Comfort food doesn’t get any better than a bowl of piping hot, creamy, spicy lentils topped with crispy onions, fried green chillies and crunchy fried spinach.

Urad, or black gram lentils are a staple in Indian homes and are used for making a variety of dishes from simple daals to elaborate Masala Dosa. They’re packed with protein and have a heartier texture than mung beans. Because of their tougher texture, they need to be cooked thoroughly to extract as much of their creamy starchiness as possible. I find the easiest way to do this is to soak the urad daal overnight and cook them using a pressure cooker – something you’ll find in every Indian home, rather than it being just an alien contraption collecting dust in the back of your Nan’s cupboard. After that, I slow cook for 6-8 hours for the creamiest, most off the hook daal you’ve ever tasted.

I love dinners like these. A shot from the other day. Spinach, sweet potato and peas in coconut milk, daal makhani, samosas, Indian churros, lime and coriander sour cream chutney and a mega stack of soft chapattis.

Growing up, I was reared on Gujarati Urad Daal rather than the richer Punjabi version of black gram lentils more popular on restaurant menus around the globe. We were taught that eating urad daal every Saturday (the holy day of Hanuman, the ever-powerful monkey god), we’d become so strong we’d be able to lift mountains. To no surprise, my wrestling-obsessed brother would wolf it down it with plenty of hope and hot, buttery chapattis.

The key difference between Gujarati and Punjabi urad daal is that the Gujarati version has no garam masala, kidney beans or cream. This isn’t to say it’s not delicious but more practical to eat often. However, if I’m honest, the ingredients my native Gujarati version lacked are the things I love so much about the classic Punjabi recipe here. Once you’ve made this version at home, Daal Makhani you get down your local Indian restaurant or takeaway won’t suffice, trust me.

My favourite way to eat Daal Makhani is with Garlic and Coriander Naan, Salted Lassi and nothing more. My recipe may not make you strong enough to uproot mountains like Hanuman dada, but it sure as hell will make you crave a weekly fix every Saturday… or Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

Daal Makhani
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

220g urad (black gram lentils), washed and soaked in cold water overnight
200g kidney beans, washed (I use tinned)
1 tbsp oil
3 large cloves garlic, crushed
5 tbsp ginger, grated (loads, don’t be shy)
2 large, thin green chillies, chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds, ground
200g passata
900ml hot water
Pinch bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp brown sugar or jaggery
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
1 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp salt
100ml double cream
50g butter

Method

1. Heat the butter in a pressure cooker, add the cumin seeds, garlic, ginger, chillies, tomato puree and passata. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the hot water and bring to the boil. Stir in the soaked urad and baking powder (this helps them cook quickly and evenly).

2. Put the lid on the pressure cooker and cook on a medium heat for 35 minutes or until the lentils are soft.

3. Stir in the ground coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, cinnamon, sugar, salt and double cream and stir.

3. Blend very briefly with a stick blender, leaving the majority of the urad whole. This is just to make it thick and creamy. Add the kidney beans. Pour in to a slow cooker and cook on high for 6-8 hours, stirring often. At the very end, add the garam masala and a dollop of butter.

3. Serve with fried onions, fried spinach, fried green chillies and a splash of cream (optional).

Note: Urad daal has a tendency to thicken as it cools so you may need to loosen it up with some hot water before serving.

Love Sanjana

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I’m yet to meet a person who doesn’t love masala dosas. A light, healthy meal full of nutrients and flavour, dosas are widely popular on restaurant menus and in roadside cafés.

Ever since I was a little girl I have always associated these crispy rolls of spicy potato with family outings to a nearby vegetarian restaurant which serves ‘monster dosas’. If you hadn’t already guessed, these are gigantic versions of the South Indian speciality. When I say gigantic I’m talking over a ft long.

We didn’t always go out to eat moster dosas, sometimes we were treated to the special type of masala dosas – homemade ones.

On strained tiptoes, I used to peek over the stove top to watch my mother swirl the thinnest sheet of batter you’ve ever laid eyes on, as glorious mix of anxiety and hunger slowly took over my pot belly. As soon as I saw the faintest tinge of golden brown through the pancake, I’d run to pick up one of our very Indian Pyrex plates from Popat Stores in Wembley and return to collect my reward for waiting so patiently.

