Niramish Tadka Dal / Pure Vegetarian Tadka Dal ~ no onion, no garlic

It�s no hidden fact that I love tadka dal. It always reminds me of the small eating outs to the dhabas in Kolkata. But till now I couldn�t recreate the magic without onions and garlic. It simply tasted bland with tomatoes. It lacked the required richness and jazz that we generally get in the tadka dal coming out of the dhabas.

But my sister-in-law makes an excellent Veg Tadka Dal. She simply add chopped capsicum to them and voila!!! Whatever I was missing in my dals...I got back in them.  I had never imagined in my life that cooking capsicum with tomatoes will easily replace the onions and garlic.

Heat oil and temper it with cumin seeds and bay leaves.

Then add chopped tomatoes and chopped capsicums.

Sprinkle some salt and stir and cook the tomatoes.

The tomatoes will start to become mushy.

Finally the oil will start to settle at the edges and the curry will not smell like tomato anymore.

Next add the ginger paste.

Add the spices except the garam masala powder.

Stir and cook till the raw smell of the spices are gone.

Add water and let it come to a boil.

Then add the boiled mung dal and chana dal.

Simmer the dal till the gravy reaches a thick and desirable consistency. Then add the butter.

Sprinkle the garam masala powder and chopped coriander leaves. Mix in and put off the flame.

So take my suggestion and if you are cooking a veg version of any dish do add a little capsicum to them. It seriously gives the taste a big uplift!!

Niramish Tadka Dal / Pure Vegetarian Tad ka Dal

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 cup whole green mung dal

A handful of Bengal Gram / Chana Dal

3 medium tomatoes � chopped

� of a medium capsicum � chopped

1 tbsp ginger paste

2 tsp turmeric powder

2-3 tsp red chilli powder

1 and � tsp cumin powder

1 and � tsp coriander powder

1 tbsp dry fenugreek leaves / kasuri methi powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 medium bay leaves

2 tbsp butter

A handful of fresh coriander leaves � chopped

Salt

2 tbsp oil

Method:

Wash and soak the green mung beans and chana dal overnight. Then cook them with some salt on pressure till the cooker blows 3-4 whistles. Once done, let the steam come out of the cooker on its own and then open the lid. Strain the water and keep the cooked lentils aside.

In a kadai heat the oil and temper it with cumin seeds and bay leaves.

After half a minute add the chopped tomatoes and chopped capsicum to them.

Sprinkle some salt over them and cook the tomatoes and capsicum on medium flame until they become all mushy.

Now add the ginger paste and cook until the oil starts to separate at the edges of the kadai.

Now add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder.

Cook for 2 minutes or until the raw smell of the spices are gone.

Now add 3 cups of water and let it come to a boil.

Now add in the kept aside boiled lentils.

Mix in and let it cook on medium flame for 7-10 minutes or until the dal reaches your desired consistency.

Next add the butter and stir them in so that the butter melts.

Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Finally sprinkle the garam masala powder and chopped coriander leaves over them.

Serve hot with roti / chapatti / naan. 

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Niramish Lau Ghonto / Lau Bori / Bengali Style Pure Vegetarian Bottle Gourd Curry

The more you move out of Kolkata and enter deep into the suburb and village area..you will see a stark change in their food habitat and and of course cooking style. I have seen my in-laws being very heavy handed with mustard oil, mustard seeds and poppy seeds. In their breakfast they are more likely to eat muri or puffed rice with some potato curry and sweet. Sweet is a must for my husband and in-laws. They are crazy for the particular �makha sondesh� that is available in most of the sweetmeat shops in that area.

Breakfast with muri (puffed rice), potato curry, omelette and sweets.

DDLJ anyone??

One day in the afternoon 4 monkeys came through our main door!! Thank god they came, they saw and they left!!

The sweet is quite dense and rather coarse in texture. It does not come in any shape and rather looks like a giant mash of cottage cheese, jaggery and sugar. The price comes at per kg basis and it varies from village to village and the taste differs as well. The best I have tasted so far is from my husband�s village shop.

Apart from cooking fabulous Sorshe Maach and Alu Posto, my mother-in-law cooks some of the best pure vegetarian dishes I have ever had. Today�s recipe is just one of them. Earlier I tended to eat bottle gourd only with prawns but she made this beautiful niramish lau ghonto and I was just blown away. Although the taste is a little too much on the sweet side...but it tastes awesome!!! And after adding crunchy boris...it became the tastiest veg dish I have ever eaten. I just love this dish!!

My mother-in-law's specialty Sorshe Maach

Abandoned Kartik idols beside Ganga- Ghat.

