Masoor dal tadka

Hello friends! My today's dish is very simple easy to make masoor dal tadka. We have many varieties of dal and many ways of making it. This dal is so easy to make that even a novice can cook it nicely. Masoor dal is nothing but split red lentils and the taste of this dal even making it plain is yummy. Try it and you would love to make again and again.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup masoor dal
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
• 2-3 green chillies
• 1 small piece of ginger
• 2-3 cloves garlic (optional)
• 1 small onion (optional)
• few sprigs of  curry patta
• 1 tsp turmeric powder/haldi powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 whole dry red chilli
• salt to taste
• juice of one lemon
• coriander leaves to garnish

Method:
Soak and boil the masoor dal and gently mash it. 
Finely chop onion and garlic pieces. Also chop green chillies.
In a big pan, heat ghee, add jeera, curry patta and let it splutter. Add onion, garlic and saute it till onion turns bit pinkish. Add green chillies,whole red chilli and stir it one time. Now add the boiled and mashed dal, Mix gently and add water accordingly to the consistency preferred. Add salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Bring to boil. Keep stirring or dal would stick to the vessel. Now dal is done. Remove from gas and put in the serving bowl. Add lemon juice to taste and ginger chopped finely and mix it one time. 

If you did not add  garlic onion in the beginning, use this step.
In one small pan  heat 1tbsp ghee, add jeera, curry patta and  the whole red chilli. Once it splutters nicely add direct to the ready dal.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rice, chapati or roti.

For variety, add chopped spinach once the dal is fully ready and let it boil just once.
 
Hope you liked this dish.

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Chana palak/ chick peas with spinach gravy

Hello all! Today's dish comprises of protein plus iron with chickpeas and spinach. Both rich in nutrients and this dish is made many ways. I chose to use spinach gravy for this. Years back when I was still a new bride and yet learning basics of cooking, I saw a programme on tv which showed how to cook chickpeas with spinach and I copied the whole thing by looking at the recipe but being a novice I doubled the quantity of masalas/spices making it too spicy to eat but still it was yummy. I did not attempt it again till yesterday when I recalled this dish. This time I kept the spice level in control and result was wow. It is so easy that even bachelors and novices can also cook this dish in jiffy.
Ingredients:

• 200gms chickpeas/chana
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 onion
• 1 tomato
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 small piece of ginger
• 3-4 green chillies
• a small pinch of asafoetida/hing
• 1 small piece of  cinnamon stick/dalchini
• 2-3 cloves/laung
• 1 small tejpatta
• 1tbsp red chilli powder
• 1tbsp coriander powder
• 1tbsp garam masala powder
• 1tsp turmeric powder
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2tbsp oil or ghee

Method:
Soak chickpeas overnight. Drain and boil them with little bit of salt. Keep aside. Chop the spinach, blanch and make puree out of it.  To get more taste I grated onion, tomato, garlic and ginger separately. In a pan heat oil, add cumin seeds, once it splutters add chopped green chillies. Add cloves, cinnamon stick, tej patta and saute it. Add hing and then add grated onions. Saute the onions but do not let them brown too much. Add grated ginger and garlic and saute till raw smell goes. Just be careful not to burn them. Finally add grated tomato and stir. Once oil separates, add boiled chana and little water. Cook for few minutes and then add spinach puree. Stir and add  the remaining masalas. Adjust the consistency of gravy. Watch out for salt as chana already had some salt. Once the gravy is cooked, serve it with garnish of your choice. I added onion rings on top. Chana palak can go very well with rice, chapati or pooris.

Hope you liked this dish.

Note: In place of spinach puree you can add chopped spinach and let it cook till it softens. 

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Mix vegetable curry in tomato gravy

Hello everyone! My today's recipe is easy and why? I am sure you all now the different ways to make gravy but this gravy I assure you that you don't need any extra pastes to make it thick or creamy or very heavy. This is simplified form of the tomato gravy. Lets cook this one now.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 tomatoes
• 1 cup of mix vegetables chopped ( I used carrot, capsicum, peas, beans, bottle gourd, cauliflower & potatoes)
• 1tsp jeera
• 1tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 1tsp turmeric
• salt to taste
• 2 green chillies
• 1tbsp oil
• 1 onion sliced
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 small piece of ginger chopped
• coriander leaves to garnish

Method:
 Boil tomatoes in little water and make puree out of it when cold. Keep aside. In a pan, heat oil and add jeera. Once jeera splutters add onion and saute it for 2-3 mins. Do not brown the onions. Add ginger and garlic and saute it for 1 min. Add green chilli chopped and then add all the vegetables in any order.  Add all masalas  and mix it well. Add some water to allow the vegetables to cook. Once half done add the tomato puree. Check the salt level here. Mix and cook till required consistency. Mix veg curry is ready and serve it hot garnished with coriander leaves. This gravy can be eaten with rice,poori or chapathi.. Enjoy cooking.

Notes: The above measurements are for representation purpose only. Adjust as per your requirements. 
I did not add any cashews or poppy paste or any paste here and kept it simple. Its easy and cooks fast. 

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