Masoor Dal

Masoor Dal is one of the most tastiest lentils cooked in an onion, garlic and tomato gravy and infused with the Indian Spices. This is prepared in a North Indian style and I learnt this one from my hubby. I can vouch for how scrumptious this one is. You can literally feel those lentils melt in your mouth. It goes really well with Puri or Roti.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Masoor Dal - 1 cup

Onions - 1 medim sized (chopped)

Ginger - small piece  (grated)

Garlic - 4-5 pods (crushed)

Tomato - 1 (chopped)

Green Chillies - 3 (slit)

Oil -1 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder - 2 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp

Coriander leaves to garnish

Salt to taste

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Preparation:

1. Pressure cook Masoor Dal with 1 tsp salt upto 2 whistles and keep it aside.

2. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and let it splutter.

3. Next add crushed garlic and fry it until the aroma starts to come through.

4. Add chopped onions and cook it until it becomes slightly brown.

5. Add the green chillies, grated ginger and tomato and let it cook. The tomatoes should  become mashy.

6. Next add red chilly powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and cumin powder.

7. Add the boiled masoor dal to the above mix and a bit of water and let it simmer.

8. Add garam masala, salt and a bit of sugar. Garnish it with coriander leaves.

It can be served with rice or eaten with roti/puri.

Red Puri

Red Puri is a Maharastrian speciality which I learnt from my Mom-in-law. This is typically eaten with chutney powder or by dipping it in tea. Here's the recipe for it:

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 2 cups

Red Chilly Powder -2 tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Sugar - 3/4 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Water -1/2 cup

Oil to fry

Preparation:

1. Take 1 tsp oil and add cumin seeds, red chilly powder, sugar and salt.

2. Next add wheat flour and water and knead it into a dough. The dough looks like this:

3. Make round balls and roll it into a circular shape.

4. Deep fry it in oil.

You can serve it with any curry or simply eat it with chutney powder. In the below pic, I have served it with Masoor Dal.

Red Poha

Red Poha is a popular breakfast side in Konkani Cuisine. The masala used in this is readily available in some towns of Karnataka. If you do not have the masala, you can prepare it as shown in this post. Here is the recipe straight out of my Mom's Kitchen.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Coconut - 1 cup

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Hing - a pinch of it

Salt

Sugar - 1 tsp

Thin Poha - 2 cup

Oil - 1 tsp

Red chilly powder - 2 tsp

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a pan.

2. Add mustard seeds, let it splutter.

3. Next add a pinch of hing.

4. Add red chilly powder and remove it from stove.

5. Add salt and sugar.

6. Once the mixture cools down, add grated coconut and mix well.

7. Finally add the thin poha and mix it well. Add some pressure while mixing to mix it better.

You can add peanuts to make it taste better. Alternatively, you can serve it with chivda too.

Sambar

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Toor dal - 1 cup

Chopped vegetables (like carrots, cauliflower, potato etc) - 1 cup

Water - 2.5 cups

Green chillies - 6 (if you want it spicy, else adjust accordingly)

Tamarind

Oil

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Chana dal - 1 tsp

Hing - a pinch of it

Curry leaves

Onion - 1

Red chilly powder - 4 tsp

Garam masala powder - 0.5 tsp

Salt

Jaggery - a small piece

Coriander leaves - to garnish

Preparation:

1. Wash toor dal, add chopped vegetables, water, green chillies and turmeric powder and bring pressure cook it till the dal becomes soft.

2. In a pan, heat oil for tadka. Add mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, hing, curry leaves and onion. Let it cook for some time. Add this tadka to the boiled dal.

3. Soak tamarind in warm water. Add this tamarind juice to the boiled dal.

4. Add red chilly powder, garam masala powder, salt and a bit of jaggery and let it boil for 5 -10 mins.

5. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it hot with rice.

Borani Banjan

Borani Banjan (Eggplant topped with garlic flavored Yogurt) is an Afghani specialty. I happened to eat it recently at an Afghani restaurant and I really loved it. So here's a version of how I tried to recreate that magic at home.

