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The Kitchen is Now Closed!

July 18, 2009 3 Comments

I'm done. Exhausted. Pooped. I've been cooking since 7 a.m. Well, either cooking ... buying groceries to cook .... or playing with the kids to get them tired enough to go to bed sooo I can cook some more.
Here's what I have so far:
Simplest of Simple Yellow Dal (came out great - look at Sophie's review in last post)

Cauliflower in Red Sauce (Really came out bad. The original recipe called for a can of diced/peeled tomatoes and I feel like the canned adds too much sweetness to Indian food - any thoughts? That's going in the trash as I write!).

Dry Yellow Dal (I made it once - it burned. I made it a second time with oil - too much work. I made it a third with no oil and it was just as good! It's my husband's favorite and he loved it. See recipe below.)

Curried Wintermelon - Disgusting. I'm throwing that out too. I added way way too much water and I feel like the wintermelon in Chicago is way way to dried out to even do anything creative with. I'll try it again!

Eggplant in Fiery Ginger/Garlic Sauce - it's cooking now and it's a keeper. It looks amazingly rich, gingery and delicious. I can't wait to try it.

Recipe:

Dry, Yellow Lentils (Sooki Dal)
[figstart]Slowcooker size: 3 - 5 quart - though I made it in the 5.
Cooking time and heat: 2 hours on low setting, makes 5 cups

2 cups moong dal (skinned/split moong) - washed thoroughly
1 medium onion (yellow or red), finely chopped
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
2-3 cloves garlic, grated (that's my version of minced)
1-2 Thai, cayenne, serrano chilies, finely chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspon turmeric
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 Tablespoon salt (I use sea salt, which has larger granuales than table salt. You may need less).
1 3/4 - 2 cups water

Dump all of the above into the slowcooker in this order...meaning dal first and water last. The other stuff stick in in any order. Stir it gently once or twice in the cooking process so that the top layer doesn't dry out too much.

My mother says to do this with split urad dal (which is originally the black dal). I didn't have any on hand so I used this quick-cooking moong split dal. That's why it cooked up so fast. I'm going to make it with the other and see how that turns out.

This is a dry version of dal. It's very popular eaten with Indian breads like naan or roti. But here's what I love to do...take a soft wheat tortilla and spread a little hummus on it. Put a spoonful of this dal onto it and spread out. Sprinkle some chopped spinach or lettuce on it and any other veggies you'd like. Wrap it like a burrito and serve as an amazing veggie sandwich.

Try this! Take a cup of the cooked dal and mix with half a cup of chopped greens (lettuce, spinach, kale, etc.) Serve as a side salad. It can be eaten room temperature so would be a good one in the kids' school lunches.[figend]

Neha and Aria's reaction: Neha has a tough time with cooked foods. She can eat any veggie or fruit raw. And, she doesn't love hummus. She fussed about eating her burrito but then ate it all. Aria wouldn't eat the tortilla and actually gave me the idea for a salad when she pushed all the insides onto her plate and ate it all with a spoon. You could probably even add some canned black beans and make it that much more interesting.

Tons of protein and nutrition in this one. Tell me what you think if you try it.
Enjoy!!




3 Responses

About Me
About Me

July 20, 2009

I Love the idea of mixing the sooki dal with mushrooms and putting it in chicken soup. I never thought of that. I think I'll rename my eggplant just for you!!!! -Anupy

BIOburn3
BIOburn3

July 20, 2009

The fiery eggplant suprisingly didn't leave my mouth burning I actually thought it was rather mild (the spice) in comparison to the potato/cauliflower dish. However you made the eggplant you should continue to do so, it absorbed the spices very well, creating a new flavor that eggplant does not normally adorn. Adding potatoes or a bean to this dish might add something neat to this dish in terms of texture. Overall this is a great dish and goes well over rice.

BIOburn3
BIOburn3

July 20, 2009

OMG, I love this dish! This adds a nice color (and texture) to a mushroom salad. I also enjoyed this as a stand alone dish, the flavor is wonderful and it is very filling. I could imagine this being an exceptional filler in soups (and less heavy than pasta). I can imagine a traditional chicken soup chocked full of sooki Dal, mmmm. I'm going to ask Brennan to make a crockpot full and we can experiment!

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