Dhansak (Chicken Cooked With Lentils And Vegetables)

Dhansak is the best known and liked dish in Parsee Cuisine. Parsees adopted Gujarati as their language and absorbed local influence into their cuisine. 'In Parsee Gujarati, 'Dhaan' means rice and 'Sak' means vegetables. Dhansak is a meat, vegetable and lentil curry which is eaten with caramelized brown pulao rice. Although the dish contains many ingredients, it is quite simple to prepare. The following recipe is from the book 'Great Curries of India' by Camellia Panjabi. I did not add red pumpkin and used water instead of chicken stock. Me and my husband loved the curry. I am jotting the down exact recipe given in the book.

Ingredients:(Serves 6)

Chicken - 3 lb, cut into 6 or more pieces

Toor Dal - 11/2 cups (10 oz)

Tamarind Pulp - 4 tbsp

Ginger - 2 inch piece, peeled

Garlic - 6 cloves

Onions - 2, large, chopped

Red Pumpkin - 3/4 cup, chopped

Eggplants - 2/3 cup, chopped

Potato - 1, chopped

Fresh Dill - 1/4 cup, finely chopped

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Cilantro Leaves - 1 cup + 1 tbsp

Fresh Mint Leaves - 20

Oil - 1/4 cup

Fresh Fenugreek leaves - 1/2 bunch (or 2 tsp kasuri methi)

Parsee Sambar Masala - 3tsp

Dhansak Masala - 2 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1 tsp

Coriander Powder - 3 tsp

Cayenne Powder - 2 tsp

Tomatoes - 3 medium sized, chopped

Green Chillies - 3, chopped

Jaggery/Palm Sugar - 1 tbsp

Lime Juice of 1 whole lime

Salt - As per taste

For the Dhansak Powder:

If unavailable at the grocery store, use a mixture of 11/2 tsp garam masala, 1/4 teaspoon star anise powder and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder.

For the Parsee Sambar Masala:

Mix 3/4 teaspoon fenugreek powder, 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder, 1 teaspoon red cayenne powder and 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper.

Method of Preparation:

1. Wash the toor dal and soak it in water for 30 minutes. Chop finely 4 garlic cloves and 11/2 inch of ginger piece.

2. In a large cooking pot, add the dal to cook in 3 cups water along with chopped onions, pumpkin, eggplants, potato and dill. Add the turmeric powder, whole remaining piece of ginger, remaining 2 garlic cloves, 1 tbsp of chopped coriander leaves and 8 mint leaves. Simmer until the dal is very soft. Allow to cool slightly. Liquidize with an egg beater to achieve a creamy consistency. Season with 1 teaspoon salt.

3. While the dal is cooking, heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry chopped ginger, garlic, 1 cup cilantro leaves, 12 mint leaves, fenugreek, Parsee sambar masala, dhansak masala, cumin and coriander powders, cayenne powder, tomatoes and green chillies and fry for 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Add the chicken and saute for 2 minutes. Season with 1 tsp of salt and stir well.

4. Add the chicken to the dal with 3 cups of water or chicken stock. Add the jaggery, simmer until the chicken is cooked through before adding the tamarind pulp and lime juice. Adjust the salt, then simmer for a couple of minutes.

5. Serve  the Dhansak with hot steamed rice or pulav.

Awards Time

I received my first award in October from Chaitrali Pathak and then the second one from Gayathri. Thank you Chaitrali and Gayathri for the lovely awards. The award they had passed on to me had a rule attached to it - asking me to pass the award on to 15 other blogger friends. Since, my first award was a great source of inspiration, I was on the hunt to find new budding bloggers, on to whom I could pass the 'One Lovely Blog Award'. Finally I think, I have found the deserving blogs that need to be highlighted.

I am handing over the 'One Lovely Blog Award' to the following 14 bloggers, do check out their lovely blogs, when time permits.