Recipe:
Ingredients:

Oil - 4 tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Garlic - 7 cloves (crushed & finely chopped)
Yogurt - 5 tbsp
Eggplant - 1 big sized (boiled & mashed)
Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp
Tomato - 2 (finely chopped)
Red Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Preparation:

1. Boil the eggplant (coated with oil) in oven at 375 F. (You can also deep fry it if you like it that way). Once done, cut into small pieces and mash it.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add 4 crushed garlic cloves. Add tomato, turmeric powder, salt, pepper, red chilly powder. Let the tomato cook completely.
3. Add the mashed eggplant to this above mixture and mix it well. 
4. Next take some yogurt in a bowl, add salt and the remaining 3 crushed garlic and mix it well.
5. Top the yogurt sauce on the eggplant mixture.

Borani Banjan is ready to be served. It goes well with roti, naan or pita bread.

Eat Out: Bouldin Creek Cafe, Austin, TX

It's hard to find a place in Texas which serves solely vegetarian food. So we were surprised when we stepped into Bouldin Creek Cafe and discovered that they served only vegetarian and vegan food. All happy, we set out to try what this place had to offer.

We had a Mexican Mocha (which was made from Mexican cocoa) and cappuccino which were refreshing.

 

Mexican Mocha

Cappuccino

My favorite dish was the Spicy Pesto Plate -  a chipotle pecan pesto (it was a spicy sauce which was yummy) served with grilled Ciabatta and sides of hummus and avacado.

Spicy Pesto Plate with Hummus & Avacado

We then ordered the Tamale breakfast (it had two tamale's, scrambled eggs, tortilla & salsa) and El Tipico (scrambled eggs, hashbrown, tortilla & salsa) and it was good. 

Tamale Breakfast & El Tipico Breakfast - Difference between the two is that one has potato tamale cakes and the other has potato hashbrowns.

The ambiance was lovely - the walls were covered with cool artwork and the building had graffiti on the walls outside. All in all, a lovely experience.

                

Eat Out: Ethiopian Cuisine

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food" - George Bernard Shaw

In my quest to try out various cuisines of the world, I bring to you my experience with the Ethiopian cuisine.

Ethiopia is a part of the African continent and its capital city is Addis Ababa. It is the main source of the longest river on earth - The Nile. Coffee originated in the Ethiopian Highlands. There is a legend that the Ethiopian goat herd, Kaldi, discovered coffee when his goats were energized by eating berries from a tree.

Taste Of Ethiopia, Pflugerville, TX:

My first experience with Ethiopian cuisine was at Taste of Ethiopia in Pflugerville, TX. It is one of the unique and traditional dining experience with a friendly staff.

Our table had a big plate in the center kept inside a woven basket called Mesob. In Ethiopian tradition, all the members of the family eat from the same plate which is a reflection of their love and bonding. We started off with appetizers - Spinach and Lentils Sambusa which was served with a hot sauce.

After we finished those, we ordered "The Ultimate Vegetatian Combo", which had many gravies which they call Wot (Gomen, Fesolia, Yemisisr Wot, Tikil Gomen, Ater Kik and Eggplant Wot). [We've tried the Veggie Firfir and Shiro Wot as well during out multiple visits after we fell in love with their food.] When our food arrived, the presentation that followed left us spellbound. It was classy. Injera which is a sourdough bread (looks like a dosa and made of Teff flour) was as big as the plate. It was placed inside the Mesob. Then all the Wots were presented in beautiful manner around the plate on top of the Injera. We had sides of additional Injera rolls. Injera's were to be eaten along with the wot and with our hands. It is a common custom to feed others in the group and this act of love and friendship is called gursha.

Next was desserts, we ordered Bakalava which was amazing. Bakalava is a layered dessert sweetened with syrup and filled with nuts. This is a common dessert among the cuisines of the Middle Eastern countries.

A visit to an Ethiopian restaurant cannot be complete without having their freshly brewed traditional coffee. They brew it fresh in a special clay pot called Jabena. A sip was all that was needed to transform me into a different world altogether.

All in all, an excellent experience. And ever since, we have been frequent visitors of the restaurant.