Garam Masala Tuesdays: Dal Makhani

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A week back, on this day- Tuesday, I started a new thing on the blog– Garam Masala Tuesdays or as someone I know put it GMT (I tell you, these things are not intentional- they just happen 🙂 !). This Tuesday its my second post for Garam Masala Tuesday and even though I have been in no mood of cooking- it has been a 2 1/2 months long break from cooking– but I had to post something today. How can I start something a week back and not live up to the promise!

Since I had to post, and there were no two ways about it, I thought I would make something that would not require too much effort. And, something that I knew V had eaten rarely in the last 2 1/2 months. And something I love quite dearly. So it had to be Dal Makhani.

Dal Makhani is the quintessential Punjabi dish (Punjab is a state in the northern part of India). Dal means lentils and makhani means buttery; so, literally translated dal makhani reads “buttery lentils”. Dal Makhani, butter naan and butter chicken are staple to Punjabi food- the above three and rajma chawal are always top of every Punjabi’s favorite food list.

Dal makhani is a rich, creamy lentil dish that is traditionally cooked on a low simmer for hours in a pureed tomato and butter gravy. Traditionally, the dal was cooked by leaving overnight on burning charcoal. It is also called Maa ki Dal. Though Maa means mother in Hindi,  Maa is also the name given to whole unskinned black lentils and hence the name for the dish.

If you notice, the common thing to most Punjabi dishes is, yes, you guessed it- butter. Ah, butter- utterly butterly delicious butter! Being a north Indian and a hard core Punjabi, now you know the reason behind my affinity to butter and the reason for my tendency to put on weight. Well, tradition is a tough thing to break from and when tradition comes in the form of butter, you know the battle is lost!

There are lot of different versions of this dish but I like this one as its easy and the results are always great. Plus, there is no chopping involved in the recipe I use (that is exactly why I chose to make it today). And requires very little time in the kitchen. It does take 2 hours for the whole preparation but you are not required to be in the kitchen the whole time.  This dish is great even the next day- so feel free to make a day before you plan to serve it. The dish is great both with rice and with Indian flatbreads like chappati/roti or naan.

Note: Some time back I had posted another lentil recipe. It is one of V’s recipe and IT IS GOOOOOD! Do check it out!

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NEELA AUNTY’S BHUTTE KI SABZI

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Bhutte ki sabzi: Corn cooked in a spicy onion yogurt gravy | The Novice Housewife

I am starting this new thing- “Garam Masala Tuesdays”. The concept is simple- every week on Tuesday I’ll be posting an Indian recipe and will try to explain it to the best of my knowledge.

Why the name “Garam Masala Tuesday”, you ask?

Well, for a long time, on most of these cooking show challenges, whenever some one is asked to make something Indian, more often than not they add garam masala to give it that Indian touch. That’s how most people outside India view Indian food to be. So thought the name would be apt. But that’s also one misconception that has been going around for a while. In fact, I hardly use garam masala in my cooking- a habit probably I get from my mom, and know a lot of other Indians who do not put garam masala in every dish that they make. Yes, garam masala is integral to Indian food but there is much more to the spices we use than just garam masala. And that’s what I hope to show you.

Bhutte ki sabzi: Corn cooked in a spicy onion yogurt gravy | The Novice Housewife

Well, before coming to US, I had never made anything Indian. Occasionally (and that means once in two years or so) I would cook something continental, and yes, I would bake on and off, but never did I enter the kitchen to cook Indian- nor did I bother to see when someone else was cooking it. Now, a little over  than a year later, I have gone from calling my mom every day to ask the minutest of details on how to cook this vegetable or that gravy to trying exotic Indian dishes of my own.

Not that I have become an expert on Indian cooking- but am learning my way through it and would like to help other people who would like to learn as well. A lot of people , especially where I stay in US, have shown interest in Indian food and so I thought of starting this weekly post on Indian food. Hopefully it would help you all in getting to know Indian food a little better.

Bhutte ki sabzi: Corn cooked in a spicy onion yogurt gravy | The Novice Housewife

A lot of Indian food is made by pure feel. In fact I think it holds for cooking in general, where you change the amount of this spice or that spice according to your own likes and dislikes. Its not like baking which is an exact science. You can play along with the ingredients- so even though I will try and put in the exact amount of what I put in a particular dish, always feel free to change the quantities. And of course, if you are not a fan of the chillies in your food, do reduce the quantity and deseed the chillies so that you get the flavor but not the heat!

