Latest in the string of culinary disasters

Ok guys just back from the kitchen and ready to regale you with this week’s culinary disaster (Pic attached). To begin with let me confess I am a weekend cook, thankfully for my family the rest of the week my mom is head chef. This way they gain enough energy over the week to stomach the sometimes divine, sometime not fit for dogs food that I dish out over the weekend.

The recipe on my radar for this week was "Rajasthani Panchmel Dal" straight off my cooking guru Sanjeev Kapoor's "Khazana of Indian Recipes" which I am sure if he reads this post he would wish that this was one treasure that was hidden from me...but alas, I discovered the book on my monthly trip to Crossword.

So I read the recipe, it seemed simple enough, easy-peasy and was confident that this one could not go wrong, but as you read further you will realise that events proved otherwise.

The recipe required five types of Dals, "Panchmel" you see, but there was just one type of dal at home so, I improvised.

The next step was to ...Wash green chillies, coriander leaves and peel ginger. Make a paste of ginger and green chillies. Chop coriander leaves. The washing bit I successfully completed, then messed up, I made a paste of coriander, green chillies and ginger and ended up with coriander chutney instead of the ginger and green chilly paste which was what the recipe required.

I was faced with the dilemma of throwing all that away and preparing the paste per requirement or improvise again, the lazy bum that I am, chose the easy way out and improvised.

The rest of the cooking was fairly satisfactory, but have no heart to call it "Rajasthani Panchmel Dal" any more, so have listed the recipe for "Mumbaiya Dal" instead. It turned out pretty edible. They have a valid point when they say "Necessity is the mother of invention" ...

Mumbaiya Dal

1 cup Tur Dal
3 medium Tomatoes
Ginger 1 inch piece
Dried Red Chillies 3
Green Chillies 2
Coriander leaves small bunch (part for paste and part for decoration)
cumin seeds 1 tsp
cloves 4-5
red chilly powder 1/2 tsp
coriander powder 1 tsp
cumin powder 1 tsp
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
garam masala powder 1/2 tsp
Oil -2 tbsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
1 cup water
Salt to taste

Pressure cook the dal till soft. Keep aside.
Make a paste of the chillies, ginger and part of the coriander.
Heat oil, add asafoetida, cloves, cumin seeds and red chillies, fry for a while.
Add the chilly-ginger-coriander paste and fry till oil leaves the sides.
Now add the cumin powder, chilly powder and the coriander powder and fry again for sometime. Add the tomatoes and cook till the oil leaves the sides.
Add the cooked dal, water, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and salt and cook for a while. Add the coriander leaves and stir for a while.
Serve hot with rice or chapatis.
P.S. While waiting for the "oil to leave the sides" dont get your head too close to the pan, the frying process let off small jets of the material that is frying, a bit of it got in my eye and nearly blinded me!!!

Lemme know how you like this dal...Bon Appétit :)