Delicious Dal Dhokli

Chilly temperatures always call for especially delicious treats and comfort foods. And last week, while it was snowing like no tomorrow, I decided to treat us to some hearty Dal Dhokli. While Dal Dhokli is basically a Gujarati dish, similar dishes are made in Rajasthan, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh too. The seasoning in the various versions differs, and I will blog other version @ Annarasa too!! Dal Dhokli was particularly popular in Mumbai where I spent part of my childhood.

Khatta-Meetha Nimboo Achaar | Sweet-Sour Lemon Pickle

Lemons are a plenty in the market, and its the perfect weather to enjoy them. Lemons are tremendously versatile and just add great flavour to food. I always keep a great stock handy for all those lovely dishes that come alive with a squeeze of lemon. Amongst our favourites are chilled sweet lemonade, margaritas, salad dressing, granita, and needless to say pickle!!

A drop of lemon pickle makes a perfect accompaniment to any meal. Try this lovely home made pickle with rice, paratha, crackers, toast, you name it!! The explosive combination of tart, sweet, and hot makes it finger-licking good:)

Ingredients:
8 lemons, quartered
1 cup canola oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 cup dry red chillies
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp asafetida
1/2 cup sugar
Salt, to taste


Method:

1. Heat the oil in a deep, heavy bottomed pan. Add the mustard seeds.
2. When they begin to pop, add the asafetida. Stir and cook for a minute. Next add the lemons.Take care not to splash the oil as it will be very hot at this point.
3. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the lemons well, until all the water they release is evaporated and the oil begins to separate from them. Remove from the heat.
4. In a separate non-stick pan, dry roast the fenugreek seeds and the red chillies separately. Cool. Dry grind these together.
5. Now add this spice mix to the cooked lemons with the salt and sugar. Mix well. As the oil is warm, the sugar will melt.
6. Once the pickle is cool, store in clean, dry glass bottles for at least a week before serving.

This lemon pickle goes to AFAM Lemon. A monthly event, it is being hosted this month by Easycrafts at Simple Indian Food. AFAM or A Fruit A Month event was started by Maheswari of Beyond the Usual blog. This recipe also goes to Sunita at Sunita's World food blog. Sunita's food event Think Spice... carries the theme Think Spice... Think Favourite this month. This is because this fabulous event is celebrating its very first anniversary! Great going Sunita - and wishing you all the best!! Quick note on my favourite spice which is fenugreek seeds. Fenugreek seeds are a staple of Indian cooking and they add great flavour to vegetables, pickles, and chutneys alike. Fenugreek, roasted and crushed is a vital ingredient of pickles. Its flavour though initially bitter plays a significant role in the maturing of the pickle. Here's to my favourite spice - fenugreek seeds!!!!

Vegan Recipe

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007-2013. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Khaman Dhokla | Savoury Steamed Chickpea Dumplings

As my husband and I simply adore Khaman, I thought this might be the best treat to share on International Women's Day 2008. Thanks to Zorra, the web today has been flooded with warm, fragrant, and delicious messages of awareness and love!

That Feeling of Coming Home! JFI Toor Dal

You can eat any cuisine in the world, you can travel the globe, you can eat out for days on end - but there is nothing quite like the feeling of coming back home!! Of course, coming home means different things to different people. But in my parents home - it had one simple meaning: "Ghar ka Khana" or simple food cooked at home.

I remember as a child we would go for our annual trek in the Himalayas, or on summer vacations across the country only to return home to the deliciously heart-warming dal-chawal. Now you can guess that dal on the occasion meant the humble arhar dal or toor dal, served hot with basmati chawal, and methi-aloo bhaji. Over the years this has become my most abiding memory of coming home. Now when ever we travel, the first meal on our return echos that memory.

In fact, this meal is a great favourite in my family. I tend to make toor dal thick and creamy, and top it with a great dollop "ghee ka tarka". Here's my recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups toor dal
1 medium onion
1" piece ginger
3-4 cloves garlic
1 level tsp turmeric`
1/4 tsp asafetida (hing)
1 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 dried red chillies
Salt to taste
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

Method:

1. Soak the toor dal in water for 2-4 hours.
2. Pressure cook the dal with the ginger, tumeric, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, a pinch of salt. Once cooked, continue to boil the dal until it thickens and becomes heavy. Adjust the salt to taste.
3. For the tarka, heat the ghee in a small pan. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Add to the heated ghee and fry until onions become brownish. Then add the remaining cumin seeds, red chillies, and asafetida.
4. Remove the ready dal into a serving bowl. Season with tarka. Serve with fresh hot Basmati rice which has been seasoned with salty butter and a pickle to tickle your tastebuds!!!!
   
   

Vegan Substitute: Replace ghee in this recipe with vegetable oil.

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.