I would say that looking at our track record, Indian cuisine probably isn't our strongest point. The blend of spices that elevates simple ingredients to such complex flavors is really an art to master. You need to know what the spices do, and how much to use of each of them. That's where we've encountered issues in the past (ahem...turmeric overload). However, I will not give up. My goal is to have strong dishes in each ethnic sector. Afterall, I like eating a variety of ethnic cuisine (gasp - no, I'm not the 8 year old picky eater anymore) and want to be able to cook them up in my own kitchen rather than having to pay for a meal that I'm not quite sure what went into making it!
Now I have to say, there are some dishes that I know will never come out of my kitchen the way they do in restaurants (well, probably most dishes considering the exorbitant amounts of oil and butter that go into restaurant cuisine), but to have a good "decent" dish to make at home - well that is just fine for me.
This dish however, is actually BETTER than the lentil dishes I've had in restaurants!! Yes - BETTER. Derek and I made Indian that tasted so incredibly delicious it makes me salivate. And it's easy! Perhaps that is why we were so successful :)
The idea to go this route started with me thinking what we could make for dinner with the ingredients that we have (of course). I rememebered this bag of beluga lentils sitting on our microwave and thought - DAL. After a little research for black lentil dal, I came across this one that then offered suggestions for the accompanying dish. DONE.
On the menu:
Punjabi Sukha Urad Dal
Phulka (unleavened bread)
Cucumber-Tomato Salad
We started out soaking the lentils for about 4 or 5 hours. That's Step #1 - so think a bit ahead.
Next we decided to throw together the bread since it said it should sit for at least 30 minutes. It doesn't have yeast but this is said to make the bread softer. Looking back at our results, I'd say perhaps it could have sat a little bit longer.
What are Phulkas? Phulkas are light puffed up unleavended Indian bread. They are very light in texture and melt in your mouth. The phrase "garam garam phulkas" brings up memories of one's mom serving you "hot hot phulkas" as you sit down for a wonderful home cooked meal.
It is also said that "this preparation requires dexterity and skill" - apparently we do not have that down yet...
Here's the phulka recipe that we used:
2/3 cup wheat flour + 1/3 plain flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Water or as needed to make a soft dough
2 teaspoons oil
Oil for kneading
Put the flour, oil and salt in a large bowl with half the water. Adding just enough water knead well to make a soft, pliable dough. Knead dough until it is smooth and elastic. Set aside for 30 minutes.
Heat an ungreased griddle/skillet.
Knead dough again. Making 1/2 inch balls as needed. That is just before rolling. This is to make sure that the dough does not dry out. Roll each ball into a disc at least 6 inches in diameter and about 1/8th cm thick. Thin phulkas will puff up too.
Put phulka on the hot griddle/skillet. Cook for about 1 minute, until the top starts to look dry and small bubbles start to form. Flip and cook the other side for 2/3 minutes until small bubbles form.
We weren't quite successful in getting the bread to puff up.
Indian Recipe #1 - Fail!
We are not discouraged though, I'm ready to try these again. (Derek made the dough, perhaps if I take that job next time....stay tuned)
Next I prepared the salad. Simple. Fresh. Hard to go wrong here.
Kheera Salad (Cucumber-Tomato Salad)
Cucumbers, 1 large peeled, chopped into 1/2" pieces
Green chili (jalapeno), 1/2 finely chopped
Tomatoes, 2 cut into chunks
Green onion (Scallion), 1 chopped
Coriander/mint leaves, chopped 1 Tbsp
yogurt 1/4 cup (used Fage 0% fat)
Salt to taste
Cumin, 1/4 tsp
Mix the cucumber, tomatoes, scallion and green chili in a salad bowl.
Beat the yogurt and stir salt and cumin powder. Add to salad bowl and toss gently.
Garnish with coriander/mint leaves.
Indian Recipe #2: Success!
Really tasty - it's like a traditional cucumber and tomato salad but then you get little specks of jalapeno - and then mint, and then cilantro...and hints of cumin throughout - very good!
Here comes the main event. The real battle in the Indian vs. Derek and Katie - the DAL!
We followed this recipe 100% - we are not good enough with Indian food to stray and add in our creative technique (actually, we did make one modification based on other recipes, and it was a very good modification).
Punhjabi Sukha Urad Dal (with beluga lentils)
Ingredients
1 cup skin-on, split black lentils (urad dal) (we used beluga)
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 onion, chopped
4 green chile peppers, cut into large chunks (we did 1.5 jalapeno, 1 serrano, minced)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1 cup water
salt to taste
1 large tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
addition: 1/4 cup plain yogurt
1.Place the lentils into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let soak 4 hours to overnight. Drain and rinse.
2.Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan over medium heat; cook the onion, green chile peppers, garlic, and ginger in the hot oil until the onions are golden brown, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir the lentils into the onion mixture with 1 cup water; season with salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. Stir the tomato, garam masala, and turmeric into the mixture. Cook until the lentils are cooked through, about 10 minutes more.
4. Take off the heat and stir in yogurt. Garnish with the cilantro to serve.
When I first tasted the result - before the yogurt was added in, I was thinking HELLO JALAPENO. Not that it was unbarable, but it was definitely there. That's when I thought - use the rest of the yogurt, after all, a lot of the other recipes that I had read earlier called for cream, milk, or yogurt. And my-oh-my what a difference. Everything was toned down and melded wonderfully. There was still a kick but it was a well blended kick if you will.
The ginger really stood out to me as being a fantastic addition to a dal dish. It was incredible. And now, looking back at the recipe, I realize that we forgot to garnish it with the cilantro! That would have been tasty, luckily we have leftovers so I can try it out.
