Gujarati Dal Dhokli - Roti in Lentil Soup

Gujarati Dal Dhokli   

Serves 6

Time 25 mins

INGREDIENTS

250 g Tur dal,
200 g wheat flour,
3 green chillies
3 tbsp green chilli paste
50 g groundnut (Shing)
1 tbsp Turmeric powder
1 tbsp Mustard seeds,
3-4 cloves garlic
2 small pieces of cinnamon,
2 tomatoes
1 tbsp Tamarind
Salt To Taste
1 tbsp Garam masala
1/4 tbsp (Ajwain)  Bishops Weed
2 tbsp Oil,
2 tbsp Red chili powder
A pinch of Asafeotida
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
2 tbsp. Ghee.

Sift wheat flour, add salt, turmeric powder, ajwain, and red chilli powder and mix well. Add oil and mix into the flour then knead into dough of roti like consistency. Set aside.

Wash Toor dal and pressure cook it for three whistles. Allow to cool.
Heat the oil and ghee in a pot, add the cloves, cinnamon and mustard seeds. When they crackle add the curry leaves, green chillies and a pinch of asafoetida. Pour this tempering over the Toor dal.

In a bowl mix tamarind and brown sugar water, groundnut, garam masala and the red chilli powder and mix well. Add the tomato pulp, turmeric powder, salt and 2 cups of water. Bring the Dal to a boil.

In the meanwhile roll out big rotis and cut them into diamond shapes, and add to the boiling dal. Boil for 10 minutes and remove from flame. Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve immediately with finely chopped onion, wedges of lime and Ghee.

Winter Warmes - Vegetable Chowder

Winter is upon us and Rushina's got some suggestions for you. "There's nothing like a nice hot chowder to keep you warm in the winter, but more so this dish get all the vegetables you need too."

Ingredients1 tbs. butter
2 cups chopped onion
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. salt
½ tsp. thyme
2 tsp. basil
1 medium potato, diced
2 medium stalks celery, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 cups chopped broccoli
2 cups chopped cauliflower
½ lb. mushrooms chopped
2 cups fresh golden corn
Lots of fresh black pepper
1.5 cups water
250 ml milk

MethodMelt the butter in a pan or a wok. Add onion, half the garlic, salt, thyme and basil. Sauté over medium heat 2 minutes. Add potato, celery, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. Sauté another 5 to 8 minutes.
Add mushrooms and corn, and lots of black pepper. Sauté another 8 to 10 minutes.
Add water, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes until everything is tender. Do make sure that the potatoes are done.
Stir in hot milk and remaining garlic. Remove from heat until about 10 minutes before serving times, then heat gently. Serve topped with freshly minced herbs.

Vegetable or Seafood Tempura

Another tea time snack or a starter for your meal.

Tempura's are a lot like Indian Pakora's or bhajiyas. while the batter might differ in different cusines, the concept itsimilar....
Fried dumplings, tempuras or pakora's the basics are the same..

Ingredients:
   - 1 egg
   - 1 cup ice water
   - 1 cup all purpose flour
   - Vegetable oil to deep fry
   - Assorted vegetables cut into batons and/or seafood like shrimp or
   prawns
Method: Beat an egg in a bowl. Add ice water in the bowl. Be sure to use very cold
water. Add sifted flour in the bowl and mix lightly. Be careful not to over
mix the batter.

Heat oil in a wok. Lightly dip the vegetables/seafood in the batter and deep
fry immediately till crisp. Drain on kitchen towel. Serve hot with salt or a
light dipping sauce.

Moong Dal Wada

A perfect accompaniment with you hot cup of tea.
Ingredients:

300 gms Moong Dal and 2 tbsp Udad dal, soaked for 3 hours
Ginger Green chili paste, as per preference
Salt
A pinch of Turmeric
Oil for frying

Method:

Drain out all water from the dal. Grind in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients. Make a thick batter. Add water teaspoon at a time only if required. Remove in a bowl and beat well to incorporate air.

Heat oil in a pan. Drop small bite sized dumplings by hand or a small spoon and deep fry till golden and crisp. Remove and drain on paper. Serve hot with green chillies and thin strips of onion and green chutney.

Silken Tofu

  Tea Snacks... Silken Tofu to go with Chinese Tea.  

