Methi Times Three

I wish there was a clever or an amusing story to go with this recipe. But there isn't. No preamble. This is quite simply my favourite way of making methi-cha-varan/ methi-daal.
It has methi in three forms: slightly soaked methi seeds, methi seeds in the phodni (tadka, tempering) and finally glorious methi greens.

Methi-cha Varan

Ingredients
1 cup toor (arhar) daal, washed
1 - 1½ cup methi leaves, chopped
1 tbsp methi (fenugreek) seeds, soaked for a couple of hours in warm water
4-5 kadhilimba (curry leaves)
phodni kit (1 tbsp oil, ½ tsp cumin seeds, pinch of asafoetida, and ¼ tsp turmeric)
1 tsp methi seeds
1 tsp (or more) red chili powder
a couple stalks of cilantro leaves, chopped
a pinch of sugar
salt, to taste
lemon juice, to taste
warm water

Method
Pressure cook the toor daal and the soaked methi seeds.
Heat the oil, when hot add the cumin seeds, the asafoetida, and the methi seeds.
Don't let the methi seeds brown.
Add the turmeric and then the methi leaves.
Give it a quick stir and cook uncovered for a couple of minutes.
Add the cooked daal-methi mixture, the curry leaves, the red chili powder, salt, and sugar.
Add a cup of warm water and cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes.
Add more warm water if you want a thinner varan.
Add the lemon juice.
Adjust the salt and spice levels.
Serve with steamed rice.

Enjoy!

If you have any questions or comments, please write to me the.best.cooker@gmail.com or Tweet me @Cooker_Baker. Thanks for stopping by.

Rosemary Daal

My daughter and I love rosemary in everything. Literally everything. In addition to the usual (savoury) suspects such as bread, salad dressing, and flavoured oils we especially like it in daal. Usually moog daal (split mung beans) or toor daal (split pigeon peans, arhar, tuvar). Though rosemary-toor daal is good too, my preference is for the rosemary-moog daal combination.

The non-distaff side of the family mocks us when we rave over rosemary-daal; more for us.

Rosemary Daal
Ingredients
1 cup cooked moog daal
1 tsp chopped rosemary
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
salt, to taste
juice of ½ lemon (not optional)
1 tsp oil, mild
1 cup (or more) warm water.

Method
Heat oil over medium-low heat.
Add the garlic, do not let it brown.
Add the cooked daal. Add water to thin it as per your preference.
Add the rosemary and salt.
Bring it to a boil.
Add the lemon juice just before serving.
Enjoy!

Serving Suggestions
We like this daal with some freshly steamed rice or we just sip devour bowls of this daal much like a soup.
The daal is great warm as well as at room temperature.

This is my entry to MLLA#25, a long running blog-event celebrating legumes. This event is the brain child of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Shevgyachya Shenganchi Amti (Drumstick Daal)

Amti (daal) is a cornerstone of any Maharashtian meal.
There are countless versions of it and rightfully deserve a separate post (coming soon).
Here is a simple everyday amti using shevgyachya shenga (drumsticks).
The addition of chincha-gool (tamarind-jaggery) makes it typically Maharashtrian.

Shevgyachya Shenganchi Amti

Ingredients

1 cup toor daal
4-5 curry leaves
4-5 drumsticks, cut into 2-3 inch pieces
gul (jaggery) a 2 inch piece
2-3 amsula (kokum) or 2 tsp tamarind paste
2 tsp dhanya-jeerya chi pood (cumin-coriander powder)
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of asafetida
1 tsp turmeric
salt, to taste
4-5 stalks of coriander leaves, chopped

Method
Wash the daal and cook with 2 cups water. When cooked, mix it well till there are no clumps.
Heat oil. When hot add the mustard seeds, as they start dancing, add the asafetida, then the turmeric.
Next, add the curry leaves and the cumin-coriander powder.
Add the drumsticks and saute for 1-2 minutes.
Add the cooked daal, the tamarind, jaggery, and salt.
Adjust the quantity of water depending on the consistency that you want.
Bring to a boil.
Adjust the tamarind and jaggery as per your taste.
Garnish with the coriander leaves.
Enjoy with steamed rice.


This is my entry for Nupur's A-Z of Indian Vegetables series.

This is also my first entry for the RCI-June: Maharashtrian Foods event, this month hosted by Nupur.