stirring non-stop on medium heat.

I clicked this picture while stirring. 

7. Now the rest of the part is tedious. You just have to stand there and keep stirring until the curry starts to boil. This may take up to 15 minutes.  Just be patient. At no point (until it boils) can you stop stirring. It may look like there is some curdling in the beginning even if you were stirring the whole time, but don't worry. As the curry thickens, it'll even out. If the curry begins to look a little too thick, you may add some water to adjust the consistency. This madra isn't supposed to be thick.

8. Once the curry begins to boil, you can stop stirring. Your work is done. Let it boil for a few minutes, then add some salt and throw in the cilantro.

9. Now serve with steamed rice and enjoy :)

Have a nice Sunday! 

:)

Veggie Momos (Dumplings)

Ah! Momos. The first time I ate momos was ages ago, in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh. Dharamshala is my husband's home town. Coincidentally, my sister lives in Dharamshala and happens to be my husband's grandmother's neighbor. My cousin, Ritesh (whose home is also in Dharamshala), introduced me to it while I was there on vacation once. I've been in love ever since. During those days, there were no momo vendors in Delhi or Dhaka (where I used to live at that time). Now, there are momo vendors all over Delhi and Gurgaon. 

If you didn't know, momo is a type of dumpling native to Nepal. It is also native to the bordering regions of Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim, Darjeeling district and Northeast India. Dharamshala is the centre of the Tibetan exile world in India and I'm guessing it's the Tibetans who brought the momos to Dharamshala. 

There are some Tibetan restaurants in Utah, but they're like in Salt Lake City or farther. Well, I figured out a quick and easy way to make it at home and it tastes great!

Ingredients:

For momo filling

1/2 cabbage

2 carrots

1 green onion

a bunch of cilantro

salt to taste

1 tsp soy sauce

For momo wrapper

This is what I used 

Now if you don't have access to the won ton wrappers, you can make a regular dough with flour and water and knead it really thin. The problem with this step is, it is hard to roll it out really thin. If you don't roll the dough thin enough, the momo tastes doughy and hard around the edges and it's just no fun. Unless you're a pro at rolling, I would suggest getting ready-made won ton wrappers or spring roll wrappers (whatever is available). It is also way faster.

Also, look at youtube videos on how to roll the dough. It is apparently supposed to be thick in the middle and thin around the edges. Youtube videos will also explain how to wrap the momo. 

For Chutney

9-10 dried red chilies

4-5 cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp of roasted cumin powder

Juice of half a lime

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Take all the vegetables and chop them up really tiny in a food processor.

2. Add salt and soy sauce and mix it well. I had chili soy sauce so I used that, but regular soy sauce will work.

3. Now take a wonton wrapper and spread a little water on the edges (for sealing). Take a spoon of the veggies and put it in the middle.

I originally had square shaped won ton wrappers and I bothered cutting them into round shapes. Eventually, I realized that it works just fine with square shaped wrappers, too.

4. If you're not sure exactly how to seal the wrapper, take a look at some youtube videos. Just type "How to wrap a momo" in the search bar and you'll get all sorts of videos. 

I'm no pro, so these don't look perfect, but they will cook and taste perfect in the end. Make sure that when you scoop a spoon of veggies on the wrapper, you squeeze out all of the water. Cabbage, carrots, cilantro with soy sauce - they let out a lot of juices. If you try to put a scoop of really watery veggies, the water will keep oozing out when you try to seal the momo and it just gets tedious after a while to seal it properly. So just grab a spoonful of veggies in your hand and squeeze out all the juices. Then place them on the wrapper and seal. 

If you have a larger wrapper, put more veggies. Eventually, you'll figure out how much you can stuff into a wrapper.

5. Now grab a veggie steamer, spray it with oil (to keep the momos from sticking), put all the momos in it and put it in a vessel that has enough water in it to make steam. Heat up the water and cover the vessel with a lid. In a few minutes, it'll begin steaming.

 You may use any other steamer. Some people use idli stands. Whatever works for you.

Make sure you spray the steamer with oil and leave a gap between each momo. Momos tend to stick to the bottom and to each other. 

6. Once it begins steaming, the momo wrappers will start turning translucent. It should take about 15 minutes or so for them to be completely cooked. 

7. When they all look translucent, they are done cooking and ready to eat. While they cook, prepare the chutney. For the chutney, take dried red chilies, soak them in hot water and microwave it for two minutes. They say you should leave the chilies in the water and soak for 30 minutes, but waiting is not my thing. I just microwave it. The whole idea is to get the chilies to be soft enough to grind into a paste. Microwaving does the same thing as leaving it in warm water for half an hour.

8. Slice the garlic.

9. Roast some cumin and grind it. Make sure not the burn the cumin while roasting it. It should just be a dark brown color. If it turns black, you've roasted too long. 