She would spread a layer of my father’s speciality coconut chutney on top of the rice and lentil pancake, then a tumble of spicy lemon potatoes, and slowly roll it up ready to slide onto the plate gripped with restless hands. A drizzle of chutney on top and I was ready to sink my teeth into a harmonious medley of textures and flavours.

Now, I could go all fancy-schmancy by making monster dosa for you to stun your guests into thinking you’re a domestic god/goddess – but I won’t.

1. Because I’m not a pro dosa spreader.
2. Because mini is always cuter and more convenient.

I’m good at applying justifications to my weaknesses. If you are amazing at batter-spreading please go ahead and make giant ones – they will taste great. The key is to get the filling and the chutney perfect. Always remember to add plenty of lemon, salt and sugar – they make a big difference.

After stacks of experimentation, I found that if you’re a novice and want to spread thin dosa, use a cold pan wiped with sunflower oil. The downside to this is that the colouring of the pancake is not as even as it would be if you used a hot pan.

If you’re feeling brave, try using a hot pan but ensure you spread very quickly and very evenly. Easier said than done – I know. With time the technique becomes much simpler to perfect. Here are 10 top tips:

1. Always use a flat, non-stick pan with no ridges.
2. Use half an onion, pierced onto the end of a fork to rub oil into your pan. It flavours your pancake and stops it from sticking.
3. Pour your batter into the middle of the pan with a ladle, making concentric circles outwards to spread thinly and evenly.
4. Using a cold pan? Leave the heat on high to warm up your pancake quickly. This may alter the colouring of the dosas.
5. Using a hot pan? (Good for you!) Spread quickly, evenly and as thinly as possible over a medium heat.
6. If your dosa are thicker than you’d like, try to spread them more thinly whilst on the heat, flattening as much as you can.
7. When the top of the pancake dries out, spread it with some oil using the back of a spoon to stop it drying out completely. You could then place a lid over the top of the pan if you wanted to.
8. When you start to see golden brown specks under the pancake, gently use a spatula to loosen the edges from underneath, ensuring it doesn’t break.
9. When golden, flip and cook the dosa for 5-10 seconds on the other side. Flip back and spread the uncoloured side with chutney, add filling and roll.
10. Keep remaining batter in the fridge for up to a week. You can use this to make uttapam (thick dosa with added vegetables – no need to roll).

Mini Masala Dosa

Ingredients for the batter:

200g uncooked rice
100g urad dal (split and husked black gram)
50g channa dal (split husked Bengal gram)
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 small pinch bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp asafoetida
Salt to taste

You will also need:

½ an onion pierced through the top with a fork
Around 100ml sunflower oil

For the potato filling:

800g potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes
150g onions, roughly chopped into cubes (optional)
2 large, hot green chillies, minced (or to taste)
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp ginger, minced
50ml lemon juice
1 ½ tsp salt or to taste
2 tbsp sugar
8-10 curry leaves
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp asafoetida (optional)
Handful of chopped coriander

For the coconut and coriander chutney:

5 large hot green chillies
1 small clove garlic
1 tsp ginger
80g coriander, including stalks
100g desiccated coconut
100ml coconut milk
1 tbsp sunflower oil
40ml lemon juice
2 ½ tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
120g Greek yogurt

Method

For the potato filling:

1. Boil the potatoes in plenty of hot, salted water until tender. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the mustard seeds. Wait for them to pop, then add the asafoetida, curry leaves, onions, chillies, turmeric and ginger. Allow to cook on a low heat for 5 minutes. Add the salt, sugar, lemon, and potatoes. Toss together and add the chopped coriander.

For the coriander chutney:

1. In a large bowl, soak the coconut in the coconut milk and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, blend together all other ingredients except the yogurt using a food processor or a pestle and mortar if you’re feeling energetic or have stress to relieve.

3. Mix the blended ingredients with the soaked coconut and yogurt mixture.

For the batter:

1. Mix together the rice, urad dal, channa dal and fenugreek seeds and wash 5-6 times in cold water.

2. Place them in a large bowl and cover with warm water overnight or for at least 5 to 6 hours.

3. After the soaking period discard the soaking water, reserving about 500ml.

4. Place the soaked rice, dals and methi seeds in a blender/grinder, and blend to a thick paste. The consistency of the batter should be just so that it covers the back of a spoon. Add a little bit of the reserved soaking water to help with the blending/grinding process. Blend/grind the batter to a degree where it’s grainy – this is what’s going to make your dosas crispy.

