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hi hi hi!!!! I am finally almost settled in my new home and have some time to start cooking and blogging again. Panchemel dal, as the name suggest its a combination of 5 different dals. Its a very popular recipe from western India. I was watching Jodha Akbar the other day and in the scene where Jodha prepares food for the feats, she mentions the wide spread menu with all the yummy mouth watering dishes and hear them saying "panchemel sabji" and it immediately hit me to make some, but as we had just moved in, had not enough veggies, instead tried the panchemel dal. So here is my take on it. Ingredients: Moong dal:1/4 cup Tur dal:1/4 cup Urad dal:1/4 cup Channa dal:1/4 cup Masoor dal:1/4 cup Turmeric powder:1/2 tsp Cooking oil: 1tsp Ginger:1 tsp chopped water: 3 1/2 cups  For seasoning: oil: 1tbsp cumin seeds: 1 tsp cloves: 2 cinnamon sticks: 1/2 inch bay leaves:2 big cardamom: 2 green chillies: 2 chopped curry leaves: 6-8 asafoetida: 1/4 tsp red...

Dalma is a medley of lentil and vegetables from Orissa. Privously I have posted the recipe for mooga dalma, which uses moong dal. Today is a typical dalma, I would be using arhar/toor dal, but you can also use channa dal for the recipe. Ingredients: Arhar Dal: 1cup Potao: 1 medium cut into chunks Pumpkin: 1/2 cup cut into chunks Eggplant: 1/2 a medium sized cut into chunks Peas: 1/2 cup Carrot: 1 large cut into chunks Radish: 1 large cut into chunks Ginger: 1/2 inch grated Asafetida: a pinch Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp Tomato: 1 medium sliced salt to taste For Tempering: Whole red chilli: 2 Cumin seeds: 1 tsp Oil: 1 tbsp Ghee: 1tbsp For flavor: Cumin Seeds: 4 tbsp Whole Dry Red Chilli: 10 Procedure: Wash and soak the dal for 15-20 mins In the mean while dry roast the 4 tbsp cumin seeds and 10 whole red chilli. Let it cool down and then make a fine powder out of it. We would actually need just 1 -2 tbsp of this powder but you can store it in a air...

Dal is really good for health and is good source of protein for specially vegetarians. If you are trying to cut down on those extra few carbs then try to add a bowl of dal to your meal. It fills you up and keeps you full for longer. Dal is an integral part of Indian meal. In some states just dal chawal is considered as  the comfort food.  Dal fry is  a north Indian take on Dal that can be enjoyed with root or naan. Ingredients:  Dal: 1 cup  Tomato: 1 small  Onion: 1 small finely chopped Ginger Garlic paste: 2 tsp Green Chilli: 2-3 slit Turmeric 1/2 tsp Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds: 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp Whole red chili: 2 Garam MAsala Powder: 1/2tsp Coriander leaves: 1 tsp finely chopped  Salt as per taste Oil: 2 tsp water: 2cups Procedure: In a pressure cooker, cook the dal with 2 cups of water, tomato and salt to taste, till the dal is cooked. It would take 1-2 whistles and let the pressure release on its ...

Mung Dal is Tanmaya's favorite kind of dal. So I keep looking for different recipes for the same. I have found this yummy rajasthani dal recipe. Which I would love to share with all my readers. Ingredients: Mung Dal : 1 cup Water: 1 1/2 cup Onion: 1 medium finely chopped Tomato: 1 medium finely chopped Garlic : 2-3 cloves Salt: as per taste Turmeric Powder:  1 tsp Zeera: 1 tsp Mustard Seed: 1tsp Whole Red Chilli: 2 Asafetida Pwd: 1/2tsp Red Chilli Pwd: 1tsp Garam Masala: 1tsp Coriander Pwd: 1tsp Oil: 2 tsp Procedure: Wash and soak the mung dal for 30 mins. In a heavy bottom pan add water, dal, salt and turmeric powder and cook till the dal is 80% done. Add the finely chopped tomatoes. Chrush the garlic an cumin seeds together and add it to the boiling dal. Cook till the dal is done and remove from the heat. In a pan heat oil and add mustard seeds and whole red chilli. As the mustard seeds stop spluttering add asafetida powder and...

Dalma is an important part of oriya cuisine with vegetables and lentils. It is a part of our day to day cooking. It is prepared in temples as prasad. It is prepared during pooja feasts. There are different types of dalmas prepared in our family. Tanmaya's favorite is on with Mung Dal.  Ingredients:  Mung Dal: 1 cup Potato: 1 large cut into chunks Pumpkin: 1 cup cut into chunks Radish: 1 medium cut into chunks EggPlant: 1 medium cut in chunks Ghee: 2 tsp Zeera: 1 tbsp Dry red chili: 2 Water: 2 cups Ginger: 1 inch grated Turmeric : 1 tsp Sugar: 1tbsp Salt to taste Roasted Zeera Red Chili Powder: 2 tsp. Procedure: In a deep bottom pot dry roast the Mung Dal for 2-3 mins till beautiful aroma comes out. Remove from heat and let it cool down. In the mean while in the same pot heat ghee, add zeera and dry red chili. Once the Zeera stops spluttering add the grated ginger and fry for a minute or so and add the potato, radish and pumpkin chunks and f...

It is a very popular dal dish in Orissa. It is generally prepared when there are guests coming over and it has to be vegetarian food. It goes great with poori. It is nutritious as well as tasty. It has goodness of lentils and taste of pumpkin. Ingredients: Channa Dal: 1 cup Pumpkin: 1 cup cut into chunks with skin Potato: 1/2 cup cut into chunks Ginger: 1/2 inch grated Onion: 1 small chopped Tomato: 1 chopped Turmeric powder: 1 tbsp Panch Phutona: 1 tbsp Dry red chili: 2 broken Tej Pata: 1 sugar: 1/2 tsp Whole cinnamon: 1/2 inch red Chili powder: 1 tbsp Ghee: 2 tbsp Salt as per taste Rosted Jeera and Dry Red chill powder Procedure: Soak the dal for 30 mins In a pressure cooker heat ghee, add panch phutona and red chili to it. As the spices stop cracking add Tej pata, cinnamon and let it cook for few seconds before adding onions. Cook the onions till they turn golden brown Add the red chili powder and cook for 1-2 mins. Add grated ginger and vegetables. Fr...

Eggs are a great source of protein and choline. Popular choices for egg consumption are chicken, duck, roe and caviar. The egg most often humanly consumed by far is the produce of the chicken :) It supplies all essential amino acid for humans and provides a variety of vitamins & minerals. This is a general concept that eating egg yolk adds to your cholesterol , so does a lot of stuff. But most of dietitians say one should eat 1 egg every day which has a lot less calories compared to a bagel or a waffle. The argument regarding what is good and bad is never ending so lets move on and see how we can have eggs with loads of protein and almost no spices. Egg tadka is very healthy as it has a variety of Dal and very minimum use of oil and spices. Ingredients: Green Lentils : 1/4 Cup Tuar Dal : 1/4 Cup Mung Dal : 1/4 Cup Channa Dal : 1/4 Cup Eggs : 3 Onion: 1 Garlic: 4 large Cloves Tomatoes: 2 Green Chillie: 2-3 (depending on how spicy you want it to be) Cilli Powder : 1 tbsp Turmeric POw...