Keeping the pulses racing

We wish you all a wonderful Diwali

We wish you all a Happy Diwali

You all know how much I appreciate someone else writing this blog for me and this one is no exception.

This wonderfully detailed explanation of how to create delicious and authentic Indian dishes was sent to us following a long conversation with one of our customers.

Jas is a doctor and is learning to cook with the help of her relatives.
Her Sikh background means that she fully appreciates the benefits of cooking in iron pots and she shares our opinion that meals cooked in our cookware are superior to those cooked in other vessels.
She has a great collection of our cookware, including a cast iron casserole a couple of frying pans and a saucepan.

I adore pulses, so this is an absolute gift for me - a great blog and lots of new ideas to experiment with. As always though, we'd really like to hear what YOU think.

Over to Jas.................

The first batch of recipes are all 'one pot curries', using the following beans, pulses or lentils.  I have grouped each combination into groups A-F.  If I know the alternative name for the dal, I have added it.  Each group of dals is prepared in the same basic manner, and then is embellished individually at the end, so please follow the basic stem recipe and then refer to each recipe ending separately.  I will use the term 'dal' to refer to the dried beans of whichever recipe you are following in the dry and 'pot' stage.  Each dal has been tried and tested in the iron cookware.

I personally prefer to use either Natco or East End brands (good quality yet cheap to buy in large quantities).  


Group A: yellow split lentils and red split lentils ( masar dal)
Group B: red kidney beans 
Group C: black eyed beans
Group D: split chick peas (chana dal)
Group E: whole chick peas- many varieties, all prepared in the same way (sholay)
Group F: whole brown mung beans, chana dal, black urid beans, whole green mung beans.


Preparation

Group A dals do not need to be soaked prior to cooking so are ideal for when you need a quick emergency meal for a lot of people. 
For groups B-F:

To make the maximum amount of your end product dal, with a 4 litre pot, you will need 600ml of dry weight dal. I usually make a brimful pot of dal and we eat it until all gone and then make another!

Measure out 600ml of dry dal if using a single dal recipe, or measure out equal parts of dal to make up roughly that amount if attempting a combination dal recipe.

Transfer into a clean bowl and cover with plenty of cold water and leave to soak for at least 10 hours.  Please make sure to soak in plenty of water as the dry dal will absorb a lot.  This will reduce the cooking time and ensure lovely soft, creamy dal.  If the weather is hot, I leave the covered dal in the fridge whilst soaking to prevent it fermenting.  

The soaking stage is particularly important to soften the red kidney beans, which are potentially the most toxic type of bean, unless prepared and cooked properly.

And here is my interpretation of chana dal, following Jas's guidelines

Cooking stage

Cleaning
Boil the kettle using fresh water.
Rinse the dal very thoroughly until the water runs completely clear.
Transfer to pot.
Add hot water until dal completely covered and then half a pint more.
Prepare the kettle again.


Boiling stage
Bring the heat up gradually until you reach a fast boil.
Keep at this heat for 10-15 min for all dals, except the red kidney beans which need at least 30 min ( these are toxic unless cooked in this way)
You will notice some froth rising to the surface, this should be gently skimmed off and discarded. Using a wooden spoon, mix regularly to prevent any sticking ( using these pots, so far, I have not had food stick to the bottom of the pan)

Simmering stage
Once the boiling stage is over, cover the pot and leave to simmer for at least one hour, stirring regularly and adding more hot water if your dal is becoming dry. 

The longer you simmer for, the softer and creamier your dal will be.

Thurka stage
Thurka is what gives your dal flavour and this is how I make it using the same dal pot.  As taste is very individual, vary the amounts according to your own preferences.

Add as much butter as you feel like!

Add one large chopped onion, chopped garlic, chopped green finger chillies and a small amount of ginger.  Squeeze a small amount of concentrated tomato paste into the pot.

Add one small 'spice spoon' worth of salt.
Add the double the amount of dry garam masala 
( I use East End whole mixed spice and grind it in small batches to keep it as fresh as possible)
Add one spice spoon of ground turmeric
Add half the amount of powdered red chilli 

Stir thoroughly and continue to simmer for at least one hour for all groups of dal, except group A, which will only need 20 minutes.

This stage is complete when the onions are meltingly soft, and the dal is completely soft.

You are almost done! Taste and add spice accordingly, but ensure you continue to cook to release the flavour, rather than just add salt and spice to correct the flavour at the very end to avoid that 'uncooked' taste.

Finishing off
Red kidney bean dal goes extremely well with potatoes, and Black eyed beans go well with potatoes and mushrooms, these can be washed, cleaned, chopped and added at the end. Continue to simmer until the potatoes are soft.  Cooking times vary really, I just usually keep cooking until everything is soft.

All dals can be finished with fresh, chopped coriander and freshly squeezed lemon to serve.

Cumin toasted lightly in butter in a frying pan is perfect for masar dal.


This is pretty much what I do on a daily basis using your amazing pots and my family are all pretty happy.  I hope that my suggestions for recipes are of some small use to you.   
Jas