1. Mehnaz from 'Chef Naaz - The Mistress of Spices'
2. Tahemeem from 'Tahemeem's Blog'
3. Archana from 'The Mad Scientist's Kitchen'
4. Nisa Homey from 'Cooking Is Easy'
5. Deesha from 'Vegetable Platter'
6. Indian Spice Magic
7. Hasna from 'Kachuss Delights'
8. Joyti from 'Darjeeling Dreams'
9. Roshan from 'Roshan's Cucina'
10. Kavita from 'Seasoned & Dressed'
11. Pavani from 'Food Lovers'
12. Smitha from 'Essence-De-Life'
13. Ayush from 'Kejriwal's Kitchen'
14. Latha from 'A Peek Into My Kitchen'


The 'Sunshine Award', was passed on to me by Chaitrali Pathak. Do check out her blog 'I am not a Chef'and I am thankful to Chaitrali for the lovely award and would love to share this award with all my blogger friends.

Eggless Orange Banana Cake

I wanted to use up an over ripe banana and few oranges, which were sitting around in the kitchen for quite sometime now. Searched over the internet and found some interesting recipes, finally came up with my own version, in which I used self rising flour and whole wheat flour. I also added shredded coconut, walnuts and raisins. I didn't realize that the self rising flour I had bought recently, already contained salt and baking powder.

Ingredients:
Overripe Banana - 1
Orange Juice - 3/4 cup (I used fresh orange juice)
Self Rising Flour - 1/2 cup (The one I used, had salt and baking powder already)
Whole Wheat Flor - 1/2 cup
Brown Sugar - 1/4 cup, firmly packed
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon Powder - 1 tsp
Dry Shredded Coconut - 1 tbsp
Chopped Walnuts - 2 tbsp
Raisins - 1 tbsp
Oil - 3 tbsp

Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease a cake pan with oil. Mash the banana with a fork and it to a mixing bowl. Add the brown sugar to it and mix well.
2. Add the dry ingredients, self rising flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder to a sieve and sieve them twice.
3. Add them to the mashed banana mixture and mix well, ensuring no lumps are formed.
4. Now add the orange juice and mix well. Then fold in the shredded coconut, chopped walnuts and raisins.
5. Finally add the oil and mix well so that it gets incorporated into the batter.
6. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cake comes out clean.
7. Let the cake cool down before slicing. Dust the cake with confectioner's sugar/powdered sugar.

Sending this to Champa's 'Bake-off'

Collard Greens With Moong Dal

Collard greens are an excellent source of beta carotene, Vitamin C, Manganese, Vitamin E and Zinc. They also provide 5 core antioxidants. They have excellent cholesterol lowering abilities. I got a large bunch of collard greens this week. Since the leaves are a little tough to cook, I pressure cooked them with moong dal. The collards green with moong dal was very comforting and delicious.

Ingredients:
Collard Greens - 2 cups, finely chopped
Onion - 1 medium sized, roughly chopped
Tomato - 1 medium sized, roughly chopped
Garlic - 1 clove, finely minced
Moong Dal/ Split Green Gram - 1/2 cup
Garam Masala Powder- 1/4 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp
Green Chillies - 3, roughly chopped
Freshly Grated Coconut - 1 tbsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - As per taste

Method of Preparation:
1. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Then add the chopped onions and fry till they become translucent.
2. Add the minced garlic, fry for 45 seconds. Then add the chopped collard greens. Fry till the greens wilt slightly.
3. Then add the chopped green chillies and tomatoes and fry for couple of minutes.
4. Meanwhile wash the moong dal and add it to a pressure cooker along with 3 cups of water. Then mix in the collards green mixture into the pressure cooker. Add salt, mix well and pressure cook for 2-3 whistles.
5. After the steam is released, open the lid and mash the whole mixture slightly using a masher or a hand blender. Put the pressure cooker on medium heat and add the grated coconut to it.
6. Adjust the salt and let the whole mixture simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.
7. Enjoy the collard greens with moong dal with hot steamed rice or rotis.
Sending this to "Only greens" by Pari & Saraswathi

Chocolate and Almond Sandwich

A simple, easy and delicious cake. I made this last week, when we visited our friends. The cake was yummy.

