Dhal Fry (Pigeon Pea and Tomato Curry)

Ah, it is good to be back with my yummy dhal recipe and signature crappy picture.

Still stuck with some of those pigeon peas? Here is recipe #5! A staple in any North Indian meal (I think, I really wouldn't know. :-D). It is very mildly spiced and delicious. Try it out!

Ingredients
1/2 cup pigeon pea (toor dhal) - soaked overnight in water (12-14 hours, the longer the better)
3 Tomatoes
3/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/4 of an onion, finely chopped (about 2 heaping table spoons worth)
8 cloves of garlic (you could use a few lesser, but I'm obsessed with garlic)
2 tbspn of oil
Salt to taste.
A dollop of butter or ghee (which I did not add, but now that I'm typing this, it definitely would have enhanced the dish)

Directions
1. I use a pressure cooker to cook the dhal, so I'm done cooking it in 15 minutes. Should you not have this wonderful device, you could cook it stove top until really well done. It may take you over an hour.
2. Boil the tomatoes (i just cook these along with the dhal in the same pressure cooker)
3. In a saucepan, heat up some oil on medium high and add the onions. Saute for 2 mins.
4. Add the garlic, and spice powders. Saute until oil separates (or if garlic begins to brown)
5. Add the cooked dhal and tomatoes (semi mashed in) mix well. Add just enough water to make it semi-liquidy.
6. Add salt according to your taste and let it come to a boil. Add the ghee/butter at this point as well.

Serve with naan or roti, basmati rice, and raitha.

Caribbean Pigeon Pea Curry

Thanks to Pocketmouse, I have a bag of pigeon peas. And it occurred to me too late that I don’t like pea soup in any incarnation. So I’ve been looking for alternate recipes for pigeon peas, and it turns out that they are used a lot in the Caribbean. After hunting around for recipes, I compiled this one. Don’t let the name “Pigeon Pea” freak you out – they’re lentils.
--AnglophileLV

Caribbean Pigeon Pea Curry – serve with long grain rice

Pigeon Pea – 3/4 cup (soaked overnight in water- VERY important)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ onion chopped
4 cloves garlic crushed
1/2 sliced jalapeno
1 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
¼ tsp garlic powderdash black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt (check near complete to add more if required)
½ Cup chicken broth

1. Boil pigeon peas in water until soft, about 1-2 hours
A disgusting thick head will develop and will boil over unless you skim it off of the top. This will only happen once, so after you skim you can let the peas simmer and not worry about them rearing their ugly head again.

2. Cook the onions, garlic and jalapeno in the oil in a medium sized skillet.

3. Add the curry powder, cumin, garlic powder and pepper. Stir until everything is coated in the curry mixture.

4. Add the already cooked and drained pigeon peas and stir to coat.

5. Pour in the chicken broth and cook down until the curry is less watery and more curry-like. Taste to see if it needs salt or more curry powder and cumin. If you make too many pigeon peas, they will soak up the seasoning and the curry will be bland (this happened to me – I put in 1 cup peas instead of the 3/4ths cup, so I had to add more seasoning and chicken broth).

*Serve with long grain rice and Fry Bake

Atomic Spinach Curry

I know the picture is a bit crap, but this dish isn't. Yet another dish I grew up eating and taking to school for lunch. It's very simple but the flavors are fantastic (Garlic !!) It has some eclectic ingredients but I hope you try it out.


Ingredients: (approximated)

2.5 cups of chopped spinach (I used fresh baby spinach)
1/2 cup of toor dal (aka yellow pigeon pea. the dry and not the oily kind) cooked properly (semi or even completely mashed; soak overnight to speed up cooking process, EVEN if you use a pressure cooker like me)
10 cloves of garlic (I used an entire bulb of garlic ergo 'Atomic')
1/2-1 tbspn vegetable oil (actually, just enough to coat your pan)
1/4 tspn Turmeric
1 tspn Red chilli powder (Indian)
1.5 tspn Coriander powder
1 tspn tamarind paste
1/4 cup coconut milk (optional)
Salt to taste ( I almost screwed up this dish by throwing in too much salt...be careful the tamarind paste will provide a significant amount of tang).


Method:

1. To your pan add the vegetable oil and let it heat up.

2. Add the garlic cloves (I love the sizzling sound when it hits the hot oil) and saute until the garlic cloves take on a brownish hue. DO NOT LET THIS BURN.

3. Add the spinach and saute for about a minute (it will wilt a tad bit).

4. Add the cooked dal (this is going to be a semi-liquid form) and coconut milk. Also add the spices and tamarind paste at this point.

5. Let this simmer and jive for about 5-10mins. then it's DONE!

Serve over hot basmati rice with maybe some yoghurt or raitha.

Kofta Curry

I'm sure there are ways to improve this one. But the taste was so good the first time I tried it, that I had to post the recipe here. Kofta is aka meatball. So it's a meatball curry! This one is sort of a random recipe i.e. I came up with it myself. Hope you'll give it a try! I know I will...next week. :)


Serves 2-3

Ingredients

Minced Chicken - 1/2 lb
Serrano Chilli peppers - 1/2-1 finely chopped, seeds and all.
Garam Masala - 1 tspn
Salt to taste
Bread Crumbs - 1/2 cup [I toast up regular bread when I can't finish an entire loaf. So I used toasted wheat bread]
Vegetable oil - 2 tbspn
Onion - 1 chopped
Tomatoes - 2 chopped
Red chilli powder (Indian)- 1 tsp
Cumin powder - a little more than 1 tsp
Coriander powder - a little more than 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - literally a pinch.
Fresh coriander/cilantro for garnish and for koftas (optional)
Coconut milk - 1/2 can (about 6-7 fluid oz.)

Part 1: the koftas

In a mixing bowl add the garam masala, bread crumbs, serrano, cilantro, salt, and chicken. Mix throughly and add 1tbspn of oil to keep this moist. Make spheres or ovals and set aside. Let this sit for about 20 mins.

Part 2: the curry

1. In a pan add 1 tbspn oil and let it heat up. To this add the chopped onion and saute until it is translucent.

2. Now add the chopped tomatoes and saute for about 3-4 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl mix the spice powders (cumin, coriander, red chilli) in 1.5 cups of water. Add this to the pan and let it come to a boil.

4. As this is simmering, add the meatballs to it and let it cook for about 10 mins or so.

5. next add the coconut milk and let it simmer/boil for about 10-15mins. Taste this at some point to add salt as required.

6. It was very liquidy so I just let it boil for some 20 or so minutes and finally gave up since it tasted fantastic. Eventually as it cooled, it got a little thicker so that was good, but overall it's still a very liquidy curry. That's why I categorize this recipe as a work-in-progress.

7. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander.

Serve with hot basmati rice and raitha.

NOTE: You can always add more serrano or red chilli powder as it is simmering, so add a little at first and see if you can handle the heat. Serranos can vary in size and heat, so a little may just go a long way.