Heat the oil.

Fry the boris and keep aside.

Heat some more oil and temper with panch foron, dry red chilli and hing / asafoetida.

Add the ranga alu / sweet potato, potato, turmeric powder and salt. Fry until golden.

Now add the boiled bottle gourd.

Add sugar and salt as per taste and cook until all the water evaporates.

Now add the fried bori and green peas.

Simmer on medium flame until the peas are cooked and finish off with a little ground dry roasted cumin powder.

Niramish Lau Ghonto / Lau Bori

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 small / 1 medium bottle gourd

1 medium potato � peeled and cubed

1 medium sweet potato / ranga alu � washed and cubed

A handful of green peas

A handful of bori / sun dried dumplings

1 � 1 and � tbsp mustard oil

1 tsp panch foron / Bengali Five Spices

1 dry red chilli

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp ground dry roasted cumin powder

A pinch of hing / asafoetida

Salt

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp oil

Method:

In a pressure put together the grated bottle gourd, 2 cups of water and some salt. Cook them until the cooker blows 2 whistles. Put off the flame and keep aside to release the steam naturally.

Then open the cooker and pour the boiled bottle gourd in a bowl. Keep aside.

In a kadai heat the oil and add temper it with the panch foron, dry red chilli and hing / asafoetida.

Saute for a minute or so and then add the cubed potato and sweet potatoes to them.

Sprinkle the turmeric powder and salt over them.

Fry them for 2 minutes or until they become a little golden.

Now pour in the prepared boiled bottle gourd.

Stir them in and add in the sugar.

Put cover and cook until the potatoes are done.

Once the potatoes are nicely cooked from inside wait for  all the water from the bottle gourd to evaporate.

In a separate pan heat some oil and fry the bori / sun dried dumplings until golden.

Add this fried bori / sun dried dumplings and green peas to the bottle gourd.

Taste and adjust the seasoning. The taste should be more on the sweeter side.

Simmer on low to medium heat until the green peas are cooked nicely.

Finally sprinkle the dry roasted and ground cumin powder over them.

Put off the flame and serve hot with some lentils / dal and rice. 

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Simple Bhaja Muger Dal / Simple Bengali Style Dry Roasted Moong Dal

The more I am seeing the versatility of moong dal the more I am being sursprized on its adaptability of taste. Earlier I used to be obsessed about the Masoor dal and it used to be the only lentils that passed my clearance of being the only edible lentil. Now I thank my days when the Masoor dal was unavailable and I really got tired of them...and out of curiosity resorted towards the yellow split moong dal as my rescuer.

Then I got my hand over a beautiful cookbook full of authentic Bengali recipes...which has over 20 recipes only on the lentils section!! I am literally in heaven. It has a recipe of Mug Dal Poro, where the lentils are boiled first and then poured into a hot kadai of tempered oil. Then a good amount of milk is added to that cooking dal and simmered till medium thick consistency. Have any of you heard about this preparation!! I haven�t... and I am really curious about its taste!!

Simple Bhaja Muger Dal

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup of moong / mug dal

A handful of peas

A handful of baby carrots / 1 medium carrot � chopped

A few coriander leaves � chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 bay leaf

1 dry red chilli

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 and � inch ginger stick � minced / 2 tsp ginger paste

1 tbsp oil

A little ghee / butter

Salt

Method:

Wash the mug dal well and drain the water.

Heat kadai / pan and dry roast the mug dal on low flame for 2-3 minutes or until you start to get its nutty smell. The moong / mug dal will start to change its colour to a rather brownish state. Do not over fry them and make them brown.

Once done take them out of the pan / kadai and put them into a pressure cooker.

Add in 2 aand � cups � 3 cups of water, salt and turmeric powder.

Mix them well and cook them on pressure until the cooker blows 4-5 whistles.

Put off the flame and let the stem vent on its own. After that open the lid and keep the cooked moong / mug dal aside.

In a kadai heat the oil and add in the cumin seeds, bay leaf and dry red chilli.

Saut� for some seconds and throw in the green peas and baby carrots. You can make this dal without any veggies also. I have used frozen green peas and frozen baby carrots. They do not require a long time to cook so I fry them in this oil before adding the dal. If you are using fresh vegetables then either cook them with the moong dal or boil them with some salt separately and then add them to the oil.

Cook the veggies for 2-3 minutes or until they are half cooked.

Now add the ginger paste and give a good stir.

Next pour in the prepared moong dal and mix well.

Add more water if you want the dal to be runnier.

Simmer on medium flame till the dal reaches your desired consistency.

When the dal is done add in the ghee / butter. Stir them in and put off the flame.

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