Coconut milk in an Indian dal recipe, you say? Trust me, I haven’t enjoyed dal this much in ages…. this was delicious.

Source: Vij’s at Home: Relax Honey

Serving: 6 to 8

Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup dried moong beans, washed and drained

1/3 cup cooking oil

1 tbsp cumin seeds

3 tbsp garlic, chopped

2 cups tomatoes, pureed

2 tbsp ginger, chopped

2tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp salt

1/2 tbsp chili powder

3 to 5 cups water

2 cups coconut milk

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Method:

Heat oil in a medium pot on medium high heat for one minute.  Add cumin seeds and allow them to sizzle for 45 seconds or so, until they start to turn darker brown. Add garlic and saute for a minute or so, until they start to brown but do not let them burn. Stir in the tomato puree, then ginger, coriander powder, turmeric, salt and chili powder. Stir and saute the masala until the oil starts to glisten, about 5 minutes. Add 3 cups of water and the moong beans, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover and cook for 30 minutes, until the dal is cooked through. Make sure to check on the dal while its cooking, stirring occasionally and adding water if it gets too dry.

Once the dal is cooked, add the coconut milk making sure to stir it well into the dal, then increase the heat to medium high. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat. If you want the dal to be thicker you can continue to simmer it on medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and serve while hot.

Bengalis usually prepare this on special occasions or for Sunday lunch when the whole family gets together. The curry is meant to be had with ‘luchi’ or the Bengali flatbread made with flour. This is one of my all time favorite food items and will always bring back fond childhood memories.If goat is hard to come by in your neck of the woods, you could use lamb instead.

Servings: 4

Source: My friend Tush and Ma

2 pounds goat meat cut into chunky cubes

2/3 cup yogurt

3 small onions, chopped

6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/3 inch ginger, chopped

4 to 5 chilies, chopped

1 to 2 sticks of cinnamon

3 cloves

3 to 4 green cardamom

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

3 tomatoes, pureed (about 3/4 cup)

Method

Blend the yogurt, onion, garlic, ginger and chilies into a fine paste. Marinate the goat in half of this paste for a minimum of 4 hours. Set the rest of the paste aside.

Once the meat has been adequately marinated, heat oil in a saucepan.  Add the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and cumin seeds. Let it sizzle for a few seconds, then add the rest of the onion paste.  Mix thoroughly and continue to cook till the onion starts to brown and oil starts to separate from the paste. The mix should also reduce and start to shrink. Add the pureed tomatoes, mix and continue to cook till the mix starts to turn into a dark coagulated paste with no excess moisture.  This whole process will take at least 30 to 45minutes.

Add the goat pieces to the onion-tomato paste and continue to cook over low heat for about 1.5-2 hours till the meat is tenderized. It should not be stringy but at the same time make sure not to overcook it such that it completely falls apart. You also want to make sure you have enough curry, so add water as you go along so that the goat and the paste does not dry up. You are making curry afterall!

Alternately, you may wish to make the whole thing in a pressure cooker. Cook the spices, onions and tomatoes the same way, just in the pressure cooker. Then add the goat, sufficient water and cook the meat on low heat for about 3 whistles. After that, turn off the flame and let the cooker cool completely before you open it. If the meat is not done yet or if there is too much water (too runny), cook again, this time with the cooker open, on low flame till you get a consistency you are happy with.

You can add some chopped cilantro as garnish if you like. Serve with rice or roti.

Source: Sanjeev Kapoor

Time: 30 to 40 minutes

Serving: 4 (or 6 if serving dal or other dish)

INGREDIENTS:

40 baby potatoes

1 cup cilantro, chopped

¼ cup mint leaves, chopped (optional)

4-5 green chilies, chopped

2 inch ginger, minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 lemon (large), juiced

2 teaspoons, cumin seeds

2 teaspoons, coriander powder

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ cup yogurt

¼ teaspoon garam masala powder

1 teaspoon sesame seeds (optional)

Salt, to taste

METHOD:

Boil the potatoes  (ideally in a pressure cooker) with some salt in the water. Drain and cool. Halve them without peeling.

For the chutney, grind together cilantro, mint leaves, green chillies, ginger and garlic to make a fine paste. Add lemon juice and mix. Heat oil a non stick pan or a wok. Add cumin seeds and saute for a few seconds till it starts to change colour. Add coriander powder, turmeric powder and mix well for a few seconds. Add green chutney and mix. Add potatoes, yogurt, salt and mix. Cover and cook on medium heat for eight to ten minutes. Add garam masala powder and mix. Dry roast sesame seeds and sprinkle over the potatoes. Serve hot.

NOTES:

I have posted this recipe the way I made it, which was a slightly modified version of Mr. Kapoor’s. SK adds 1/4 cup of mint leaves to the chutney. I did not have any mint leaves at hand, so I threw in some extra cilantro (which I do not account for in the measurements). Also, he does not use any oil while cooking, choosing instead to dry roast the cumin seeds, coriander powder and turmeric powder.  I did not realize I was not supposed to put oil in the pan till I started to post this recipe! Anyway, mine turned out really well so perhaps it is a good thing I do not read recipes very carefully

We frequently experiment with vegetables we have never cooked with before, and more often than not, we love it! Here is one of our success stories. This is an Andhra style preparation I believe.
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Source:Adit’s Laboratory
Prep Time:10-30 Minutes
Servings:4

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