Toor Dal with Poi Patra Bhaji

Ingredients (makes 8 servings)

Toor Dal - 1 cup
Chana Dal - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp
Dry bay leaf - 4
Dry red whole chilli - 1
Tomato - 1 medium

Tempering Ingredients

Canola oil - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Onion - 1 medium
Ginger paste - 1 tbsp

Pressure cook the washed toor dal and chana dal with chopped tomato, salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, dry bay leaf and dry red whole chilli. After 1 whistle, let it sit in Medium-Low heat for 10 mins.

Heat 1/2 tsp canola oil. Add mustard seed. Once it crackles, add jeera. Once the jeera is browned, add the onion. Toss it till the onion is transparent and then add the ginger paste. When the entire mixture is cooked, add it to the cooked dal mixture.

Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves.



Pic shows plain basmati rice with toor dal and Poi Patra Bhaja. Last when I posted about Poi leaves/Pohi leaves, I did not have the bhaja pics. Making up for that here.

Kheer Sagar

Most of the Oriya household sweets are milk-based. This is one of the many such sweets. Kheer Sagar literally translates to "Ocean of Milk"...and that is exactly the feeling you get when enjoying the mild flavors of this sweet. Though it takes quite a long time to make, approximately 4-6 hours, it is not that much effort. So do try it, if you have a huge sweet-tooth. You can refrigerate it and enjoy it for a week.

After receiving comments, I do realize that this is pretty similar to Rasmalai. Only Rasmalai's milk-base is slightly thinner in consistency (I may be wrong here!). Let me find out!



Ingredients (makes 10-12 servings)

Half and Half - 2 gallons
Sugar - 8 tbsp
Cardamom Powder - 1 tbsp
Saffron - few strands for garnishing
Swad Rasagolla - 2 cans (Any other brand will do or self-made rasagolla also works.)

Bring the milk to a boil in High heat. Reduce the heat to Medium-Low heat and let it simmer.

After an hour, add the sugar and cardamom powder.

Let it simmer for another two hours to three hours. Keep stirring it every 15-20 mins to prevent it from sticking to the sides and burning.

Check the consistency of the milk. It needs to be thick, more than evaporated milk but much less than condensed milk.

Half an hour before you stop the simmering of the milk, add the Rasagolla. Before dropping the rasagolla in the milk, squeeze it to remove the sugar syrup that comes in the can.

Remove from heat. Garnish with saffron strands. Let it cool. Then refrigerate it and serve cold. You can also serve it at room temperature. My mom tells me if you eat it warm, it may upset your stomach.



I am submitting this for the event "Think Spice...Think Saffron".

It is being hosted by Sunita of "Sunita's World" blog. The announcement for this event is here.

This is a monthly event.