A Home-style Punjabi Dal

In all seasons and every kind of weather, I need my dal-chawal (lentils-rice) fix every few days. The particular hunger for dal-chawal is just not satiated by any other kind of comfort food. Luckily, between the various regional cuisines of India, there are enough types of dal to keep me happy and well-fed for several more decades.

For last night's dinner, I dusted off a long-bookmarked dal recipe from As Dear As Salt, a blog that features some wonderful and off-beat regional Indian dishes but has been sadly dormant for a couple of years. Richa made a very homely Punjabi dal called maa choliyaan di dal. This recipe uses two lentils that are popular in Pujab, split black urad dal and chana dal. If you want to see what these lentils look like, take a look at the first picture on this post.

Richa has a charming way of writing recipes. In this recipe, she says that the use of cinnamon in the dal is optional but goes on to issue a warning.

"...the love affair between chana dal & cinnamon is legendary, not putting it will be akin to separating Heer from Ranjha or Laila from Majnu..."

Oh dear. Far be it from me to keep cinnamon away from chana dal. I made sure I found a cinnamon stick to add in the dal. I followed Richa's recipe quite closely. Here it is, in my words.

Maa Choleyaan di Dal 

(adapted from Richa's recipe, served 6-8)

1. Soak 3/4 cup split black urad dal and 1/4 cup chana dal in hot water for 2-3 hours. Rinse them well, then pressure-cook until tender. Set aside.

2. In a heavy pan, heat 1 tbsp. ghee.

3. Temper it with
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 pinch asafetida
2 Indian bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick

4. Add the following and saute well
1 large onion, sliced thinly
1 heaped tsp. ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp. ground coriander seeds
2 tsp. kasuri methi
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. red chilli powder

5. Add 3-4 juicy chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned) and saute well until the tomatoes are cooked.

6. Stir in cooked dals, salt to taste and water if required to make a thick dal. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

7. Stir in 1/2 tsp. garam masala. Serve with rice or bread.

If you want a very special treat on a weeknight, this dal is it. I can't wait to eat leftovers for lunch today.

I'm sending this post to My Legume Love Affair: 20th Edition, hosted @ The Crispy Cook.

***   ***   ***

This Tuesday, I got to do something fun- I was invited as a guest instructor to teach a 5 hour session on Indian cuisine to culinary arts students at a local community college. My task was to deliver a 1.5 hour lecture on the basics of Indian history, culture and cuisines, and then to help the students prepare a lunch based on "authentic dishes, things your grandmother would make". 

All in all, it was a fantastic experience for me, the students seemed to enjoy it and the executive chef who heads the culinary arts program was pleased with how it turned out. The students were extremely skilled and disciplined, not to mention professionally dressed in starched white aprons and tall hats (in stark contrast, I wore a frilly black and green apron that my sister sewed for me). When they minced garlic, you can bet that every itty-bitty piece of garlic is exactly the same size as every other piece. 

I decided on a fairly typical Maharashtrian menu, with matki bhaat (sprouts pilaf featuring the typical goda masala), tomato saar (a spicy soup with coconut and curry leaves), kakdichi koshimbir (cucumber salad with lemon, peanuts and cilantro), bharli vaangi (stuffed baby eggplants), kobichi bhajji (cabbage fritters/pakodas) and shrikhand (thick sweet yogurt with saffron and cardamom). There were several things that I wanted to illustrate with this menu, including the richness of Indian vegetarian cuisine and the layering of spices in different ways. 

For a home cook, a professional kitchen is like a playground filled with fancy equipment, but translating dishes to this setting can also be quite challenging. There were plenty of things that went wrong that morning, but I know that the only way to learn is to do something, make mistakes and try not to repeat the mistakes. For one thing, I spent hours making a presentation with dozens of colorful pictures. On the computer where I showed the slides, none of the pictures showed up. I have given talks in so many places without such a problem and I guess the law of averages caught up with me. Sigh. Bharli vangi is so dear to my heart that I chose to make it without considering that fresh baby eggplants are not easy to find in Missouri, especially at this time of year. It was difficult for me to supervise all the groups of students working on the different dishes, and half the eggplants were served without being cooked through. I did not specify the brand of yogurt I needed for the shrikhand and the one we used was so incredible tangy that the shrikhand did not turn out the way I would have liked it. But now I know better- that if I do this again, I have to be very specific about brands and ingredients I need, or better yet, shop for them myself. I have to choose dishes where I can find reliable ingredients here. I have to go around and taste everything and make sure it is cooked and seasoned correctly. I have to find a way to test out my slides ahead of time.

In spite of the missteps, it was fun to see the students tasting and smelling all kinds of ingredients that they had never seen before- asafetida, jaggery, tamarind, curry leaves, matki sprouts- and to demonstrate a few cooking techniques that were new to them. Everyone was extremely curious and gracious about the dishes we were making.

It is always much easier to do something yourself than to teach something else and let them do it. Teaching is a tough job, but the only way we can spread knowledge and skills, and I'm very grateful that I got to do it even if just for one morning.

***   ***   ***

The cooking classes don't end here. Next month, I have volunteered to teach two cooking classes for kids. These children are part of an incredible after-school program right in my neighborhood that is designed to equip at-risk kids with social skills, life skills and self-esteem so that they can learn to avoid smoking, alcohol and drugs as they grow into teenagers.

I will have a class of about 13 kids ages 9 to 11, and about 1.5 hours to make 2 or 3 dishes that the kids can make and eat together.

The program is geared towards exposing the children to new enriching experiences, so I would like to plan a menu that incorporates some Indian flavors. The most important requirement is that the recipes I plan should involve many prep. jobs (mixing, shredding, slicing, chopping etc.) to keep 13 pairs of hands busy.

I am thinking of making mango lassi (mango pulp, yogurt, milk, sugar, cardamom, ice) because mango is a classic Indian fruit and smoothies seem to be popular with kids. The downside is that lassi blends together in a jiffy and does not involve much prepping.

Vegetable cutlets might be nice: all kinds of shredded and diced veggies held together with mashed potato and breadcrumbs, shaped into cutlets and pan-fried. If I can get my hands on some cute heart-shaped cookie cutters, they might be even more fun to make. I remember I loved these vegetable cutlets as a kid; who am I kidding- I still love them, slathered with ketchup.

Some other ideas: chana chaat (chickpeas tossed with lots of fresh salad vegetables and dressed with tamarind chutney), pulao with nuts and raisins, vegetable wraps (tortillas stuffed with a flavorful subzi)...

If there is down-time while the meal is cooking, they set up a craft table for the kids. Can you think of any simple crafts that are somehow tied to the "India" theme? Something like vegetable stamping with cross sections of bhindi dipped in watercolor paint, like in this pic.

If you have any ideas for kid-friendly food, or tips on how to run cooking classes for kids, please chime in with a comment. I am quite clueless about what kids ages 9 to 11 like to eat and do. Thank you for your advice!