Culinary Chronicles
By Yasmin Rahul Bakshi
Food exceeds any religion or belief. No frontiers, no barriers, no parameters! It’s all about emotions of love and fondness. Each household is different with diverse customs.
I was raised in a family where all festivals were celebrated with scrumptious food and friends yet without any obligatory traditions – cultural or religious, with due respect to the faith and sentiments of everyone. Got married in a family where traditions were followed to a certain extent. Embraced some, chose the best out of all.
On “Karwa Chauth” – like all wives, I too wish and pray for the health and longevity of Tiger. We wake up together manifesting happiness over a cup of tea. Skip the fast over a feast with fidelity and devotion in our hearts for each other. Choose each other’s company than to be in the congregation of ladies. Spend moments mooning over him rather than gazing at the moon.
All festivals mark glee, rejoice and togetherness. Reliance over the customary foods on festivals is enormous and I do follow the contemporary gastronomic practices.
Conventionally, on this auspicious occasion in many north Indian households, black lentils are seethed to make “dal makhni” along with “aloo gobhi, dahi bhalla, parantha and kheer” for dinner.
”Kali dal” or “dal makhni” does not literally refer to butter but to the buttery, velvety, creamy texture that the lentils release when cooked on a slow flame for hours. Various versions and gourmet recipes of this dal have developed over the ages like Dal Bukhara and Dal Raisina.
Ingredients:
- Whole black gram (sabut urad) – 1.5 cups
- Kidney beans (rajma) – ¼ cup
- Ginger garlic paste – 3 Tbsp
- Tomato puree (fresh) – ¾ cup
- Butter – ¼ cup
- Fresh cream – ½ cup (whipped)
- Salt – according to taste
- Kashmiri chili powder – 1 tsp
- Red chili powder – according to taste
- Kasuri methi – 1 tsp
- Asafoetida – ¼ tsp
- Garam masala powder – ½ tsp
- Bay leaves – 3
- Cinnamon – 1 inch
- Black cardamom – 4
(I prefer using the “Pahadi” variety of sabut urad and “Chakrauta“ rajma in this recipe.)
Method:
- Wash and soak the rajma overnight or for 8-9 hours. Discard the water.
- Wash the dal.
- Add the dal, rajma, ginger-garlic paste, bay leaves, cinnamon, black cardamom, asafoetida, salt and 8 cups of water in a pressure cooker.
- Close the lid and cook on slow flame for an hour after one whistle.
- Switch off the flame and open the lid once the steam finishes.
- Stir the dal well. Switch on the flame again.
- Add in the whipped cream, mix well.
- After a boil, reduce the flame and cook the dal until the creamy colour changes to bright brown. Stir at regular intervals.
- Now add the tomato puree, Kashmiri chili powder and red chili powder.
- Cook on slow flame for an hour, stirring again at regular intervals. If the water content reduces, you can add more water accordingly.
- Now add the butter, crushed kasuri methi and garam masala powder. Cook further for half an hour.
- Serve with roti, parantha or naan with a follow of butter on top.
(The taste of this dal enhances after a couple of hours of cooking or the next day.)
(Yasmin Rahul Bakshi is a food historian and an accomplished consultant Chef. A widely travelled Army wife from the Mussoorie hills with exposure to international cuisines & preserving recipes with the medium of food photography and digital content creation in the form of stories.)
