Fajeto

Fajeto/ Mango kadhi

This is authentic Gujarati dish. We made this specially during mango season. This can be made from left over mango liquid we get from washing up of mango skin and stone while making aam ras.

You can also use mango pulp and mix it with water.

Ingredients:
Mango pulp: 1/2 cup
Water: 1 cup
Green chillies: 2-3
Ginger: 1inch

Yogurt: 1/4 cup
Gram flour/ Besan: 1 table spoon
Jaggery: 1-2inch (depending on your taste)

Taste to taste
Red chili powder: 1 tea spoon
Turmeric powder:1/2 tea spoon

For tempering / tadka:
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tea spoon
Cloves: 2-3
Curry leaves: handful
Asafoetida: 1/4 tea spoon
Oil: 1 table spoon

Preparation:
Mix pulp and water together. Add Chili and ginger paste to it.
Mix yogurt, gram flour and jaggary together and blend it.

Mix mango pulp with yogurt mix and add salt, red chili, turmeric and heat it on low flame.
While the mixture boils, prepare for tempering.

Add 1 table spoon of oil in small round vessel. Add mustard seeds and clove. Let it splutter. Add curry leaves and finally asafoetida.
Add the tempering to Fajeto.

Allow 1 to 2 boil and you will notice the entire mixture turns thick.
Serve hot and enjoy with roti, sabzi and rice.

Mung dal sambhar

Me and my husband loves mung dal and south Indian food. I was amazed to learn this recipe from him. When ever hubby gets into kitchen for cooking will not allow me to enter the kitchen. Not even for monitoring :(. I have managed to make sambhar as good as him and he is a bit unhappy about loosing his monopoly in sambhar making :). Here is yummy and healthy recipe of sambhar. Hope you relish it as we do.

Ingredients:
1 cup of following vegetables (take any of your favorite vegetables)
Carrot, Cauliflower, bottle gourd, okra, eggplant, drumsticks
Green peas: 1/2 cup
Tomato: 1 medium
Green chili: 3-4
Garlic: 3 cloves
Onion: 1 medium
Curry leaves: handful
Tamarind paste: 3 table spoon
Yellow split mung dal: 1.5 cups
White split urad dal: 1/2 table spoon
Mustard seeds: 1/2 table spoon
Red chili powder: 1/2 tbl spn
Turmeric powder: 1 tea spoon
Sambhar masala: 1 tbl spoon
Salt to taste
Oil + ghee : 1 table spoon, take more if you like will give better taste.
Asafoetida: 1/2 tea spoon

Preparation:
Wash mung dal with two waters. Soak mung dal for 10minutes in warm water. Boil dal with salt, turmeric and few drops of ghee/oil until its soft. In pressure cooking boil for 3 to 4 pressures.
In the mean time we will get the vegetables ready. Peel and chop onions. Peel and fine chop garlic. Wash and chop tomato. Wash curry leaves. Wash chilies and cut them into julienne.
Wash the selection of vegetables and chop them. Boil them in water until soft. Save the vegetables stock. Can be useful to add it to sambhar.
Soak tamarind in hot water for few minutes and take the hard skin and seeds out and mash it to make thick paste.

Once all these is ready. Heat the pan and add oil + ghee. Add white urad dal and after 30 seconds add mustard seeds. Add asafoetida, garlic, green chili, curry leaves and stir for 1 minute.
Add onions and cook until its brown from edges.
Add tamarind paste and stir well.
Add dal and all the masalas. Add salt to taste. Mix well. Add boiled vegetables and tomatoes.
Let it cook on low flame for 10 minutes to absorb all the flavour.
Serve hot. Enjoy with idlis, rice, chapati or just like soup.

Palak dal

This is very healthy version of dal recipe. There are many ways you can cook palak with dal and this is one of them. Very simple and easy but equally tasty.

