DHABA STYLE DAL TADKA

It is Authentic Indian Dhaba Style Dal Tadka and one can find this dal at the roadside eateries lined up by the roads of India. This is very unique, flavourful and tasty Indian Dal Dish. Here we had boiled and cooked mix lentils with onion, tomato and spices and finally tempered with a flavourful tadka/ tempering. This recipe is one of the most popular dal recipes in Indian Restaurants. Every household as a favoruite dal and a special way of cooking it.  Even within households, people cook dal differently. There is no right or wrong way to make a dal- you can make it in one shot in the pressure cooker-without bothering with an extra tadka or you could slow cook it like the black dal usually is for a creamy consistency. This dal tadka is my hubby's most favourite recipe and can be relished with Indian Roti and Jeera Rice. Dal tadka and Tandoori roti is a staple food in Punjab and Haryana and typically served in most of the roadside dhabas.

INGREDIENTS:

For Making Dal:

¼ Cup Masoor Dal

¼ Cup Tuvar/ Arhar Dal

2 tablespoon Chana Dal

2 tablespoon Oil/ Ghee

1 teaspoon Shahi Jeera

7-8 Garlic Cloves, minced

2 “Ginger Piece

½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder

2 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder

1 teaspoon Coriander Powder

Salt to taste

2 small Onion, chopped finely

2 Tomatoes, finely chopped

2 Green Chillies, chopped

5-6 Kashmiri Chillies

1 tablespoon Coriander, chopped

For Tadka/ Tempering:

2 tablespoon Ghee

2 Dry Red Chillies

1 Onion, chopped

½ teaspoon Shahi Jeera

2 teaspoon Kashmiri Chilli Powder

Pinch of Asafoetida

1 tablespoon Coriander, chopped

METHOD:

For Making Dal:

STEP 1 – Wash and soak all the three dals for 30 minutes with 1 ½ Cup water, Salt and Turmeric Powder.

STEP 2 – After 30 minutes, pressure cook the dal for 3 whistles. Let it cool and then remove and keep aside.

STEP 3 – Soak dry red chillies with enough water for 1-2 hours. Then remove the seeds and blend to make a fine paste. Keep it aside. [see notes]

                                
STEP 4 – Heat oil/ ghee in a pan. Add shahi jeera and let it crackle.

                                  

STEP 5 – Add chopped onion and let it cook till translucent. Reserve some for second tempering.

STEP 6 – Now add chopped tomato, ginger-garlic paste and sauté and cook till mushy and soft.

                              

STEP 7 – Add red chilli paste/ red chilli powder, garam masala powder and mix it well. Cook for 1 minute.

STEP 8 – Then add turmeric powder, coriander powder, chopped green chillies and chopped coriander and give a nice stir.

STEP 9 – Now add cooked mix dal and mix it well. Add sufficient water [1/2 Cup] and give a nice mix. Check the salt and if needed add more.[see notes]

STEP 10 – Let the dal come to boil. Boil it for 2 minutes stirring occasionally.

STOP 11 – Now we need to make another tempering, so remove the dal from heat and keep aside.

For Making Tadka/Tempering:

STEP 1 – Heat ghee in a pan and crackle shahi jeera.

STEP 2 – Add chopped onion and dry red chilli and cook till onion vanishes its raw smell and turns a little brown.

STEP 3 – Then add asafoetida, red chilli powder and mix well. Switch off the flame immediately.

STEP 4 – Pour this tempering on the prepared dal. It will make a crackling noise. Cover and keep for few minutes and then serve.

STEP 5 - Garnish the dal with some chopped coriander.

                                    

Dal is ready to serve. Serve hot any Indian flatbread or steamed rice and enjoy.

NOTES: *If you don’t have red chillies then use regular red chilli powder while tempering.

                    *We have added salt while pressure cooking, so add if needed.

MANGO ICED TEA

Tea happened to be the most loved beverage in India and there are a variety of tea recipes from region to region. The tea is often enjoyed hot and for every occasion or may be just like that we Indians want a Chai for everything. As summer is here, time to quench your thirst with this super easy Mango Iced Tea. Believe me, it really hots the spot when you are looking for a tasty beverage during these summer months. Mango Iced tea is the perfect cold drink for summer. Mango iced tea is a chilled ice tea recipe with delicious flavours of mango and is perfect to serve during the summers to beat the scorching heat. 