5. Place the dosa batter in an extra large bowl, and put the bowl on top of a tray to catch the batter the fermentation becomes too aggressive. Cover loosely and ferment overnight.

6. The next day, add salt, asafoetida and bicarbonate of soda, whisk lightly. It is important to add salt at this stage and NOT before as salt retards the fermentation process.

I created the slideshow below to illustrate the dosa making process. To see it in all its glory press play, hover over the slideshow and click the bottom right button to enlarge to fullscreen mode. Then click the top right ‘show info’ button to see my commentary.

You could also serve this with a finely diced salad of tomatoes, spring onions, coriander, a dash of lemon, a pinch of sugar, a pinch of cumin powder, and some salt. If you want to go authentically South Indian, top it of with a ladle-full of sambhar (a thick daal with vegetables). The dosa pancake is just a carrier for an array of fillings you cook up. We often fill them with lentils, vegetables and paneer, then serve with a variety of chutneys.

I don’t know about you but I could eat masala dosa for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My family love to have masala dosa parties where we invite all 50-70 family members over to dig in to dosas – yeah, I have a huge, loud and hungry family. These mini dosas are perfect for such occasions so why not try these and invite your family and friends over? Just don’t forget my invite.

The post Mini Masala Dosa appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

This recipe was requested by Max- A reader with an inspiring passion for Gujarati food.

Prepare yourselves to be psychologically transported to Gujarat with this hearty daal dish. Urad daal (also known as black gram) are used all over India, in a huge variety of dishes. They make hearty lunch or dinner stews in Northern and Western India, whereas they grace the breakfast tables of South Indian homes in their skinned-split form. These lentils are so versatile; they can be used whole, split or ground to make curries, soups, steamed savoury cakes (idlis) and even those notoriously delicious lentil pancakes (dosa).

The earthy, iron-richness of the whole lentils make a traditional and popular meal for peasant workers on Indian farms, and can be served with a variety of breads like naan, chapattis and rotla, and also plain basmati rice. Add plenty of butter or ghee at your will (and mine), although this will not be necessary to add creaminess to the dish. When cooked, urad daal bleed a thick, glutinous liquid which will make your finished dish rich, creamy and thoroughly delicious. Butter or ghee will give your urad daal a beautiful flavour which marries delightfully with the spiciness of the dish.

Some Hindus believe that urad daal should be traditionally made into a stew like this on Saturday, for Saturday represents the day of the monkey god, Lord Hanuman. Lord Hanuman is worshipped each week on this day, and belief has it that he gathered his otherworldly strength from eating such lentils. Urad daal is packed with vitamins, protein and iron, so move over Popeye- Hanuman’s in town and he brings with him the strength of one thousand elephants, and karahi’s full of spicy urad daal!

Gujarati-Style Urad Daal
(Serves 4 people as a main dish or 6 as a starter or side)

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups whole urad daal, soaked in warm water for 2-4 hours
3 cups hot water (or more to cook the lentils if you don’t have a pressure cooker)
1 ½ tbsp garlic, minced
4-5 hot green chillies, minced (or to taste)
1 tbsp ginger, minced
½ cup tomatoes, pureed
2 tbsp ghee (plus more for serving- optional) or oil for a vegan option
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
8-10 curry leaves
¼ tsp asafoetida (optional)
½ tsp turmeric
1 ½ tsp salt (or to taste)
½ tsp dried, powdered sour mango (amchur) or 1 tbsp lemon juice
Extra 2-3 cups hot water
½ cup fresh coriander, chopped

Method

1. Boil the urad daal in plenty of water until just past the al dente stage (they need to be quite soft to ooze that glutinous liquid). If you have a pressure cooker, use 3 cups of water and wait for about 10 whistles. Set this aside.

2. In a large pan, heat the ghee (or oil for a vegan option) and add the mustard seeds. Wait for them to pop, and then add the cumin seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida.

3. Quickly add the tomatoes, garlic, ginger and chillies. Cook this mixture out on a medium heat for around 5 minutes. Add the turmeric and cook for a further minute.

4. Add the cooked urad daal and mix thoroughly. Add around 2-3 cups of hot water and stir constantly for -2 minutes to gain a glutionous, creamy consistency.

5. Add salt and amchur powder or lemon and taste for seasoning. Stir in the coriander and serve hot with lashings of butter or ghee.

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