Ingredients
1 block Silken tofu
Mix of plain flour and cornflour in the ratio of 1:1
Oil to fry
Sichuan Pepper & Salt
Spring onion leaves
Method:Drain tofu and wash well. Cut into cubes and coat with flour. Meanwhile heat oil in a pan. Deep fry till golden brown. Remove and drain on paper.
Sprinkle with pepper and salt.Garnish with spring onion leaves. Can serve with chilli or any other oriental dipping sauce sauce.

TURKISH TEA (CAY) WITH ICLI KOFTE

Going with our theme of Tea/Chai from last week here a Turkish snack to go with it. You can also use this as a starter for your meal, or to have with a drink.

Ingredients

   - 700 grams minced meat
   - salt to taste
   - 300 grams fine bulgur (cracked wheat)
   - pepper
   - 1 egg 50 grams crushed walnuts
   - 1 teaspoon cumin
   - 20 grams pine nuts
   - 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
   - 20 grams currants
   - 1 bunch parsley
   - 3 onions
   - 20 grams margarine
   - 220 grams vegetable oil

Method

Boil bulgur in plenty of water until soft. Drain and set aside. Melt margarine and lightly brown chopped onions and pine nuts. Add 350 grams of meat and saute until juices evaporate. Remove from heat. Add pepper, salt, cumin, crushed walnuts, currants and chopped parsley. Mix. In a large bowl, combine the remainder of meat with the bulgur. Add cayenne pepper and egg.

Mix and knead well. Take a large walnut sized piece of mixture and roll into a ball. With index finger, make a hole and push the inside, making a large cavity. Stuff the cavity with the meat mixture,press hole with fingers to close. Lightly press meatball in palm of hand to shape like an egg. Repeat procedure, making as many meatballs as possible. Add meatballs to salted boiling water and boil for 5 minutes. Remove and drain on absorbent paper. Heat oil in frying pan and lightly fry meatballs until golden brown. Drain and serve.
 

Chai - Indian Masala Tea



Masala Trails - Chai



A recipe for Chai from Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal's soon to be released food memoir on Mumbai "My Mumbai Cookbook"

Moti Mummy's house blend for Chai masala

We usually make a batch of chai masala and store it in an airtight jar to last a couple of months. It makes brewing that cup of tea whenever required, that much faster, convenient on rainy days, when the craving strikes more often. This mix is good for relieving the aches and pains of colds, coughs, flu and fevers.

Ingredients

200 g Saunth (Dried Ginger)

200 g cardamom

100 g Black pepper

50 g Clove

50 g Cinnamon

2 pcs Nutmeg

8 Bay leaves

Method

Dry all the ingredients in the sun or in a low temp oven for 2 hours to ensure no moisture is left. Grind each spice individually in a dry grinder or coffee grinder. Strain out larger pieces with a fine sieve and grind again. Combine all the powdered spices and mix well. Transfer to an airtight jar to store. 

Munshaw House Chai

On days when life gets a little difficult to handle and I want a c of comfort, I go back to the way masalla chai was made in my mother's house, reliving each time that special day when my mother taught me how to make tea.

Serves 4, Time: 10 mins

2 cs/320ml water

2 cs /320ml milk

½ inch/5g piece fresh ginger coarsely pounded

1 – 2 leaves lemongrass cut into segments

10 – 12 mint leaves

4 /2g cardamom pods pounded

4 tsp/20g sugar (optional and to taste)

¼ tsp Chai masala (or to taste)

4 tsp tea leaves

Method

Combine water and milk in a saucepan deep enough to prevent boiling over. Add, lemongrass, mint, sugar, chai masala cardamom and ginger and bring to a boil. Lower the flame, and add tea leaves. Be careful, because when the tea leaves go in the concoction tends to rise and can overflow. Raise flame and allow to boil. When tea boils, it will begin to rise, lower flame and it will settle. Raise flame and allow to rise, the lower and leave on simmer. When the tea rises again, take saucepan off the flame, once it settles return to flame. When it rises again, switch of flame, strain into cups and serve.

Spice Factory - Chilli Potatoes

Chillies: Spicy is a word synonymous with Indian cuisine. But chillies only came to us in India in the 17^th century with the advent of the Portugese. For an ingredient that entered our cuisine so late, it has managed to make itself irreplaceable. Today chillies are extensively used and every region in India has a different variety of chillies. In India chillies are used in all their avatars from fresh and green to ripe red and dried crimson. Green chillies are used for chutneys, salads and vegetables and the dried red varieties are used popularly in the tadkas and to add heat. Red chilli powder is undoubtedly the most used spice in Indian cooking. But Chillies are used for their heat.