INGREDIENTS:

2 Cups Water

1 teaspoon Tea Powder

2 tablespoon Sugar [adjust accordingly]

¾ Cup Mango Pulp

1 Small Lemon

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Add water to a sauce pan, heat it.

STEP 2 – Bring it to a rolling boil until it bubbles up nicely.

STEP 3 – Then add tea powder and boil it on medium flame for 2 minutes or until it gets nice brown colour.

STEP 4 – Filter it with a strainer.

                       

 STEP 5 – Add sugar according to your taste and mix well.

                                                                     

STEP 6 – Now keep it in refrigerator to cool completely until serving time.

                                        

STEP 7 – In a mixer pot, add mango pulp and pure it to a smooth paste.

STEP 8 – Take out the decoction from fridge and add lemon juice

                                                                   

and mango pulp and whisk it well.

                                                             

STEP 9 - Strain it with strainer if you don't like the fiberous texture.

                                                             

Give a nice mix.

                                    

STEP 10 - At the time of serving, put some ice cubes in individual glasses and pour the mango tea in it.

 Serve it chilled.

                                                    

KERALA MALABAR PAROTTA

Kerala, God’s own Country is a paradise of gastronomy. Cooking in Kerala is all about spices, aromas and textures. The cuisine is rather spicy and offers a large platter of opportunities for vegetarians as well as non-vegetarians. So Kerala is also known as “Land Of Spices”. Their food is served on a clean green banana leaf and eaten with one’s fingers traditionally. The most common Kerala foods include dishes of meat and vegetables accompanied by pickles. Kerala Parotta or Malabar Parotta is a unique parotta dish from Malayali cuisine. It is a layered paratha or flaky paratha made with refined flour. It is common street food in Southern India and it is served with vegetable kurma or coconut stew. It is very easy and simple to make in your own kitchen. It is a very famous bread in Kerala and Tamilnadu and even in Sri Lanka. My daughter went to Coimbatore in January 2020 for her college competition. She was there for almost 8-10 days and she ate this ghee roast kerala parotta almost daily. She loved it a lot and hence insisted me to make it. She was very delighted when I made it with ghee roast chicken as both are her favourites. Kerala Parotta is similar to North Indian Laccha Paratha in the way of rolling and making layers. The only difference comes in making the dough.  I made it without egg but the egg is to be added while making a dough which makes the parotta very soft. Here is the easy method of making Parotta at home. I hope you will definitely like it. Don’t forget to try and share your feedback below in the comment box. 

                                                                                                                   [makes 5-6 parotta]

                                                                                                                   [1 Cup= 240 ml]

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup Maida / All Purpose Flour

¼ Cup Sunflower/ Any Vegetable Oil for making dough and cooking

¼ teaspoon Baking Powder

½ teaspoon Salt [adjust according to your taste]

½ teaspoon Sugar

1/3 Cup Water

METHOD:

STEP 1 – In a bowl, mix maida, salt, sugar and 1 ½ tablespoon Oil and mix well.

STEP 2 – Add water in small batches and make a soft dough.

STEP 3 – Cover it with damp cloth and keep aside for 2 hours.

STEP 4 – After the rest, knead the dough again for 2-3 minutes. Now divide the dough in equal 5-6 portions and again cover and rest them for 5 more minutes.

STEP 5 – Now take 1 dough ball, flatten it and roll it into a small disc of 4-5 inch diameter.

STEP 6 – Transfer it on a plate and apply oil on the top of the rolled disc, keep them one on top of each other and keep applying oil on each disc. 

STEP 7 – Cover it with a plate/ bowl and rest the discs for 15- 20 minutes.

STEP 8 – Now, take one disc and place it on the platform. Roll it slightly and then pull the sides of the disc gently to form a large circle/ roti.

STEP 9 – Grease the parotta with some more oil and start creating plates by folding with the help of fingers.

                                        

STEP 10 – Begin to roll the plated dough like a swiss roll. Furthermore, secure the end by pressing it gently.

STEP 11 – Repeat with the rest of the discs. Place all the spirals on a plate/ bowl and cover it and rest for 5-6 minutes.

STEP 12 – Gently pat the spiraled dough with hand and spread the dough into 3-4 inch disc.

STEP 13 – Heat a dosa tawa/ non-stick tawa on low flame. Carefully, transfer the parotta on tawa.

STEP 14 – Cook for 1 minute on each side.

STEP 15 - Then apply a teaspoon of oil and cook the parotta for a couple of minutes on low flame.