10. Now add the red chillies and grind.

11. Now add 2-3 tablespoons of water and garlic.

12. Now add a teaspoon of salt (or more depending on your taste) and the juice of half a lime. Grind everything together. Chutney is ready.

13. During this time, the momos should be ready, too.

Ready to chow!

Give it a try :)

xx

Back from the Dead

Hello!

I'm back after like... forever. My laptop started to become a pain in the rear last year and I completely stopped using it. And writing a blog from my phone was no fun. Well, for Christmas last year, my husband bought me a beautiful, new laptop. I love it. I had almost forgotten how it felt to have a computer that worked this fast. This laptop has a core i5 and is the fastest laptop I've ever owned. Oh, how I love it. 

So, last night, my husband said "Why did you stop writing?" and I thought "Hey, I have a new laptop now, I should start again." So here I am. 

I have way too many updates since last July. 

The biggest and the best news: We bought a house! We moved in on the 1st of September, 2013. 

This is my palace.

I love living here. The house is so homey and comfortable. It has a basement as well and is probably the only basement that I'm not afraid to go into when I'm alone at home. I looove my kitchen. I cook way more than I used to now. There are 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a huge store area which we can convert into a 5th bedroom if we really like. But I like it as it is. Ankit bought a pool and pingpong table. I'm learning to play both. I'm getting good at table tennis. Pool is still a mystery to me, but Ankit is teaching me. He plays both reaallyy well. But it's nice to be able to go down into the rec-room and play whenever we feel like. 

I've really enjoyed decorating the place and just being here. I love it. I love my home. :)

This year I had like 80 kids come home for trick-or-treating and I absolutely loved it. And on the night of Halloween, Ankit's parents came from India to spend some time with us. It was the best time I spent in a long time. Just having parents at home everyday was so great. After they left, it felt so weird being lonely again. 

We celebrated Diwali together
 in our new house

Ankit et moi

In November, we took a trip to Southern Utah and visited Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park.

At Zion National Park (duh)

Us in Bryce Canyon (duh again)

We hiked from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point at Bryce Canyon. In between, we crossed Thor's Hammer and clicked lots of pictures, so that was nice.

In Zion's, we did the Angel's Landing hike. It is a 2.4 miles hike one way and uphill the whole time. Needless, to say, I stopped hiking the last half mile of the trail because it was way too freaky for me. There was no trail, it was just chains and climbing a rock. Even if I did climb it, I would have never made it back down and considering that eight people died doing this, it was a no-no for me. Ankit and my Father-in-law did it. My mother-in-law and I waited for them at Scout's Lookout. All the way to the top is 5,790 ft. So I did hike up to about 5,200 ft. The final half mile is almost 500 ft in elevation. It took us about five hours to do the hike up and back.

This happens to be around the end of the hike. So you can get an idea of how high up we were.

It was a really fun weekend trip. I'm surprised I hiked so much without killing myself. The first time I hiked in Yellowstone (which was way shorter than this one), I thought I was going to die. 

For Christmas, Ankur Bhaiyya and Astha came and stayed with us for over two weeks. It was the most fun time I've had since Hawai'i. I decorated the fireplace and my Mum-in-law bought me loads of ornaments to put on my Christmas tree. It was fantastic.

My Merry Little Christmas

I spent hours making the stockings with our names on it and started buying and packing gifts since November. On the night before Christmas morning, I sneaked out and put all the gifts under the tree. In the end, it really was no secret who Santa was. Haha.

Christmas Morning

In the morning, when everyone opened their gifts, the smiles on their faces made it all worth the effort. It was (by far) the best Christmas ever!

New Year's Eve

Fortunately, we all got to celebrate New Year's eve together. We had a dinner party at home and invited some of our friends to come celebrate with us. The food that night was delicious!

Since this was our first Christmas and New Year's as a family, we decided to get a family photo taken. I'm going to get it framed soon. 

I like this picture, too. Ankit is not a fan. He didn't like the photography very much. These are from Target. Hopefully, next year we'll find a better photographer in Tulsa. I hope to be in Tulsa next year for Christmas and New Year's. Fingers crossed. :)

Then our time together came to and end and everyone left. It was really sad. I could have gotten used to having everyone around. Felt weird sitting alone in the family room with no family. Ankit's holidays came to an end, too and he started going to work. That's when I really started to feel lonely.

But I'm excited again. My parents are coming here in April. They bought their tickets yesterday so I'm reaaally happy :D

We just celebrated Valentine's Day and it was great! I did some fun little things around the house, made chocolate truffles with Julia and baked a candy confetti cake that tasted divine. 

So yeah. Here is pretty much everything I've been up to since last July.

Until next time.

xx