Ingredients:
Spinach/ Palak: 300gms
Moong dal / split yellow gram: 1 cup
Green chili: 2-3
Garlic: 2 clove
Mustard seeds: 1 tea spn
Cumin seeds: 1 tea spn
Asafoetida: pinch or two
Turmeric: 1 tea spn
Red chili powder: 1 table spn
Coriander and cumin powder/ ghana jeera: 1.5 table spn
Salt to taste
Garam masala powder: 1 tea spn
Tomato: 1 medium

Preparation:
Wash and soak moong dal for 15 minutes.

Wash spinach nicely and chop it.

Wash and chop green chilies into large pieces. Peel and chop garlic into thin slices.

Wash and chop tomato.

Use pressure cooker for this recipe. Heat the cooker and add little bit of cooking oil. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafoetida once they start to splutter.

Now add garlic and chilies. Add tomato and saute for 1 minute. Add moong dal and mix well. Now add all the masala and mix well. Add salt to taste. Remember spinach is high in sodium so add less salt then required.

Add spinach and add 1/2 cup water. Mix well. Close the cooker and cook till two pressures. Open the cooker once the pressure is off. Now stir well and dal is ready to be served.

Panchwati tadka dal

Eating right amount of protein and various kind of protein is very important for our health. For vegetarian it gets difficult and specially eating every dal in these busy life gets too difficult. I do like various dals so I came up with following yummy and most simple dal recipe with loads of different protein from 5 different dals.

Ingredients:
Yellow Moong dal / split yellow gram: 1.5 cups
Channa dal / Split Bengal gram gram: 2 table spoon
Toor dal / Split red gram : 2 table spoon
Green moong dal / split green gram: 2 table spoon
Masoor dal /Split Red lentil: 2 table spoon
Turmeric: 1 tea spn
Red chili powder: 1 tea spn
Green chili: 3-4 (depending on taste)
Garlic: 3-4 cloves
Salt to taste
Ghee : 1.5 table spn
Oil: 1 table spn
Cumin seeds: 2 tea spn
Asafoetida: 1/2 tea spn

Preparation:
Mix all dals in a bowl. Wash them with two waters.
Note: always wash dal or rice with two waters before cooking. Do not over wash them.

Soak all dal with warm water for at least 30 minutes upto 1 hour.

Cook by adding salt, turmeric and 1/2 table spoon of ghee until soft.
Fine chop garlic and wash and fine chop green chilies.
In pan add oil and ghee each one table spn. Once hot add cumin seeds add garlic and chilies when cumin splutter. Let garlic and chilies get slight burnt.
Add asafoetida, in the end add red chili powder and add this to dal.
Red chili powder will give nice color to the dal.

Put dal on heat and stir well. Bring it for one boil and garnish with chopped coriander.

Serve with hot with tandoori rotis , paratha or rice.

Dhabewali Kali Dal

Ingredients:
Whole black gram/ sabut urad dal: 1.5 cup
Red kidney beans/ Rajma: 0.5 cup
Onion: 1 medium
Tomato puree: 1 cup (best if used Sieved tomato passata: 3/4 cup)
Ginger paste: 2 tea spoon
Garlic paste: 2 tea spoon
Green chili paste: 2 tea spoon
Whole red chili: 1-2
Cumin seeds: 2 tea spoon
Cinnamon stick: 1 inch
Asafoetida: pinch
Whole black pepper seeds: 1 tea spoon
Coriander and cumin powder: 1 table spoon
Garam masala: 1/2 table spoon
Punjabi garam masala: 1/2 table spoon
Salt to taste
Ghee: 2 table spoon

Preparation:
Boil 3 cups of water and soak urad dal and rajma in water for 8-12 hours. Leave it over night if possible.

Boil the dal and rajma by adding 1 table spoon of ghee and salt to taste till dal and rajma are soft. In pressure cooker it will require to cook for 6-7 pressures.
Let dal cool off and mess it using hand blender.

Peel onions and finely chop it. Make ginger, garlic and chili paste. Heat pan and add 1 table spoon of oil and 1 table spoon of ghee.

