Restaurant style Daal Makhni (Instant Pot Method)

It's October, we are almost 7 months from the time the world shut down, almost. Slowly the scare of covid is lessening. I don't know if it is a good thing. I still see the numbers going up and yet people seem to care less. 

That said, I do go into grocery stores and get what I want when the order isn't large enough for a curb side pick up and take care that I maintain a *very* safe distance from people. Specially those who pretend to wear a mask where their nose is not covered, the mask hangs down to under their chins. That's not the point folks! That's like when you see those aggravating men wearing jeans that are sitting near their knees leaving their underwear exposed, waddling uncomfortably, under the delusion they look cool. You want to poke them, sharpish, in the spine with a strong walking stick and whack their bottom and ask them to pull up their pants, even a toddler knows better. Ditto for the masks.

We still stick to our choice of being online where school is concerned. People have scoffed at this choice, but my logic is clear, in 30 years from now, no one will ask my son his scores in grade seven. It is more important for me to keep him safe, that is my priority. Our school opened and shut down in the first 2 weeks with a wave of positive cases (15+). A chill seeped into my heart, friends and coworkers were suffering, there was nothing I could do. I could have been in their position and exposed my family to covid too.

When will we be able to step out without fear, feel normal, go to a restaurant occasionally...? I see people thronging outside restaurants, no masks  and any thoughts I had about eating out vanish. I'm ok.  I prefer cooking at home, even if the boys miss going to a restaurant, specially when they feel like eating chicken (only because I haven't the guts to handle any kind of meat) and I cannot make any. They did get take out, it was unavoidable, the craving was too strong. They were happy while I had silent fits. I watched them anxiously over the next 2 weeks. All was well. Phew! 

Being vegetarian, my cravings are simpler and easy to satisfy at home.  

Every few years I review old recipes and see if I can tweak anything and make some changes. 

Today I decided to revisit  my old Daal Makhni recipe.  I saw a video of Chef Ranveer Brar making Daal Makhni. I like his recipes and how he explains everything, but this recipe had way too much butter for me to want to make it. I just could not... (but I did try another RB recipe with great success! coming up next).

Then I watched this video and the the ingredients were similar and I immediately wanted to try it. But in my Electric Pressure Cooker, similar to the Instant Pot.

The end result was a deliciously creamy Daal Makhni ( without the cream as I did not have any and I did not want to step out to buy just the one item), the Daal would taste better with it, no doubt, but the very fact that we overate was proof that I have a winner on my hands! 

 

Whole Black Urad and Rajma

                  

Recipe adapted from : BharatzKitchen

 1 cup Whole Black Urad daal

1/4 cup Rajma/ Kidney beans

3 medium Tomatoes

1 medium Onion

4-5 fat Garlic cloves

1 inch Ginger

2 Fresh Green Chilies

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1tsp Kashmiri Red chilies powder

2-3 Tbsp Oil

3-4 Cloves /Lavang

1 inch piece Cinnamon /Dalchini 

1 Bay leaf/ Tejpatta

1 Black Cardamom /Badi Elaichi

2 tsp Coriander powder / Dhaniya powder

1 tsp Amchur powder

1/2 tsp Ginger powder

1/2 tsp Garam Masala

1 Tbsp KasuriMethi

4 Tbsp Butter

Salt to Taste

Cream 

Serve with that 'little extra' butter cube on top, you won't regret it! 

Wash and soak the beans in plenty of water for at least 8 hours or over night. Discard the soaking water and rinse the beans, scrubbing them a little. You will notice that the water becomes black, this is what you want. Discard the water, Repeat again , once. 

Set the beans aside and  start prepping for the next step.

Finely chop the onion. 

In the blender jar add the garlic, ginger, green chilies and roughly chopped tomatoes. Blend to a smooth puree and set aside. Add 1/4 cup water to the blender jar and swill around  and get all the puree out. Add this water to the tomato puree.

In  a small bowl, mix the dry spices (coriander powder, amchur powder, dry ginger powder- also called saunth/sounth and garam masala) 

Start the Instant Pot / Electric Pressure cooker on Sear/ Sauté mode. Add oil. once the oil is hot, add the whole spices (cinnamon, cloves, black cardamom and bay leaf). Once the spices are aromatic, add the finely chopped onion. Sauté till the onion is cooked. Add the tomato-ginger-garlic-chilies puree. stir and cook. Add salt to taste mix and let the tomatoes cook till oil seeps at the corners. Add the turmeric and Kashmiri red chilies powder and mix.

Add the dry spices, mix  well. 

Add the beans and stir to coat the beans in the tomato mixture. Add water (I did not measure, added enough to cover the beans and a little over the top). Add crushed Kasuri Methi.

Cancel the sauté mode,  put the lid on the IP/ EPC and whistle on seal.

Cook on Manual mode for 30 minutes, Natural Pressure Release. 