Ingredients:
Butter - 1 stick
Sugar - 5 tbsp
Egg - 1, beaten
All purpose flour - 6 tbsp
Blanched Almonds - 6 tbsp, powdered/ground
Cocoa powder - 1 tbsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Milk - 3 tbsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp

For the Chocolate Filling:

Semi sweet chocolate - 4 oz, grated

Milk - 11/2 tbsp

Confectioner's sugar/Icing sugar/Powdered Sugar - 1/4 cup

Butter - 6 tbsp

Almond Extract - few drops

Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease twp 7 inch pans and bottom line with baking parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the well beaten egg to it.
3. Mix together the flour, ground almonds, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and sift into a bowl.
4. Add the sifted mixture alternatively with the milk to the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Combine thoroughly.
5. Divide the mixture into two portions and transfer one portion to each prepared baking pan and bake for 20 minutes.
6. Let both the cakes cool down completely before proceeding to the next step. When cool, sandwich the cakes together with the chocolate filling.
7. To make the chocolate filling, mix the chocolate with milk and warm over a low heat or microwave until the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat, beat in the confectioner's sugar and let the filling cool down. Cream the butter and then add the chocolate mixture and the almond extract, beat until the filling becomes light and creamy.
8. You can either cover the top of the cake with confectioner's sugar or can apply a  thin layer of the chocolate filling.

Sending this to Champa's 'Bake-off'

Baked Apple Almond Pudding

I made this yummy dish last week for thanksgiving. It was almost like an apple upside down cake. The bottom layer was apples, which were topped with almond batter. It almost tasted like almond biscotti with baked apples at the bottom. This is a dish definitely worth trying !!!

Ingredients:(Serves 6)
Golden Delicious/McIntosh/Cortland Apples - 5(about 2 lbs)
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Granulated Sugar - 1 cup
Eggs - 2
Almond Extract - 1/4 tsp
All Purpose Flour -1 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup, melted
Toasted Almonds - 1/2 cup, finely chopped
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Butter a 2 quart baking dish or a round souffle dish.
2. Peel, halve and core the apples. Dice the apples into 1/2 inch pieces.
3. Add the apples to a large mixing bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of sugar and vanilla extract. Spread the apples in the bottom of the prepared dish.
4. In the same bowl, beat the eggs with the remaining sugar, almond extract and salt until blended. Add the flour and melted butter and beat until smooth. Stir in the chopped almonds.
5. Spread the batter evenly over the apples. Bake until the top turns golden and the apples can be pierced easily with a thin sharp knife, around 50-60 minutes.
6. Serve the pudding warm.

Sending this to Champa's 'Bake-off'

Salmon Curry

My husband loves fish and I hate it, but I love experimenting with the fish dishes. The dishes that are approved by Praveen, find a place in my blog. Here is one such successful experiment with Salmon.

Ingredients:
Salmon Steaks - 1 lb/500 gm (You can use any fish with firm flesh)
Onion - 1 medium sized, ground to paste
Tomato - 1 large, diced
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tbsp
Dry Red Chillies - 6(Adjust according to spice levels)
Dry Coconut Powder - 2 tbsp
Tamarind - lemon sized ball, soaked in warm water
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - As per taste
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp (For tempering)
Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp (For tempering)
Fennel Seeds - 1/4 tsp (For tempering)
Fenugreek Seeds - 6 (For tempering)
Curry Leaves - few (For tempering)

Method of Preparation:
1. Dry roast mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dry red chillies on medium heat, till they emanate aroma. Cool and grind them to a fine powder.
2. Add diced tomatoes, coconut powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder to the already ground powder and grind to a smooth paste. Keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed non stick pan. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Add the ground onion paste after the spluttering stops and fry till it turns slightly brown in color.
4. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for 2 minutes. Then add the ground masala or the tomato spice mixture to it and fry till oil gets separated.
5. Meanwhile, extract the tamarind pulp by squeezing the soaked tamarind. Add the tamarind extract and a cup of water. Stir well.
6. Let the gravy boil and then simmer for few more minutes.
7. Add the cleaned fish to the gravy and cook covered for 4 minutes, then turn the fish around and cook covered for 2-3 minutes. Depending on the size of the fish pieces, increase or decrease the cooking time. Turn off the heat and cover the lid. Let the curry rest for a minimum of 2 hours, before serving.
8. Enjoy the salmon curry with steamed rice.