STEP 16 - Roast the parotta from both sides. You will see nice light golden spots on them. It needs to be cooked on low flame so that the inner part of the parotta also gets cooked evenly.

STEP 17 – When the parotta is golden, remove from heat.

STEP 18 – Fluff up the parotta by gently tapping the sides of the parotta. It will help to separate the layers of the parotta. Repeat the same procedure for the rest of the parottas. Parotta is ready to serve.

Serve hot parotta with any Indian veg or non-veg curry like mutton, chicken, mix veg, paneer butter masala and relish.

NOTES: *For a very soft parotta, add in a quarter teaspoon of a baking powder which helps to make the parotta soft.

                *Do not sprinkle a lot of oil while rolling as it will become slippery and difficult to roll. Apply oil very lightly.

               *Spread little oil on the spread dough before rolling the final parotta which helps to make the parotta flakey.

BEETROOT CUTLETS

These crispy beetroot cutlets are scrumptious, healthy, easy to make and needs very simple ingredients. Beetroot cutlets can be served at your evening tea as an evening snack with the goodness of beetroot. It tastes really delicious when served with spicy green chutney and tangy tomato ketchup. Beetroot adds a beautiful colour along with its rich nutrients. The mild sweetness of beetroot is balanced by potato and the sharp taste of ginger. Also, you can add onions which give a nice crunch to the cutlets. The cutlets also go well sandwiched in a burger or bread with some lettuce and tomato ketchup. Deep frying is something which many of us won’t prefer on a daily basis. The best part of these cutlets is shallow fried with little oil. The outer layer turns super crisp and the cutlets don’t absorb the extra oil. This will also avoid making the cutlets soggy.  So if you like the recipe, do try it and share your feedback.

INGREDIENTS:

2 Beetroots

2 Potato, medium size

1 finely chopped Onion

2 chopped Green Chillies

2 tablespoon chopped Coriander

1 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic Paste

1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder

½ teaspoon Roasted Cumin Powder

½ teaspoon Chaat Masala

½ teaspoon Amchur Powder/ Dry Mango Powder

Salt to taste

4-5 tablespoon Bread Crumbs, for binding

Other Ingredients:

Enough Oil for deep/ shallow frying

Bread Crumbs for coating

Maida+ Corn flour Slurry for coating

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Boil, peel and mash the potatoes.

STEP 2 – Heat pan with 1 teaspoon oil, add chopped onion and grated beetroot and roast them till raw flavour vanishes. It takes 3-4 minutes.

STEP 3 – Allow it to cool completely.

STEP 3 – Then add mashed potatoes with other ingredients and mix well.

STEP 4 – Add bread crumbs and mix well to form dough. Adjust spices according to your taste, if needed add more.

STEP 5 – Divide the dough into small portions.

STEP 6 – Wet your hands, take a small portion of beetroot mixture and roll into a ball.

STEP 7 – Gently press and make a flat disc or shape it as per your liking. You can use a cookie cutter to shape them.

STEP 8 – Make all the tikkies/ cutlets the same way and keep them aside on a plate.

STEP 9 – Now deep them in slurry and then coat them well with bread crumbs. Press a little and shape them well.

STEP 10 – Repeat the same and prepare all the cutlets.

STEP 11 – Now keep them in refrigerator for around half an hour.

STEP 12 – Heat enough oil in a pan for deep/ shallow fry. Here I have shallow fried my cutlets but you can deep fry them.

STEP 13 – Gently drop the cutlets in hot oil and let them fry on medium flame till nice golden brown.

STEP 14 – Carefully flip them when done from one side and cook from the other side.

STEP 15 – Remove the cutlets with a slotted spoon and drain excess oil on a kitchen towel or tissue paper.

STEP 16 – Cutlets are ready to serve.

Serve healthy beetroot cutlets hot with your favourite dip/ chutney and enjoy.

KHASTA MOONG DAL KACHORI

In Indian cuisine, there are many varieties of kachori recipes like pyaaz ki kachori, aloo ki kachori, matar ki kachori, etc. Kachoris are very popular in North Indian Spciy Snacks and Moong Dal Kachori is very famous among all.   Khasta Moong Dal Kachori is one of my favourite snack and I literally crave for this at times. Khasta Moong Dal Kachori is a spicy snack with a mixture of Moong Dal and other lip smacking spices which is then deep fried to form a puri shape. I have shared few of kachori varieties on my blog like matar ki kachori, pyaaz ki kachori, tuvar ki kachori and one sweet version that is mawa kachori earlier. Delicious, flaky and crispy kachori with moong dal stuffing is a must try recipe. They can be served for your evening snack or as starter for dinner parties. It can be also made for festivals like Holi and Diwali. This Monng Dal Kachori is also made and kept days ahead of preparing for the festivals. So let us see the ingredients and step-by-step preparation for making this delicious khasta moong dal kachori.  

