The Second Gathering

Last Sunday, April 25th Chit Chaat Chai served up some Ghar Ka Khana, which literally means food of the home. The intention behind April's menu was to serve a meal that I grew up eating on almost a weekly basis - Daal. 

Daal is a dish  that never taste the same from home to home, but always feels like your home especially with some basmati rice.  It's a staple dish that brings up fond childhood memories, even though at times there were moments of"Daal again?!". Yet, I still crave it ! For me, Daal will always be associated with home. 

Daal can be eaten many ways with many sides or pour it over almost any leftover and it just adds a little something! Last Sunday, I served it both sweet (with sev) and savory (with rice) for a side by side comparison of two of the many ways Daal can be enjoyed.  Below are some photos of the dishes...minus the main dish Daal. Unfortunately, the camera disappeared when it came time for the close-up but, pictures will come to a blog near you soon.

In the meantime, here are some other dishes from the evening that were served alongside the Daal.

Dudhi or Kadhu

a light green squash sauteed with cumin and mustard seeds

   

                                                      Cabbage Salad 

  w/green chilies, tomatoes, cilantro

Radishes

                                                       Roasted Beets

            

Sliced Cucumbers

Green Chilies 

pickled with mustard seeds

Keri Achaar

 pickled mango

Chundosweet and spicy green mango

& Limbo Achaar

pickled meyer lemon

Sev

sweet vermicilli

cooked in milk with raisins, almonds, pistachios & saffron

Badam Paak

almond and cream of wheat bar with cardamom & saffron

Recipes coming soon...

Lentils/Daal - Village Fabulous Food!

The one dish you could find in my home growing up at all times was a dish made with daal or lentils. It was a weekly staple that came in a variety of forms from sweet to savory, soup form to a mush or mixed with rice or meat to the base of a batter for some fried deliciousness. The list of dishes are endless! As are the interpretations of the word daal. 

Daal translates to lentils, but also refers to the name of the dish. Most of the time if someone says we are having Daal it usually means a lentil style soup. And because of the variety of daals available you never know what you are going to get. There is no one recipe for Daal. The taste, consistency, spice factor differs from home to home, village to village, town to town, region to region. And don't even get me started on all the different type of daals available. The one thing that is consistent with daal is that you get alot of bang for your buck.  Not only can you create a variety of dishes from one bag of daal -the perfect poor mans food but daal is a super-food rich in proteins, vitamins, minerals, cholesterol lowering fibers, amino acids, and iron. Mix daal with a grain and you get complete protein.

This Sunday, I will be making the version that is simply referred to as Daal in my home. It's a combination of Mung, Masur and Chana daals, which have been cooked in a big pot of water to create a soup like consistency. After infusing it with spices and topping it off with some lemon and cilantro it will be served with a squash dish, basmati rice and sweet sev (vermicelli) for a sweet and savory experience. All six tastes sweet, sour, salty, astringent, pungent and bitter will be present in the meal, so not to leave you with any cravings afterwards at least according to Ayurveda  Look forward to testing it with you all!

Below are a list of 7 (don't even get me started) daals that keep my kitchen cabinet full and colorful. If you are just beginning to experiment with daal,  Mung is quite versatile as it's a great soup, saute, sprout, 1 of the 2 ingredients in kitchri, its easy to find and cooks quickly.

Mung daal

 whole                          split with no peel             split with peel

Masur daal 

whole                      split with no peel

Chana daal

(garbanzo)split and peeled

Tuwar daal

split and peeled