I am a very lazy person. All my family and close friends will vouch for that. Although I love food and love eating, cooking and Shanu were poles apart.
Masterchef was the reason I started cooking. My mom, who had tried in vain to get me to step into the kitchen, was pleasantly surprised when one fine day, I decided to start cooking. With aspirations of participating in the second season of Masterchef, I started cooking experimental foods. Dal chawal seemed too simple. With mom around to help me with the cutting and washing, I experimented with lots of different cuisines and tried some really difficult dishes.
Moving to UK, opened my eyes to the reality of simple homemade food. One week of pizzas and pastas and ready to eat meals, and I was craving for my pyaara dal chawal again. The humble dal chawal and aloo phodi was the first meal I cooked right from scratch. Incidentally, jeera rice and dal was the meal I made for my friends Kris and Chetna when they came over for Boxing day as well. My dal was well appreciated and I am proud to say that the kadai was licked clean by Kris. :)
This blog is for people like me - who want to cook tasty stuff but are either too lazy (like yours truly) or have no time. Here, you will find all kinds of recipes, right from the humble dal chawal to the royal Butter chicken. No matter what the recipe, rest assured, it will be simple, quick to make and absolutely delicious.
Today, I shall start with my smash hit -Dal Tadka.
Prep and cooking: 20-25 mins
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 cup Toor dal (yellow dal)
3 cups water
4-5 cloves of garlic chopped
1 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 green chillies chopped
1 onion finely chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp jeera
a pinch of asafoetida powder ( hing)
salt to taste
2 tsp oil
Chopped coriander leaves
Masterchef was the reason I started cooking. My mom, who had tried in vain to get me to step into the kitchen, was pleasantly surprised when one fine day, I decided to start cooking. With aspirations of participating in the second season of Masterchef, I started cooking experimental foods. Dal chawal seemed too simple. With mom around to help me with the cutting and washing, I experimented with lots of different cuisines and tried some really difficult dishes.
Moving to UK, opened my eyes to the reality of simple homemade food. One week of pizzas and pastas and ready to eat meals, and I was craving for my pyaara dal chawal again. The humble dal chawal and aloo phodi was the first meal I cooked right from scratch. Incidentally, jeera rice and dal was the meal I made for my friends Kris and Chetna when they came over for Boxing day as well. My dal was well appreciated and I am proud to say that the kadai was licked clean by Kris. :)
This blog is for people like me - who want to cook tasty stuff but are either too lazy (like yours truly) or have no time. Here, you will find all kinds of recipes, right from the humble dal chawal to the royal Butter chicken. No matter what the recipe, rest assured, it will be simple, quick to make and absolutely delicious.
Today, I shall start with my smash hit -Dal Tadka.
Prep and cooking: 20-25 mins
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 cup Toor dal (yellow dal)
3 cups water
4-5 cloves of garlic chopped
1 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 green chillies chopped
1 onion finely chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp jeera
a pinch of asafoetida powder ( hing)
salt to taste
2 tsp oil
Chopped coriander leaves
- Wash and drain the dal till the water runs clear. Soak the dal for 10 mins.
- Pressure cook the dal with 2 cups of water and 1 tsp of turmeric powder for 10 mins (2 whistles)
- In a deep pan add 2 tsp of oil. Once the oil heats up, add asafoetida and then add the mustard seeds and allow to splutter. Now add jeera and green chillies and fry.
- Now add the chopped onions and garlic cloves and fry till they turn brown.
- Add the dal and 1 cup of water to this and bring to a boil.
- Add salt to taste
- Add chopped coriander leaves for garnishing.
- Serve hot with rotis or rice.
P.S: I switched to brown rice because I heard it was healthier than white rice, but trust me nothing comes close to a hot plate of steaming basmati rice.