For my first “Garam Masala Tuesday”, I am posting a recipe my best friend’s mom sent to me right after I got married. Neela aunty used to make this delicious Bhutte ki Sabzi whenever I used to visit my friend B’s house. Bhutta is the Indian name for corn and well, bhuttey ki sabzi,  is a vegetable made from corn. 

Neela aunty knew it was one of my favorite dishes, so more often than not, it would be on the dining table when I was at their place.  She is one of the sweetest Mom I know and one really really good cook. When I got married, she sent me this letter with the recipe.

Note: The recipe calls for ghee- clarified butter. You get ghee in all Indian stores.  In case you can’t find ghee or do not want to buy it for just one recipe, you could substitute with sunflower oil but the results won’t be the exactly the same- ghee  gives a richer and much tastier dish- of course it is more fattening. One could make ghee at home too- but I have not tried doing so yet. When I do I will surely post about it.

You can make this dish with just the corn kernels, but I prefer it on the cob, because sucking on them after the corn has been removed is just so darn yummy (I hope I did not make that sound dirty!).

Bhutte ki sabzi: Corn cooked in a spicy onion yogurt gravy | The Novice Housewife
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V’s Slow Cooker Toovar Dal recipe

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One of my favorite toovar dal/yellow dal recipe made even easier in the crockpot.


This picture is the photo that was published with the original post. Yup, my photography skills have improved significantly and hopefully the improvement continues! Also keep in mind that while the updated photographs are from Nikon D7000 during natural day light, the original pics were clicked with my iPhone at night under a bulb’s light:)

I finally got it!! V had been guarding his lentil recipe all this while. For the uninitiated, V makes this awesome toovar dal (cooked lentils) in the slow cooker. This was the recipe that got him by his bachelor days. And uptil now he wouldn’t tell me how he makes it. He always throws me out of the kitchen whenever he makes it (which has been twice before) so that I don’t get to know his secret recipe (rolling eyes).

Now, for days I had been craving his dal, with some rice. And since the rare occasions that he cooks fall on Sundays and all the previous Sundays we have been out- that craving just kept increasing. Finally, the Sunday that went, V decided to give in to my cravings and set his foot in the kitchen. 🙂

This time though, he was willing to share his secret!! Well, the opportunity to be featured on my blog- not just in photos but as an actual contributor- that was too big for him to pass on, so he let me in on his secret.

So there I was, with my phone in hand taking down notes and pictures while V explained how his dal is made.

Here’s how to make V’s Crockpot Dal:

4.6 from 11 reviews
V's Crockpot Lentil Recipe
 
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Author:
Recipe type: crockpot, slow cooker, lentils, dinner, lunch, entree
Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
What you need for the slow cooker:
  • 1 cup split pigeon peas (toovar dal)
  • 3.5 cups water
  • 3 roma tomatoes, cut in big slices
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • Salt, to taste
For the tadka, you need:
  • 3 garlic cloves, cut lengthwise, in slivers
  • 2-3 tbsp ghee (V adds more, I think but, so that I don't freak out he mentioned a "smaller" amount)
  • 3 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp coriander powder
  • 1-2 tsp red chilli powder
Instructions
  1. Take the dal (split pigeon peas), and wash it properly. Add the water, tomatoes, turmeric and salt. Put the lid on the crockpot and turn it on HIGH. Let cook for 4 hours.
  2. After 4 hours, the lentil should be cooked. Now comes the part that holds the key to the dal being so freakingly good.
The secret to his dal, according to V is the tadka (the tempering of spices).
  1. To temper, heat clarified butter (ghee) to a real hot temperature in a saucepan. Add the garlic, fry til they turn brown. Add the cumin, coriander and red chilli powder. (You might want to open a window, because the spices do tend to get into your system). Fry till it looks a little burnt. (I confirmed with V and he said thats how its supposed to be.)
  2. Add the burnt looking tempered spices to the crockpot and quickly close the lid. After a few seconds, lift the lid- with a ladle take out some dal and put in the saucepan used for tempering. Scrape out any remaining spices in the saucepan, and add the liquid back to the crock pot.
  3. Serve it warm with rice and some curd. The dal has a very strong flavor of garlic but I think thats what adds to the beauty of it. 🙂
Variations:
  1. These days besides the tadka/tempering ingredients above, I also add the following- pinch hing, 1 tsp ginger julienned, 2-3 dried red chillies, 1 small onion finely chopped, 1 tsp sambhar powder. After I add the ghee, I add the cumin seeds and hing and let sizzle. Then I add the dried red chillies, followed by the onions and cook till translucent. Then I add the ginger and cook till ginger changes it color slightly, sprinkle in the sambhar powder- saute for a few seconds and then add it to the dal. Instead of coriander powder I add fresh dhania to the dal.
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