Sunday, May 23, 2010

Dal Lucknowi

What happens when I get a chance to watch a live cookery show of Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor?? The legend of Indian cookery shows who with his charm, mouth watering recipes and friendly smile has had us addicted to Khana Khazana since ages??  The show makes me finish cooking my break fast on Sunday mornings by 9.30 or defer it till 10 am :-). I have been a huge fan of Sanjeev Kapoor since my college days and love the way he makes every recipe seem so simple, easy and do able.

I got a chance to watch this live cookery show at Kitchen Yatra show thanks to Madhuri. It was on a weekday and I somehow manged to get hubby to baby sit the kids(anything to grab the opportunity of a lifetime!!) It was great to watch him cook and also get to taste the same. And of course also ask him endless questions which were answered in his true witty style. It was a show to remember.

Well, it brings me back to the question, what happens when I get a chance to watch a live cookery show of Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor?? I read more of the Chef's books and of course tried some of the recipes. I tried  Lucknowi Dal from his fantastic new collection, "Simply Stylish Entertaining at Home'. Do absolutely check this book out, I simply loved the recipes, more coming here.

This creamy Dal is subtle in flavor, is extremely easy to make and is a wonderful, elegant accompaniment to rotis or rice. Perfect for entertaining when you are pressed for time or have unexpected guests.

This recipe is also my entry to Sara's 'Cooking with Cumin Seeds' event

Ingredients:
1 Cup split Pigeon peas(Toor Dal), soaked
2 green chillies, chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 dried red chillies, broken
5 garlic cloves,chopped
A pinch asafoetida.
1 Cup milk
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander


Method: Pressure cook the pigeon peas and green chillies with 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles. Remove the lid when the pressure drops fully. Add the turmeric and salt and simmer on low heat.

Heat the oil in a non stick pan. Add the cumin seeds, red chillies, garlic and asafoetida and saute until fragrant. Pour the sizzling spices into the simmering dal and mix well. Add one cup of water and the milk and continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Adjust the salt, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot. I have added a dash of garam masala and kasuri methi to suit my palate.



13 comments:

deepti said...

Perfect Daal !!!!!!!

sowmya said...

If these recipes are actually to be followed by the "culinarily chaallenged" lot like us, for God sakes sis, u have to use very very basic and commonly understood terminologies."pigeon peas"??!what in the name of God is that?

Vrinda said...

Quick dal,lov it

Sushma Mallya said...

Nice & yummy dal

Parita said...

Looks very rich!

Hari Chandana P said...

Mmmm.. yummy and perfect.. nice click too..

Kiran said...

Adding milk to the daal is new to me.Garam masala,methi leaves and milk must have all made this dish super yummy.

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

Tempting n healthy one...

SathyaSridhar said...

Dal looks rich n creamy texture dear, never used milk in dal its new for me am sure it will give nice rich texture to dal.

Nitha said...

Simple and easy one..

Priya Suresh said...

Wat a bowl of comforting dal..just love it..

M D said...

Ur Lucknowi Dal look so tempting and good! Milk in Dal is new to me, but it surely should add creaminess to it. Nice recipe :)

Preeti Kashyap said...

Yummy dal, make it often but never new they were lucknowi! Nice!