INGREDIENTS:

For Dough:

250 gms All Purpose Flour/ Maida

50 gm Ghee / Oil

½ teaspoon Salt

For Stuffing:

1/2- 3/4   Cup soaked Moong Dal [Yellow Lentil]

½ Cup Gram Flour/ Besan

2 chopped Green Chillies, chopped finely

1 ½ teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Coriander Seeds

1 teaspoon Fennel Seeds

1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds

1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds

1 teaspoon grated Ginger

1 teaspoon Coriander Powder

1 teaspoon roasted Cumin Powder

1 tablespoon Red Chilli Powder

½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

1 teaspoon Asafoetida

4 tablespoon Oil

1 teaspoon Amchur Powder

Enough Oil for deep frying

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Wash moong dal with fresh tap water and soak it for 2-3 hours.

STEP 2 – Drain the water and keep aside.

For dough:

STEP 1 – In a mixing bowl, add maida, ghee/ oil and salt and rub the flour using fingers tips till it becomes crumbly or bread crumbs texture. You can use oil for this but using ghee gives a nice crispy texture to kachori.

STEP 2 – Add water gradually and knead the soft pliable dough.

STEP 3 – Cover it and rest it for 10-20 minutes.

For Stuffing:

STEP 1 – Heat a pan with oil. Add coriander seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds. Let them crackle and mix well.

STEP 2 – Now add grated ginger, chopped green chillies and asafoetida and sauté it for 1 minute.

STEP 3 – Add soaked moong dal and mix it well. Add ¼ cup water and cook it on medium flame for around 2-3 minutes by stirring it continuously.

STEP 4 – Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, salt and mix it well. Roast it for 1 minute.

STEP 5 – Now add gram flour and mix it well.

STEP 6 – Add garam masala powder and amchur powder and mix well. Switch off the flame.

STEP 7 – Transfer it in another plate and let it cool down.

Making Kachori:

STEP 1 – After 20 minutes knead the dough for 2-3 minutes to make it smooth.

STEP 2 – Divide it in equal small balls. It makes 12 big lemon size balls.

STEP 3 – Take one dough ball and cover the rest with a damp cloth.

STEP 4 – Roll it using rolling pin in 3-4 inch diameter circular disc.

STEP 5 – Now put 1 ½ teaspoon stuffing in the center.

STEP 6 – Bring all the edges together and seal them tightly and remove excess dough.

STEP 7 – Press it gently with your fingers so that the edges get sealed properly.

STEP 8 – Now roll it gently into 2-3 inch diameter disc to give shape like kachori. Do not roll it too thin applying a lot pressure otherwise outer cover get break and stuffing will come out.

STEP 9 – Repeat the same with the rest of the dough and make all the kachoris. Cover prepared kachoris with a damp cloth.

STEP 10 – Heat oil on medium flame in a wide pan. 

STEP 11 – Make the flame slow when the oil is hot enough. Make sure oil should not be very hot. Check by dropping little piece of dough in oil, if it comes up immediately, then oil is ready to fry.

STEP 12 – Slide the prepared kachori in hot oil and deep fry by pressing it gently with the slotted spoon.

                                        

STEP 13 – Once it gets fluffy, make the flame on medium and fry until golden brown and crisp from both sides.[see notes]

                                       

STEP 14 - Once done, take out and drain excess oil on tissue paper.

STEP 15 – Likewise, fry remaining kachoris and serve hot.

Khasta Kachori is ready to serve. Serve with spicy green chutney and sweet dates-tamarind chutney and few fried green chilies and enjoy with a cup of tea.

 NOTES: *If you will fry kachoris in hot oil on high flame then it will get brown very faster and becomes softer when cool down. So always fry them on medium-low flame to make them crispy even after it cools down.

                     *Always fry kachoris in small batches of 3-4. Do not overcrowd the kadai.  

                     *You can store them in an air tight container for few days.

For making Kachori Chaat:

Take out from container when required and you can make chaat. Break the kachori, pour some green and sweet chutney, some curd and chopped onion and coriander and serve as an evening hunger pangs or as party starter.