Tarka Dhal

This could have been good, but there were issues with the recipe. First of all it called for 115 g/4 oz/ or 1/4 cup masoor dhal, then 50 g/2 oz/ 1/4 cup moong dhal - those didn't work out -the weight and measure of the first didn't work out at all. We used the weight. (those are both types of lentils -they are pictured in the previous post.) Then it took a lot longer to cook than it said. It was still crunchy after 15 minutes, after 20 minutes, after 25 minutes. We started covering it after the first 15 minutes. I'd cover it from the beginning next time. It was also way too salty. I couldn't eat it because of how salty it was. I tried to taste the flavor past the salt and I actually think it was pretty good, but it was hard to taste. I did not make the tarka topping or the garnish because I didn't have any more time for getting dinner ready, and it would just make it spicier which I figured the kids wouldn't like as much. I was very glad I didn't waste my time when it turned out so salty. I do think it could be tasty if I cut the salt way down which is why I'm bothering to include the recipe.

Ingredients

• 4 oz masoor dhal (That turned out to be about 1/2 cup maybe a bit more.
• 1/4 cup moong dhal
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon ginger pulp
• 1 teaspoon garlic pulp (again I used 2 teaspoons of the ginger/garlic mix I had bought)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 fresh green chilies (I used about 1 Tablespoon canned diced green chilies)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt - (DO NOT use this much - maybe 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon maximum)

Tarka Ingredients (I did not make this but it could be good especially if you like spicy food)

• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 1 onion sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon mixed mustard and onion seeds
• 4 dried red chilies
• 1 tomato, sliced

Garnis Ingredients (didn't make this either for time, but it also could be good.)

• 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
• 1-2 gresh green chilies, seeded and sliced
• 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh mint

Directions

1. Boil the 2 lentils in the water with the ginger and garlic pulp, turmeric and chopped green chilies for 15-20 minutes until soft. (Cover to make this quicker.)
   
2. Mash the lentils mixture with a fork or pound with a rolling pin until the consistency of a creamy chicken soup. (We used a potato masher.)
3. If the lentil mixture looks too dry, add a little more water. Season with the salt.
   
4. To prepare the tarka, heat the oil in a heavy -based frying pan and fry the onion with the mustard and onion seeds, dried red chilies and tomato for 2 minutes.
5. Pour the tarka over the mashed lentils and garnish with fresh coriander, green chilies and mint.

Chicken Pilau

Today we had Indian food. We have a cookbook called The New Indian Cooking Course that I decided to try out. I like Indian food, just haven't tried making it too much, and had never tried anything from this book. It was quite tasty. We had this with some lentils - they were awful - too salty -see next post. We did have to shop around for the ingredients. I had looked around at my local grocery stores, and not found what we needed. Then we went to a grocery store called Fiesta that has more foods from other cultures, and still found it difficult to find some items, but while there we ran into an Indian guy who sent us to a little Pak-Indi grocer to get the rest of our ingredients. I took a picture of our cookbook and some of the ingredients we used that were not normal. We found the garlic/ginger paste at the HEB, the 2 types of lentils and mustard seed at Fiesta, and the onion seed at the Indi-Pak grocery store. Everyone really liked this chicken dish. I did use a lot more chicken than it called for. I also was super lazy -(OK, I guess it can't be called lazy if you are making 3 different recipes for 1 meal, but I did take many short cuts which I will note in parenthesis. It actually made this portion of the meal relatively simple.)


Ingredients

• 2 cups basmati rice
• 6 Tablespoons low fat margarine (I used butter)
• 1 medium onion, sliced (I used 3/4 -1 cup frozen diced onions)
• 1/4 teaspoon mixed onion and mustard seeds (we used 1/8 of each - didn't have them mixed.)
• 3 curry leaves - we were told these were out of season that we could substitute bay leaves which we did.
  
• 1 teaspoon ginger pulp
• 1 teaspoon garlic pulp (I bought a ginger/garlic stir fry mix and used 2 teaspoons)
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tomatoes sliced (I used 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained)
• 1 medium potato, cubed (I used frozen diced potatoes (hash browns) 1/2 -1 cup)
• 1/3 cup frozen peas
• 6 oz boneless skinless chicken, cubed - I used 1 chicken breast but it was 14 oz.
• 4 Tablespoons chopped fresh coriander -didn't use this -it is cilantro by the way
• 2 green chilies, chopped - didn't use this either
• 3 cups water

Directions

1. Wash the rice and soak in cold water for 30 minutes, then set aside in a sieve to drain.
2. In a medium - heavy based saucepan, melt butter and saute the onion until brown.
3. Add the onion and mustard seeds, curry leaves, ginger, garlic, ground coriander, chili powder and slat. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes.
4. Add teh tomatoes, potato, peas, and chicken to the onion and mix everything together well.
5. Add the rice to the pan and stir gently to combine with all the other ingredients.
6. Finally, add teh fresh coriander and green chilies (if using) Mix and stir-fry for a further 1 minute. Pour in the water.
   
7. Bring the rice to a boil then lower the heat. cover and cook for about 20 minutes.

Tandoori chicken and Naan

This was one of my favorite meals that I've made lately. Both the Naan and the Tandoori Chicken were excellent. YUM! (5 star)  Sorry no pics. I made this before I started taking pictures. I'll try to post some next time I make it. The Tandoori Chicken recipe comes from an old Pillsbury or Betty Crocker magazine that I have and is super simple.  It does require some time to marinate, but other than that very easy. The Naan is from allrecipes.  It is a bread so of course it is more time consuming.     At the bottom I included a Pakistani recipe that was similar in flavor only using ground beef. (3 star)

Tandoori Chicken

• 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1 Tbs oil
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (2-3 lbs)

1. In a shallow glass dish, combine yogurt, lemon juice, and oil; blend well. Add all remaining ingredients except chicken breast halves; blend well. Add chicken; turn to coat. Cover; refrigerate 30-60 minutes to marinate.
2. Line 15X10X1 inch baking pan with foil; spray foil with nonstick cooking spray. Remove chicken from marinade; place in foil-lined pan. Discard any marinade.
3. Broil 4 to 6 inches from heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until chicken is fork-tender and juices run clear, turning once.
I had rather large chicken breast halves, so I cut them in half. I figured they would cook faster, and get more marinade on them. It worked very well. Most were done in 10 min. I checked them with a thermometer. If there were up to 159 I took them out. They were perfect. Soft enough to cut with a fork and very yummy! Everyone loved them. Nice Indian flavor.
We served them with the following Naan -the recipe is from allrecipes

Naan
Ingredients

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)

Directions

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
• Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
• At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

We did not make them on a grill - we made them on a cast iron skillet. Delicious!!
Update - Oct. 2010 - Made these today on the griddle.  Equally as delicious and I could do 3 at a time.


If you like the flavor of the tandoori chicken, you may like to try the following - it is a Pakistani recipe, but the flavor is similar, just using beef. I'd probably give it 3 stars. It was good, but the Tandoori chicken was awesome. It is from Sparkrecipes.

Keema

Ingredients
1.5 lbs lean ground sirloin
1 cup chopped onions
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup diced potatoes
1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, tumeric, ginger
1 tbsp curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Brown ground sirloin in pan with onions until browned.
Add tomatoes, peas, potatoes and spices along with salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to a simmer and cook for 25 mintues.
Add water if it becomes too thick. It should have the consistency of chili.
Serve over brown rice or whole wheat couscous.

Number of Servings: 6