Homestyle Tadka Daal and Baby Eggplant Curry

Indian cuisine has so much to offer beyond the standard restaurant fare. Like any cuisine home cooked is special. It’s made with higher quality ingredients, lean with the quintessential ingredient of love and passion. Daal is core to every household in India and it’s diaspora. It’s one of the primary sources of protein, for vegetarians or meat eaters. It’s one recipe everyone loves and has their special way of cooking. There is no right or wrong, it’s personal preference.

Daal/Dal/Dhal, around the Indian subcontinent is referred  (most times) to a S tew or curry made with washed lentils. By washed I mean skin removed. It could be yellow spilt, red split, pigeon pea, moong so on and so forth.

This is the first thing I learnt to cook. I was 8 or 10 and my mom made it about 3-4 times a week with different beans/Lentils. I would sit at the dining table every night to do my reading while she made dinner so I could watch her cook. I asked her about the ingredients, she would walk me through each step and got me involved while she made it.

The first memory of the dal was the smell of cumin seeds and garlic hitting the hot oil, the aroma traveled all around and I knew dinner was not very long. My mom would lovingly serve it in a bowl with steaming rice while she checked my school work and I would enjoy my dinner.

I have made this daal a million times and I change it a little each time. It’s muscle memory now.

Heres the recipe.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons coconut oil (or ghee) split
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4-6’cloves garlic depending on how fat they are
1-1/2 inch ginger minced
1 cup finely chopped tomatoes, about 2-3 Roma tomatoes
1/8 tsp hing also called asefodita
8 curry leaves
2 small green chillies (optional)
1-1/2-2 cups yellow split/ red split lentils or pigeon peas (toor) use any one or combination, organic preferred
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
sea salt flakes to taste
3-4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon dried methi leaves (fenugreek) also called kasuri methi

You can find hing and kasuri methi at any good Indian grocery store or online like  Amazon 

Instructions

1. Warm 1 tablespoon coconut oil or ghee in a large sauce pan. Add the minced garlic and ginger and fry till soft and slightly brown, be careful it burns very quickly.
2. Add hing, chopped tomatoes, turmeric, chopped chillies. Cook for 3-4 minutes till tomatoes are soft.
3. Now add the lentils. And fry till Lentils seem to have absorbed some of the spices. Add water and bring to a boil. Simmer and cook for 8 minutes. Add chopped baby kale or spinach. Stir to mix well. Simmer further for another 7-8 minutes till Lentils are soft, thick and creamy.
4. Season with salt. Place the methi leaves between the palms of your hand and gently crush them dropping it into the pot of daal. Mix and heat through. Set aside
5. Meanwhile warm the other tablespoon of coconut oil or ghee in a small saucepan over medium-low. Add cumin seeds, curry leaves. Fry till cumin seeds sizzle and curry leaves pop. Be careful the leaves sputter. Take it off the heat.
6. Pour this temper on the daal. Serve with steamed rice or carbs of your choice.

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Baby Eggplant Curry

This recipe is a homage to the generations of women in my family. As a child I watched my grandmothers and mom make elaborate dishes painstakingly from scratch. This was one of those recipes; delicate slicing of the eggplant, stuffing in its cuts, marinating and gently simmering. At that time I really hated the texture of eggplants and found this dish too complex and spicy. Overtime I learned to enjoy eggplant and tamed the curry to my liking.
I call this recipe a heirloom, evolved with time and boundaries. I have simplified and cut out a few ingredients that really don’t contribute much to the flavor, nevertheless add calories. Traditionally the spice mix is stuffed in the crevices of the baby eggplant and gently simmered in the rich spiced gravy. This recipe is mildly spiced, uses easily available substitutes and lighter on the spices and calories without compromising on taste. So here you go…

Baby Eggplant Curry

• baby eggplants about 2 inch long minus the stem. Slit half way. And soak in slightly salted water for 10 minutes. Rinse and pat dry. If you can’t find baby eggplants use long Asian eggplant cut 3 inches long.
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed or any neutral oil
• 1 medium-largish onion sliced
• 2 inch knob ginger
• 4 cloves garlic
• 5-6 curry leaves (you should be able to find it at any good Indian store)
• 3 Roma plum tomatoes chopped
• 1 heaped tablespoon tahini
• 1 cup thin coconut milk, use thick for a richer curry
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2-1 cup water
• 1 tsp chilli powder or more as heat is needed
• 1 tsp sea salt or as needed
• 1 tsp garam masala or see recipe below for fresh masala
• Homemade quick garam masala

1. 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2. 1 tsp cumin seeds
3. 4 cloves
4. 8 black pepper corns
5. 4 green cardamom
6. 1 inch piece cinnamon
7. 1 black cardamom
8. 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
9. 5-7 whole toasted peanuts (optional)
   Lightly toast all the spices on a warm pan moving them constantly for 4-5 minutes till fragrant.Blend to a fine powder in a spice or coffee grinder. Keep closed till needed.
   Warm 1 tablespoon oil in a large pot and sauté onions, garlic and ginger till soft but not browned.
   Lift the onion mixture with a slotted spoon into a food processor add chopped tomatoes, tahini and pureè.
   Add the other tbsp oil and empty the contents of the food processor, into the pan with turmeric, chilli powder and sauté, stirring for 4-5 minutes.
   Add the eggplant and gently mix. Add coconut milk, garam masala, about 1/2-1 cup water and simmer further for 10 minutes till eggplants are soft cooked but firm. Add more water as needed to thin out.
   **Start by using half the homemade garam masala, you may not need all of it, add more if you want it spice rich. Serve with chappatis , naan or steamed rice.