Once the pin drops and the IP /EPC can be opened, add butter cubes and stir. 

Add cream and stir it in. 

Serve with buttery naan or Cumin Rice. 

Serve with mildly spiced Cumin Rice or Buttery Naan, this daal is a winner.

NOTES: 

• Adding Butter will make this daal taste better, if you are not calorie conscious, go for it! 
• The daal re-heats beautifully. 
• Serve with Fragrant Basmati rice (plain or cumin scented). 
• If you like your daal hot, add a spicy blend of red chilies powder and  a fresh green chili. 
• You can add water and adjust the consistency, I kept it chunky and thick because it was easy to scoop with a naan.  

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Finding comfort in a bowl of Rajma Curry

Over a decade ago, one very homesick Delhiite frowned and curled her lip in disdain and declared that Mumbai did not have good food. Pshaw!
And one very surprised Mumbai girl shook here head, vigorously, as if to stop the words from ringing in her ears. Forgive her Lord, she knows not.....
Thus began a quest for 'good food' in Mumbai.


To a Mumbaiite, it seems impossible that someone can make such a bold statement, but I guess one has to make allowances for homesickness and especially, when that person is your best friend.
We began on a quest, we had to find 'good food ' for this home-sick Delhi Girl. We went to various restaurants and experimented with different Choley Bhature, Chana Masala and the like, nothing seemed to get a thumbs up from her. There wasn't even a whiff of a Rajma Chawal or Kala Chana-Chawal on the menu, then, and the poor Girl longed for the comfort food she grew up on. I was at a loss, I had never eaten Rajma- Chawal, my comfort food varied so much from hers. And then, one day, we found this small cafe, tucked away in Vashi ( New Bombay or Navi Mumbai as it is now called) Chaat Cafe. It was bright colorful and inviting. The menu to our delight, had ALL the items a home-sick Delhiite wanted needed. That day, was the first time I tasted Rajma- Chawal. Okay, so I will admit it here, I was not too excited about it, I had ordered me a good ol' chaat platter , the chaat addict that I was (and still am). But we girls loved to share and  a forkful of the  Rajma- Chawal was good enough to convince me why the room suddenly lit up as if,with a 1000 watt bulb! It was my friend's happy face. She had found her comfort food, at last. Needless to say, that was the joint we haunted in sickness and in health.
I haven't been to Chaat Cafe in years, even when I was in India. The magic was when 2 BFF's  went there and made memories.


Today we are far away from each other, separated by time and distance, by a domestic routine so demanding that even a conversation is difficult. And today, I find comfort in Rajma-chawal, just like a very home-sick Delhi Girl once did.


Serves 4-6


1 Cup Rajma / dark red Kidney Beans ( soaked overnight or 8 hours)
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp. Turmeric powder
3Tbsp. Oil
2 Bay Leaves
2 Black Cardamoms
3 medium Onions grated
2 tsp. Ginger paste
1/2 Green chili paste
1/4 tsp. Garlic paste
3/4 tsp Red chili powder
4 large Tomatoes (pureed)
1/2 tsp. Garam Masala
2 Tbsp. Cilantro chopped

Pressure cook the kidney beans with 4 1/2 cups water, salt and 1/4 tsp. turmeric to one whistle. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 mins. Turn off the heat.


Heat 3 tbsp. Oil in a pan for 30 seconds, add bay leaves, black cardamom, onions, ginger, green chili and garlic paste.


Fry until light golden brown. Add 3/4 tsp turmeric and red chili powder and mix well.


Add the pureed tomato and fry until oil separates


Add the cooked kidney beans along with the water and salt to taste, bring it to a boil.


Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes


Add the chopped cilantro leaves and Garam masala. Turn off the heat.


Serve hot over a mound of fluffy Basmati rice ( pickle and papad optional) for a complete meal.

*NOTES:  
I cut the quantity in half, used a can of Kidney Beans and 2 whole peeled tomatoes (Roma) that I blended with some  water.

I used less water than asked for, the resultant curry was  thicker and chunkier, more to my taste.

Ideally this curry is enjoyed when ladeled over hot rice, but we ( M and I) enjoy it with  breads as well ( roti / fulkas and in my case even with  a slice of crusty French Bread)

This memory got me thinking, what is 'good food'? What do you look for in good food? 

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An Honour! A Snack, A Friend's 'Easy' Recipe & A Break.......

I'm THRILLED!!! Happiness and Sunshine Everywhere!!! So MANY Good ... nay... GREAT things have happened!!
First... Delhibelle has very generously passed on an award to me (making me DROOOOOOL over her dessert recipe.. how I wish I could have a portion of that....) !! Thank U so much Dear!