Chilli Potatoes

(Preparation Time: 20 minutes; serves: 4)

Ingredients: 4-5 potatoes-par-boiled with jackets, peeled and cut into chunks or you can cut them into chunks and deep fry them. ½ cup water or stock Salt to taste 1 tbsp oil 2 tbsp of the Thencha Chopped Cilantro to garnish

Method:Heat the oil in a pan. Add the Thencha and sauté for 30 second. Add the stock to break up paste into a sauce. Add salt. Add the potatoes and toss them well until they are coated with the chilli garlic oil Taste and adjust seasoning if required. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and stir fry for about 5 minutes till the potatoes are done and their jackets are crisp.

Spice Factory - Maharashtrian Mirchi Thecha

Chillies: Spicy is a word synonymous with Indian cuisine. But chillies only came to us in India in the 17^th century with the advent of the Portugese. For an ingredient that entered our cuisine so late, it has managed to make itself irreplaceable. Today chillies are extensively used and every region in India has a different variety of chillies. In India chillies are used in all their avatars from fresh and green to ripe red and dried crimson. Green chillies are used for chutneys, salads and vegetables and the dried red varieties are used popularly in the tadkas and to add heat. Red chilli powder is undoubtedly the most used spice in Indian cooking. But Chillies are used for their heat.

Maharashtrian Mirchi Thecha

 (Preparation Time: 15 minutes; Makes: 1 cup)

Thencha (meaning pounded) is a condiment called so due to its method of preparation made from pounding slightly charred fresh chillies and garlic pounded together to form a coarse paste. The smoky flavour from the roasting adds to the heat of the chillies and the aroma of the garlic. This is a mild version using capsicums for the green chilli flavour and a few green chillies for heat.

“Zhanzhanit”- meaning electrifyingly spicy in Marathi (a regional language) is an exclusive word used for chilli preparations, mostly the ones that are so hot that it makes one cry while eating.

Ingredients: 3-4 capsicums 6-10 hot spicy Green chillies 12 cloves of Garlic, peeled Salt Oil

Method:

In a small baking tray, place Capsicums, chillies and garlic pods. Drizzle with Olive oil and roast Roast them uniformly on all sides till you see brown black spots over them. Place capsicums in a paper bag to sweat off the skins, peel and reserve. (If you are using the green chillies available, peel them too. If using spicy Thai or Indian green chillies , those can’t be peeled. Place peeled capsicums, chillies and garlic in a mortar and pestle or blender and process to a coarse paste. Roast them uniformly on all sides till you see brown black spots over them. Thecha can be stored for 4-5 days in the refrigerator.

Buttermilk (Chaas) with Cumin

Cumin: Cumin is usually used both as whole seed or roasted and ground into most dals, curry dishes and vegetables. Not only is it one of the prolifically used spices, it is also an important one because it aids in digestion. It has a slightly bitter and nutty taste and a distinct strong and warm aroma. It helps to add an earthy and warming feeling to cooking, making it a staple in certain stews and soups, as well as curries and chilli.

Buttermilk (Chaas) with Cumin


Watch the Cooking Demo for this recipe here

(Preparation time: 5 minutes; cooking time: 2 minutes; makes 4 glasses)

Mattha or spiced buttermilk is a savoury drink drunk all over India. With a hint of spices and fresh herbs, this refreshing drink is very healthy and aids in digestion. Sit back, relax and enjoy every sip of this cool concoction!

Ingredients: 3 cups Greek yoghurt 1 cups water ½ tsp salt or to taste ½ tsp toasted Cumin powder ½ tsp Green chilli-ginger paste 1 tsp fresh mint leaves-chopped Salt to taste

For the tempering: 1 tsp Ghee/Grapeseed oil ½ tsp cumin seeds ½ tsp garlic chopped ¼ tsp green chillies For the Garnish 1 tbsp chopped cilantro

Method:

Whisk the yoghurt with the water until it is smooth. Add the cumin powder, green chilli-ginger paste and salt and mix well. To temper the chaas, heat the oil/ghee, add the cumin seeds and garlic. When the garlic becomes golden add chillies. Allow chillies to crisp up and pour the tempering over the buttermilk. Serve garnished with chopped coriander.

