Fasting Dhal

 As I mentioned in my last post, it is a fasting week. I cooked a delicious, salty dhal that was intended to- and did  bust meat cravings. It is rich with butter and salty and no-one can complain that they are craving meat after eating this.

1 cup yellow lentils

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 tomato

1 large eggplant

1 small onion

1 teaspoon hing

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

½ teaspoon jeera

½ teaspoon garlic

1 teaspoon oil

1 tablespoon butter/ghee

Place washed lentils in a large pot of water and add turmeric powder. Allow to boil until lentils are softened and add diced tomato and eggplants. Add  a little more salt than you would usually use. I used a large handful. I always eyeball salt.  It comes to about a tablespoon. Cook  until soft. Thereafter, braise the dhal by heating oil in a pan, add the jeera and mustard seeds and cook for one minute and then add the onions and butter. Personally, I dont prefer the taste of ghee, but the butter gives it a rich texture and taste.  When the onions are brown add the garlic and cook for a minute and then combine this mixture into the lentils.

I served the dhal with curry and rice and salad. I ate it in a cup with a little curry added.  Yum.

Mushroom and Cabbages and Pepper on Sunday

Its fasting time – Ram Naumi, so I decided to make a feast.  I made cabbage and potato curry, mushrooms and roti.  There was also baked beans chutney with soya and some diced yellow pepper.

The picture is not so clear, but it was delicious.

Fried Mushrooms

1 teaspoon of oil

2 dried chillies

1 small onion

1 cup of mushrooms

Salt

Heat the oil in a large pan and then add the onions. I used  canola oil, there was no reason for that, it was just what I had. Both sunflower and olive oil will work for this recipe. Once the onions are heated through, add the dried chillies and cook until onions are golden brown.  Add the mushrooms, and a pinch of salt, cover the pan and allow to cook for 15 - 20 minutes. There is only a little oil in this dish but water from the mushrooms will prevent it from sticking or burning. You can cook for longer until the bottom layer of mushrooms are golden brown. This is very tasty but the healthier option is less cooking, of course.

 Cabbage and Potato Curry

1 tablespoon oil

1/4 teaspoon ginger and garlic, cruched.

small piece of cinnamon

1 clove

1 bay leaf

2 cups of cabbage (shredded) 

1 large potato (cut into 6 pieces)

1 medium onion

1 tablespoon of masala

1/2 green chillies

Fry onions, cinnamon, clove, bay leaf in oil until browned. Add garlic mix and fry for a minute, add masala and allow to cook for a minute. If the masala sticks of feels like it is burning, add water. If you want to avoid this, you could use more (much more) oil. Add the cabbage, potatoes, salt and green chillies. Allow to cook for 3 minutes or until potatoes are soft. This was a seriously hot curry, so you can leave out the cinnamon and clove and it will still taste good.

I just want to talk about masala for a bit. The success of your curry depends on the type of masala you are using. Some people prefer to mix their own, others buy pre-mixed masala. For now, I buy mine mixed but I am also experimenting to get my own unique blend that would work well with vegetarian dishes and meat dishes. I will share once I hit the right combination of spices.

For the roti, I used the recipe I already shared but added a small pinch of salt. I also toasted the roti on a higher heat, this allows the roti to puff up which makes it tastier.

I will post the baked beans recipe later.