Secondly... my Ma-in-law sent me some stuff I (badly) wanted and shamelessly asked for!!! Why shamelessly? M was TOTALLY against 'expanding the kitchen to the size of a 5 star hotel kitchen' and it was an additional load for my parents to cart all the way from India from January to mid May... SO!
My first act,within 30 mins of my Parents arrival was to make them snap open their bags and show me 'my loot' which my in-laws sent me and the other stuff Mom- Dad got for me! I had asked for a Medu Wada Maker ( Anjali brand). I had seen this waaaay back in Apna Bazar Co-operative stores in Bombay. I wanted this, only because I am an occasional victim to deep fried wadas and have tried in vain to make round-wadas-with-a-hole-in-them (otherwise they are not medu wadas) and convinced myself that 'this' was the only way I would be successful. So a couple of evenings ago, I finally got around to making medu wadas!
I basically used my wada recipe with the addition of 1/2 cup Yellow Moong Daal soaked with the urid daal to make the batter. And yes, I added the Soy chunks as well! To the batter I also added 1/2 inch grated ginger, 2 finely minced green chilies, 2 crushed peppercorns and 2 finely chopped curry leaves.
Heat oil, not upto the smoking point, in a wok / kadhai. To test how hot the oil is, drop a very small amount of batter in the oil and if the batter rises to the top, you are set. Add the batter to the medu wada maker and press the knob on the top, directly into the kadhai. Deep fry the wadas to a nice golden brown. The first 4 wadas... not so round.. but DEFINITELY Medu wadas!! and VERY crisp!!!
Aaahhhh!! MUCH better!!! The trick was to make the batter thickish (but with a blender that one gets here, that is not possible)
Dunk the wadas in sambar and serve hot with chutney!!
Some Chutneys that go very well with medu wada smabar :
Coconut chutney- Sailu's blog
Nandita's - Coconut Chutney
And my all time fav!!
We now come to making a hearty dinner! Last night , I wanted to make something 'nice' for my parents.. and something not from my blog, I have been re-trying many dishes once again , now that I have more than 1 to cook for! and a while ago my friend Ashwini, who likes to cook, has 2 adorable boys (the younger is a few months old), but is a bit hard pressed for time had e-mailed me her super easy recipe for Daal Makhani. But I got round to trying that just about now! Thank You, Ashwini! this is an easy recipe and yummy too!
For the Daal Makhani:
1 cup Whole Black Urid daal
2-3 tbsp Rajma / Kidney beans
1 small Onion chopped
1 Tomato chopped
1 tsp each Ginger and Garlic paste
1/2 tsp Red Chili powder
1 Green Chili
Salt to Taste
1/2 tsp Garam masala
Butter for tempering
Cream / Butter

Soak the Urid daal and Rajma in water for a minimum of 4 hrs. ( overnight is also fine). Pressure cook these with salt and red chilli powder (depends on your pressure cooker, in my new Pressure cooker it took only 3 whistles and on sim for 4 mins.)
Heat oil / butter in a wok / kadhai. Add onions and saute till brown and tender. Add the ginger-garlic paste. Saute till it does not smell raw. Add the tomatoes and cook until mushy and oil starts leaving the sides.
At this point add the daal and mix well. Add Garam Masala ( I dislike the 'too strong' smell of garam masala so I use it a bit sparingly)stir and give it one good boil. Check for salt, add if required.
Add fresh cream and serve hot with rice or roti. I substituted butter for cream.

I served the Daal Makhani with this absolutely marvellous and fragrant Ghee Rice !!And FINALLY... announcing a small break! I will take a small hiatus from blogging... to WELCOME a new member into my family!

I am due in a week now and so it's time to take a break, enjoy these last few days with M ( who is biting his nails to bits) and my parents and though at a great distance, my in-laws who are very anxious for me! I've had a grand time these 9 months and once I got over my 'cry-baby' days I loved every minute! Thank God I had no nausea or any aversion to any type of smell or food! Sadly, what did affect me was high sugar levels in my last trimester ( and hence the protein diet posts!) and I was on a severe diet and could only fantasize about food, not eat anything I wanted (fret...fret...fume..)! But all is well and it has helped me and the baby is safe (touchwood) !

Before I go however, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Nupur who when I disclosed to about my pregnancy, sent me a parcel of chikki and this awesome candy! I felt pampered when I ate these.. trust me, those first trimester days when hormones play havoc with the system, and no Mommy and Daddy to hold your hand and say 'there, there' and a confused, bewildered and 'lost' husband looking at you with sad eyes , just because the volcano of emotions erupted (yet again)... something like this is a life line and even if it is splashed with a few salty tears, it tastes like heaven!!
And Cynthia .. do I even need to say anything about this warm hearted person? She immediately sent me her recipe for cook up rice (with vegetarian options) which would help me in my protein intake, sadly, I could not try it out.. my Doctor banned rice TOTALLY! But, it is bookmarked and I will try it out the first opportunity I get!!

So see you all soon.... I will not be able to post for a while and may not be able to peep into your blogs.. but I will catch up as and when I can. Have a lovely weekend!!

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