Add black pepper, cinnamon stick and cumin seeds. Add ginger, garlic and chili paste when seeds starts to splutter. Add pinch of asafoetida and onions. Cook till onions are brown. Add tomato puree or tomato passata. Let it cook for 5 minutes and keep stirring to avoid gravy sticking at the bottom. Add salt to taste, coriander and cumin powder and mix well.

Add dal and keep stirring. Add punjabi garam masala and garam masala and mix well.
Add few drop of ghee, stir well and cover the lid. Now lower the flame and cook on medium flame for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to stop dal sticking at the bottom.
After 20 minutes dal will be done just fine. Serve with your choise of rice. Try paneer jeera butter rice, you will love it.

Methi dal

Ingredients:
Yellow split mung dal: 1 cup
Methi / fenugreek: 1/2 cup
Garlic clove: 2
Green chili: 2
Tomato: 1 medium
Salt to taste
Ghee / oil: 1-2 tbs
Cumin seeds:
Hing / asafoetida
Turmeric: 1 tbs
Garam masala powder: 1/2 tbs

Preparation:
Wash and soak mung dal for 15-30 minutes. Peel and fine chop garlic. Wash and cut green chilies into large pieces. Fine chop tomato. Clean and wash fenugreek leaves and fine chop it.

Heat pan or pressure cooker. Add ghee and cumin seeds once ghee is hot. Add hing once cumin starts to splutter. Add garlic and green chilies. Add tomatoes and stir for 1 minute. Add fenugreek leaves and let it cook for another minute.

Now add soaked dal and add equal amount of water enough for dal to soak completely. Add turmeric powder, salt to taste and garam masala powder. Add few drops of ghee from the top to give extra flavour. Cover the lid and cook until dal is soft. If cooking in pressure cooker, cook for 3-4 pressures.

Dal is ready to be served. Enjoy with rice or roti.

Variation:
Spinach can be used instead of methi.

Gujrati kadhi

Ingredients:
Dahi/ thick yogurt: 2 cups
Water: 1 cup
Besan / gram flour: 2-3 table spn
Green chili / red whole chili: 1-3
Ginger : 1 inch
Jaggery: 2-3 tbs grated (add sugar if you don't have jaggery)
Curry leaves: 7-8
Mustard seeds: 1 tbs
Cumin seeds: 1 tbs
Hing/ asafoetida : pinch
Ghee: 2-3 tbs
Clove: 3-4
Cinnamon sticks: 1 inch
Fenugreek seeds: few (under 10)

Preparation:
Many people use sour curd for making kadhi. I live in London and curd is hardly ever sour due to cold. I use normal curd and kadhi taste good.

In a bowl mix curd and water using hand blender liquidise it. Add gram flour and crush again. Now add jaggery and crush again. If you wish you can melt jaggery in water before hand and mix it to the curd paste.
Note: Add more of less jaggery depending on your taste.

Wash and cut chilies into big pieces and add to kadhi liquid. Crush ginger to make coarse paste and add it to kadhi. Add salt to taste. Add curry leaves and put it on medium low heat for one boil. Stir it occasionally.

Leave a large spoon inside the cooking vessel to avoid over flow of kadhi.
After one boil kadhi will start becoming thick. I hope you can catch the thickness from the picture below.
For tadka:
Heat small round vessel and let it heat add 2-3 tbs of ghee. Add cloves, cinnamon stick, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds and cumin seeds in ghee. Add hing and curry leaves when seeds start crackling.
After another minute add it to kadhi and mix well.
Kadhi is ready. Can be enjoyed with gurjati thali, mutter pulav, khichadi etc. Serve hot.