Buttermilk braised Garlicky Yoghurt Chicken

Cumin: Cumin is usually used both as whole seed or roasted and ground into most dals, curry dishes and vegetables. Not only is it one of the prolifically used spices, it is also an important one because it aids in digestion. It has a slightly bitter and nutty taste and a distinct strong and warm aroma. It helps to add an earthy and warming feeling to cooking, making it a staple in certain stews and soups, as well as curries and chilli

Buttermilk braised Garlicky Yogurt Chicken

(Preparation Time: 30 minutes; Serves: 4)

Watch the Cooking Demo for this recipe here

Ingredients: 500g boneless chicken breasts but to bitesize 1 1/2 cups Greek yoghurt 1 cup water 1 tsp salt or to taste 1 tsp toasted Cumin powder ½ tsp Green chilli paste 1 tsp ginger grated 1 tsp fresh mint leaves-chopped Salt to taste 1 tbsp cornflour dissolved into a paste in a little water.

For the tempering: 1 tbsp Ghee/Grapeseed oil ½ tsp cumin seeds 2 tbsp garlic chopped 1/2 tsp green chillies, chopped For the Garnish 1 tbsp chopped cilantro

Method:

Whisk the yoghurt with the water until it becomes smooth.  Add the cumin powder, green chilli paste, grated ginger and salt and mix well. Add water and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Temper the yoghurt mixture; heat the ghee and add cumin seeds. When the cumin sarkens and gets aromatic add the garlic. When garlic starts getting golden at the edges, add chillies. Allow the chillies to fry until they begin to darken but not burn. Pour this flavoured ghee over the buttermilk.

Add the prepared cleaned chicken to the buttermilk mixture. Place on a slow flame and cook slowly, stirring often. Keep cooking until the chicken pieces have turned opaque. Strain out chicken and transfer to a large pan. Leave yoghurt liquid to simmer. Cook slowly using some of the yoghurt liquid left in the other pan to baste chicken.  

Meanwhile add the cornflour paste to the simmering yoghurt liquid and stir in well. It will thicken quickly to the consistency of a béchamel sauce. When chicken begins to get golden brown and crisping at the edges return to yoghurt sauce and stir well to coat. Scatter with Mint leaves and serve with Crusty bread and a green salad. 

A Spice tour of Mumbai for James Ransome of the Spicery, UK

What I love most about my Masala Meanders of Mumbai, is the chance to show people around this city that I love while gabbing on endlessly about its colourful culture and fabulous food options. So when James Ransome dropped me a line via the Masala Trails website, asking if there was a tour he could join between 27-31 Dec, I just could not say no, even though we’d switched off for the holidays. I shook off the Christmas stupor that was making me lazy and I am SO GLAD I did, because it turned out to be a lovely tour with fascinating company! At first I was going to do a normal tour but when James emailed me details about himself, I reworked my plans.

It turned out that James Ransome is the head Spicer-owner of The Spicery a charming extremely romantic old world sounding shop in the UK that sells spices, freshly ground seasonal spice blends, spiceboxes, Recipe kits and some interesting spicy bits and pieces such as the very clever easy reach magnetic spice rack (could I have two in blue please, thanks very much!).

The spicery is inspired by an almost obsolete concept, the spicery of medieval England. The spicery was a sub office or section of the kitchen that existed alongside other offices of the kitchen, such as the saucery and the scullery in affluent households. The Spicery, overseen by a spicerer was responsible for spices measured out for use in food and medication as well as being the repository of what was then an extremely expensive commodity at the time.

With Masala trails, even the routine ones, we try to tweak our tours to what we feel our guests will be most interested. Sometimes this happens on meeting them, with us toning the content of our tours based on their knowledge of Indian food and/or their areas of interest. In James’ case, things were a little different. He’d worked as a chef in some of the top restaurants of UK and Australia AND travelled extensively around India and South-East Asia so he was already very well versed in spices although not so clued into the regional cooking of Mumbai. He’d also written to say that he was looking for some ‘recommendations and insight into the best street food and regional foods, the ingredients used in them and particularly the spices.’

A tall order at the best of times, but even more difficult to fit into the time frame of 3-4 hours I had. So I decided to focus on a small introduction to Mumbai food, highlighting some of the lesser known community cuisines; Gujarati, Parsi, East Indian, Irani, over lunch at Soam, where we sampled street food and some classics of Gujarati Cuisine such as Undhiyu which along with Shrikhand and Mohanthal blew James away. And then we were off on a Spice tour of Mumbai. We did a quick market walk through Bhajji Galli, with a focus on fresh spices; it is the perfect time for such a tour because a lot of fresh spices are in season currently; green peppercorns, green garlic, fresh turmeric, fresh anise. Bhajji Galli, as usual was a riot of produce. I have been back every second week because on Masala Trails and I swear it has been getting greener as the winter progressed. It was hard to leave without picking up a few things but we had lots to do so I resisted temptaion for once.