NOTE: I had the leftovers and garnished the dal liberally with cilantro. INCREDIBLE. I really am beyond impressed with this dish!!
This was very likely the best lentil dish I've had. Period. Therefore.....
Indian Recipe #3: Success!
All-in-all...Indian 1 - Derek & Katie 2....VICTORY.
Now I have to say, there are some dishes that I know will never come out of my kitchen the way they do in restaurants (well, probably most dishes considering the exorbitant amounts of oil and butter that go into restaurant cuisine), but to have a good "decent" dish to make at home - well that is just fine for me.
This dish however, is actually BETTER than the lentil dishes I've had in restaurants!! Yes - BETTER. Derek and I made Indian that tasted so incredibly delicious it makes me salivate. And it's easy! Perhaps that is why we were so successful :)
The idea to go this route started with me thinking what we could make for dinner with the ingredients that we have (of course). I rememebered this bag of beluga lentils sitting on our microwave and thought - DAL. After a little research for black lentil dal, I came across this one that then offered suggestions for the accompanying dish. DONE.
On the menu:
Punjabi Sukha Urad Dal
Phulka (unleavened bread)
Cucumber-Tomato Salad
We started out soaking the lentils for about 4 or 5 hours. That's Step #1 - so think a bit ahead.
Next we decided to throw together the bread since it said it should sit for at least 30 minutes. It doesn't have yeast but this is said to make the bread softer. Looking back at our results, I'd say perhaps it could have sat a little bit longer.
What are Phulkas? Phulkas are light puffed up unleavended Indian bread. They are very light in texture and melt in your mouth. The phrase "garam garam phulkas" brings up memories of one's mom serving you "hot hot phulkas" as you sit down for a wonderful home cooked meal.
It is also said that "this preparation requires dexterity and skill" - apparently we do not have that down yet...
Here's the phulka recipe that we used:
2/3 cup wheat flour + 1/3 plain flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Water or as needed to make a soft dough
2 teaspoons oil
Oil for kneading
Put the flour, oil and salt in a large bowl with half the water. Adding just enough water knead well to make a soft, pliable dough. Knead dough until it is smooth and elastic. Set aside for 30 minutes.
Heat an ungreased griddle/skillet.
Knead dough again. Making 1/2 inch balls as needed. That is just before rolling. This is to make sure that the dough does not dry out. Roll each ball into a disc at least 6 inches in diameter and about 1/8th cm thick. Thin phulkas will puff up too.
Put phulka on the hot griddle/skillet. Cook for about 1 minute, until the top starts to look dry and small bubbles start to form. Flip and cook the other side for 2/3 minutes until small bubbles form.
We weren't quite successful in getting the bread to puff up.
Indian Recipe #1 - Fail!
We are not discouraged though, I'm ready to try these again. (Derek made the dough, perhaps if I take that job next time....stay tuned)
Next I prepared the salad. Simple. Fresh. Hard to go wrong here.
Kheera Salad (Cucumber-Tomato Salad)
Cucumbers, 1 large peeled, chopped into 1/2" pieces
Green chili (jalapeno), 1/2 finely chopped
Tomatoes, 2 cut into chunks
Green onion (Scallion), 1 chopped
Coriander/mint leaves, chopped 1 Tbsp
yogurt 1/4 cup (used Fage 0% fat)
Salt to taste
Cumin, 1/4 tsp
Mix the cucumber, tomatoes, scallion and green chili in a salad bowl.
Beat the yogurt and stir salt and cumin powder. Add to salad bowl and toss gently.
Garnish with coriander/mint leaves.
Indian Recipe #2: Success!
Really tasty - it's like a traditional cucumber and tomato salad but then you get little specks of jalapeno - and then mint, and then cilantro...and hints of cumin throughout - very good!
Here comes the main event. The real battle in the Indian vs. Derek and Katie - the DAL!
We followed this recipe 100% - we are not good enough with Indian food to stray and add in our creative technique (actually, we did make one modification based on other recipes, and it was a very good modification).
Punhjabi Sukha Urad Dal (with beluga lentils)
Ingredients
1 cup skin-on, split black lentils (urad dal) (we used beluga)
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 onion, chopped
4 green chile peppers, cut into large chunks (we did 1.5 jalapeno, 1 serrano, minced)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1 cup water
salt to taste
1 large tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
addition: 1/4 cup plain yogurt
1.Place the lentils into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let soak 4 hours to overnight. Drain and rinse.
2.Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan over medium heat; cook the onion, green chile peppers, garlic, and ginger in the hot oil until the onions are golden brown, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir the lentils into the onion mixture with 1 cup water; season with salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. Stir the tomato, garam masala, and turmeric into the mixture. Cook until the lentils are cooked through, about 10 minutes more.
4. Take off the heat and stir in yogurt. Garnish with the cilantro to serve.
When I first tasted the result - before the yogurt was added in, I was thinking HELLO JALAPENO. Not that it was unbarable, but it was definitely there. That's when I thought - use the rest of the yogurt, after all, a lot of the other recipes that I had read earlier called for cream, milk, or yogurt. And my-oh-my what a difference. Everything was toned down and melded wonderfully. There was still a kick but it was a well blended kick if you will.
The ginger really stood out to me as being a fantastic addition to a dal dish. It was incredible. And now, looking back at the recipe, I realize that we forgot to garnish it with the cilantro! That would have been tasty, luckily we have leftovers so I can try it out.
NOTE: I had the leftovers and garnished the dal liberally with cilantro. INCREDIBLE. I really am beyond impressed with this dish!!
This was very likely the best lentil dish I've had. Period. Therefore.....
Indian Recipe #3: Success!
All-in-all...Indian 1 - Derek & Katie 2....VICTORY.
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