Gujarati tuvar dal

Gujarati dal is one very tasty dal. It is mild sweet but you can change the sweetness to your taste. It goes very well with sabji and roti. Taste heaven with rice. Try this dal with cabbage or okra sabji and rice.
Ingredients:
Tuvar dal / Yellow lentils: 1.5 cup
Dry kokam: 3-4
Curry leaves: 10-12
Jaggary: 2-3 tbs grated (depending on how sweet your want)
Tomato: 1 medium
Mustard seeds: 1 tbs
Turmeric powder: 1 tbs
Red chili powder: 1 tbs
Salt to taste
Cloves - 4-5
Cinamon stick: 1 small piece
Peanuts - 10-12 (optional)
Ghee / oil : 2 tbs
Hing/ asafoetida

Preparation:
Wash and soak tuvar dal in hot water for 20-30 minutes. Wash and soak kokam in little bit water for 20-30 minutes.

In a cooking bowl take tuvar dal add turmeric and few drops of ghee / oil. Add peanuts if you want to add some. Add 1 dal : 1.5 water. Cook tuvar dal until it is soft. If you are using pressure cooker it will require to steam cook it for 45 minutes or pressure cook it for 5-6 pressures.
Tip: Add turmeric and few drops of ghee while the dal is cooking, it will taste very nice.

Once the dal is cooked crush it to liquid using hand blender.

Take dal into cooking pot.

Add jaggary,

kokam,

salt to taste, red chili powder, curry leaves, tomatoes and green chili pieces if you want dal to be hot.


Tip: If you are not sure of how much jaggary to add add 1 tbs at one time and allow it to melt in the dal and add more if required.

Cook on low flame. Keep stirring occasionally. Allow dal to cook for 20 minutes in low flame.

In the mean time add tadka to dal.

For tadka:
Heat small round vessel. Add 2 tbs of ghee and allow ghee to get hot. Add mustard seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick and once starts to splutter add asafoetida.


Add tadka to dal and stir well.

Once the dal starts boiling, allow 2-3 boils remove from flame.

Serve with gujrati fulka, sabji and rice.
Tip: If you are cooking dal and rice in pressure cooker keep dal at the bottom. Add 1:2 water for rice and 1: 1.5 water for dal.

Dal tadka

Ingredients:
[Dal ratio is Mung 1 : Masoor 1/4 : Channa 1/8]
Yellow mung dal / : 1 cup
Masoor dal/ split red lentils: 1/4 cup
Channa dal / split bengal gram lentils: 1-2 tbs

Onions: 1 medium
Tomato: 1 medium
Garlic: 3-4 cloves
Green chilies: 3-4
Coriander: handful

Ghee and oil
Cumin seeds: 3-4 tbs
Red whole chili: 1-2

Tumeric powder: 1-2 tbs
Salt to taste
Garam masala

Preparation:
Soak dal for 30 minutes water and pressure cook it adding salt to taste, few drop of ghee, turmeric till soft. Take 1.5 or 2 times water quantity while cooking. In pressure cooker cook for about 4 pressures. Let it cook off and remove access water and keep aside for later use.

Peel and fine chop onions. Peel and fine chop garlic into thin slices. Wash and fine chop green chilies. Wash and fine chop tomato. Wash and fine chop coriander and leave aside for garnish.

Heat pan add 2 tbs ghee and 2 tbs of oil, add cumin seeds once oil is hot and add garlic and green chilies once cumin start crackling. Stir garlic in oil and cook it its golden brown.

Add onions and cook it its brown. Add tomato and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add salt to taste little bit of turmeric powder. Add boiled dal and add water if required. Let it boil on low heat for 10-15 minutes. Cover it with lid. Add 1 tbs of garam masala and stir well. Cover the lid and let it cook for 5 minutes. Add water if dal is too thick and add salt to taste if you are adding excess water.

For tadka:
Heat ghee in small round vessel. Add cumin seeds and chopped garlic. Let cumin seed crackle and garlic go brown now add red whole chili pieces and after 1 minute add this tadka to dal. Garnish with coriander and serve hot.
Mix well. Enjoy with hot roti or jeera rice.