We headed on to Motilal Masalawall the source for all things spice, but most importantly for Parsi ingredients such as Motilals Dhansak Masala and Kolahs vinegar, the sugarcane vinegar that lends its intrinsic earthy sweet-sour flavour to Parsi Cuisine. At the end of the visit, we moved on to Mirchi gali and Achar gali at Lalbaug. As soon as we were in the car, I brought out the bag full of spices I had packed for James from my personal cache, with the objective of giving him as much information as possible. As we drove on, I gave James a rundown on each little newspaper wrapped offering; East Indian Bottle Masala I had made with a friend in Vasai, Triphal from Goa, India’s version of Sichuan Peppercorn, Limoo Omani, the dried limes that were so important to Irani cuisine, and Zaresht berries, the sour little rubies of the legendary Berry Polov. Before we could say Chilli we were at Mirchi galli. This is an area hard to miss when one drives by.

Mirchi gali literally Chilli street, is perpendicular to Chivda galli and Achar Gali. Chivdas are snack time merry mixes that blend things like beaten rice, chickpea flour grits, peanuts, raisins, spices and all sorts of things. They come in a variety of blends and Chivda Gali has a dwindling number of shops that still make these. Achar means pickle and yes, you guessed it Achar Gali is where you will find pickle shops that do Maharashtrian style pickles, spice powders and spice blends.

Mirchi Gali is probably the only place in urban Mumbai where you will see piles and piles of chillies as far as the eye can see. Walking through some of my favourite shops, I showed James the different chillies displayed; Wrinkled Kashmiri chillies valued for the color they imparted to Indian food, spicy Bedgi chillies and fiery Pandi chillies from Andhra. Local Sankeshwari chillies were still to come into season. We also looked at some lesser known spices such as the Kebabchini (allspice which James said was more like Cubeb pepper – a debate for another day) and Nagkesar. We also saw the difference between Asafeotida of different levels of purity. All too soon it was time for us to part ways. I had to get home to the kids and Christmas preperations. So off we went, James suitably armed with a list of places to try out.

I made James buy Dhansak Masala and Kolahs Vinegar with a promise to send him the recipe. I will be posting that next so be sure to come have a look at that as well when I do. Also just so you know we have a Masala Meanders Gujerat nu Jaman tour coming up on the 15th which is a Winter special. Winter is the season of plenty in Gujarat with fields of ripening produce stretching endlessly before one’s eyes. Everywhere there is an abundance of the freshest, sweetest, offerings and this months tour focuses on the Gujarati Winter Menu in keeping with the seasonality of the Gujerati diet, the tour focuses on Undhiyu the legendary winter special and another delicacy from Surat that graces our tables ever so briefly for a few weeks each year… Paunk… tender green Jowar (Sorghum millet). Its a one off, and there are ONLY 10 openings! Call +91 22 40418888 to book.

Soam with a view of the Babulnath Temple accross the street.

Undhiyu, Puri and decaden Mohanthal

Mohanthal is usually set in plates and cut into diamonds. But at Soam it is served freshly made and still molten.

Fresh Mango Ginger and Turmeric, which we pickle in the Gujaratis - julienne or slice in equal amounts place in a wide mouthed bottle with a few slit green chillies and salt and douse with juice of a few lemons. Ready in 2 hours and lasts weeks in the fridge. I recoment it with Green Thai Curry!

A little Indian 'Spicery'. I wanted James to see this. A lot of people choose to buy small amounts of spices as the need them and shops like these sell ready blends of whole spices, spice powders, pickles and chutneys.

Single serve pkts of Garam Masala.

Bhajji Galli in its Christmas Avatar. I love this market because it is so friendly and cosmopolitan.

Chillies as far as the eye can see!

Mirchi Galli

Bedgi Chillies

Spices on display!

Kebab Chini - Allspice or Cubeb Pepper?

Nagkesar

Dried whole turmeric

One of the shops in Achar Galli

Head Spicerer James Ransome of The Spicery UK at a local 'Spicery' Motilal Masalawalla

James gets a sniff of the Earthy Dagad Phool or stone flower a fungus that is intrinsic to Malvani Masala.