peeled and diced eggplantdiced potatoesfinely chopped onions and green chilliesfinely chopped tomatoescumin seeds and finely chopped garlicfinely chopped coriander leaves
Procedure
In a pressure cooker, add some oil and let it warm up. To the warm oil, add cumin seeds and finely chopped garlic.
add cumin seeds and garlic
Once the garlic turns golden brown, add finely chopped onions and green chillies. Mix well until the onions turn golden brown.
garlic turns golden brownadd onions and green chillies
Add finely chopped tomatoes and mix.
onions turn golden brownadd tomatoes and mix
Add turmeric powder, salt, coriander powder and hing and mix well.
Once the tomatoes are cooked and oil starts to leave the sides, add the diced pieces of eggplant and mix well. Tip: Peel the skin of the eggplant and cut into small cubes. To prevent discoloration, wash thoroughly in water and soak the cubes in water until we add them to the cooker.
tomatoes are cookedadd diced eggplant
After mixing the diced eggplant into the cooker, add the diced potatoes and mix well.
mix eggplant welladd diced potatoesmix potatoes well
Add water to the cooker until the level of water reaches the level of the vegetables.
add water
Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles (this may vary for you so please ensure that the vegetables are properly cooked).
Allow the pressure to settle and open the cooker. The vegetables should be properly cooked the eggplant should be very soft.
cooked vegetables
Use a ladle to mix well and the eggplant should be mashed easily when we mix (Please ensure not to completely mash the potatoes).
mix vegetables well
Add garam masala to the curry and mix well. Check the salt content and add if necessary.
add garam masala
Garnish with coriander leaves.
add coriander leaves
Voila! The potato and eggplant curry is ready. It can be eaten with rotis or steamed rice. Bon appetit!
Soak the channa dal in some water. This will ensure that the dal is not hard to chew.
In a frying pan, add some ghee and roast the vermicelli until it turns golden brown. Please note that the vermicelli can roast really fast, so please be careful not to burn it.
Roast vermicelli in ghee
Roasted vermicelli in golden brown color
Remove the fried vermicelli from the pan and add some more ghee. When the ghee is warm, add some mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal. The mustard seeds will splutter and the dals will turn golden brown.
Fry mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal in ghee
Add some turmeric to the above mixture.
Add turmeric and stir
Add water to the pan. I use a 1:3 ratio for vermicelli and water. So for 1 cup of vermicelli, I will add 3 cups (use same measuring cup) of water. Also add salt to the water. Allow the water to boil. You can check the salt by tasting the water before adding further ingredients.
Add water to the panAllow water to boil
To the boiling water, add the roasted vermicelli and stir.
Add vermicelli to boiling water
Add some coriander leaves to the pan. And mix well.
Add coriander leaves and mix
The water will start evaporating from the pan and keep stirring till you get required consistency.
I have been complimented for my dal recipes many times and I was recently asked by a friend of mine to share the recipe. So here it is. I am an amateur cook and before moving to the United States, I had no prior cooking experience. The recipe is similar to my mother-in-law’s dal recipe and I hope you like it. I am open to your suggestions and look forward to your comments.
Please note that I am not good at measurements so I will post pictures to demonstrate how much quantity of each spice or masala goes in.
Ingredients :
Moong Dal
Onions (finely chopped)
Tomatoes (finely chopped)
Garlic pods (finely chopped)
Green chillies (finely chopped)
Cilantro or Coriander leaves (finely chopped)
Cumin seeds (Jeera)
Turmeric (Haldi) powder
Coriander (Dhaniya) powder
Asafoetida (Hing)
Amchur
Garam masala
Vegetable Oil (I use mustard oil)
Finely chopped garlic, onions and green chilliesFinely chopped tomatoes
Procedure:
1. Boil 1 cup of moong dal in a pressure cooker with salt, turmeric powder and water. I use 1:5 dal to water ratio and pressure cook for 1 whistle. (Please note that the dal to water ratio and number of whistles can vary. Choose what is best for you).
Boiled Moong Dal
2. In a frying pan, add mustard oil (or any vegetable oil of your choice) and let it warm. To the warm oil, add cumin seeds. Once the seeds start sputtering, add finely chopped garlic. I use mustard oil because the smell of fresh garlic in warm mustard oil is just heavenly!
Mustard Oil and Cumin Seeds
3. Once the garlic turns golden brown in color, add the finely chopped onions and green chillies.
Add garlicGarlic is golden brownAdd onions and green chillies
4. Once the onions turn golden brown, add the finely chopped tomatoes and mix.
Onions are golden brown
5. Start adding the spices and masala powders at this stage and mix. I also add some salt at this stage to let the mixture cook faster.
6. Turn the heat to medium low and cover the frying pan and let the mixture cook well. When the tomatoes are cooked, you will notice oil leaving the sides of the pan.
The mixture is ready
7. To this mixture, add the boiled dal and some water. The quantity of water will depend on your preferred consistency of the dal. When the dal starts boiling (bubbles appear), and add some chopped coriander leaves.
