Aloo Tamatar Jhol - No Onion No Garlic

Aloo jhol is a dish from the North Indian cuisine of Uttar Pradesh, this is a no onion no garlic gravy dish which can be had with puris, luchis or chapatis and also goes well with steamed rice.

Jhol means a thin gravy, wherein  the potatoes are first boiled  and then add them to the gravy.  This gravy does thicken when it cools a little.    This is another vrat recipe.

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Cumin seeds
1/2 Teaspoon Mustard seeds
1 Inch Piece Ginger -  finely chopped
1 Green Chilly -  finely chopped
2 Tablespoons Tomato paste
5 Medium Potatoes - boiled
A Pinch of Asafoetida
1 Teaspoon Heaped Coriander powder

1 Teaspoon Heaped Red chilly powder

½ Teaspoon Turmeric powder

½ Teaspoon Sugar 

Salt to taste

Water as required
1 Tablespoon  Coriander leaves - finely chopped

Method

Chop the potatoes into thin triangle slices.

Grind the green chilly and ginger to  make a fine paste. keep aside.

Heat  oil in a kadai, add  cumin seeds and  mustard seeds,  when they crackle them add the ground paste and tomato paste, fry till oil surface, then add the turmeric, chilly and coriander powders, with a little water and saute  till oil surfaces. 

Add the  potatoes and continue to fry for a minute, add salt, sugar, two cups of water  or more and bring it to a rolling boil.  When it comes to boil, cover and let it simmer on low flame for 10 to 15 minutes till oil surfaces.  Keep stirring off and on and mash the potatoes lightly.   Adjust the gravy consistency is accordingly by adding more water.

When done then garnish it with coriander leaves and serve with puris, luchi or chapatis or steamed rice.

My Notes

Can use 2 medium tomatoes blended instead tomato paste . Blend the tomatoes with the ginger and green chilly.

Labels: Aloo, Tomato, No Onion No Garlic, Vrat, Uttar Pradesh

Dal Sultani - Mughlai Cuisine

This yummy dal is a Mughlai cuisine of Uttar Pradesh. Its rich and creamy .  Goes well with both rice/pulao or chapattis.

Ingredients

1 Cup Moong Dal - washed and soaked for an hour
2 Cups Water
1 Tablespoon Red Chilly Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt 

For the Gravy

200 Grams Yogurt
200 ML Milk
100 ML Fresh Cream
6 Cloves  - coarsely ground
6 Small Cardamoms  - coarsely ground
1/2 Teaspoon Saffron Strands - mix in a Tablespoon water

For Tempering:

1/2 Cup  Butter or Ghee - I used  half of each
1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
8 Cloves Garlic  - chopped
For garnishing coriander leaves  - finely chopped
A Piece of Coal for dungar

Method

Soak lentil for half an hour, add in it water, salt, chily powder and boil the dal till its cooked. 

In a bowl mix,  yogurt,  milk and  malai,  beat  well , add the cardamon and cloves powder mix well.  

When lentils  is cooked, add in creamy mixture, stir the dal well, cook on slow flame for 10 minutes  stirring it so that it does not burn at  the bottom.  Switch off flame,  add the saffron water give it quick stir.

Prepare the tempering

Heat ghee and butter in a pan add the cumin, chopped garlic when the garlic starts to brown take off flame and pour on dal . Cover with a lid. Lastly place the lighted coal in piece of foil or a small bowl pour ghee over it and keep it over the dal covered for 5 minutes. Open garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot. We had this thick, rich, creamy and yummy dal with Yeasted Jowar Naan. 

My Notes:

This dal is not spicy so do add more chilly powder, this will ruin the taste and color of the dal.

Do skip giving dungar to the dal, as this enhances the flavor.

You can use split pigeons peas / tur dal too instead of moong dal

Labels : Dal, Moong dal, Lentils, Mughlai Cuisine, Uttar Pradesh