Gujarati Daal

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Pigeon pea (Toovar Daal)
• 1 tomato cut into small clices
• 1 tablespoon raw peanuts
• 2 tablespoon jaggary or sugar
• 4 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon leamon juice
• Salt as per taste
• Cilantro for garnishing For tadka:
• 2 tablespoon oil
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
• ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi)
• 2-3 curry leaves
• 1 dry red chili
• pinch of asafoetida (hing)
• 1 tables spoon of green chili and ginger paste
• 1 tablespoon clarified butter (ghee)

View fullsize

Method:

1. Wash toovar daal and soak in a cup of water for 10 minutes.
2. Add sliced tomato and peanuts to the daal.
3. Pressure cook upto 3-4 whistles. Let the cooker cool down.
4. Get a pan and add cooked daal mixture and whisk it properly. Add 3 cups of water to it.
5. Let it simmer on a medium flame. Add salt and jaggary.
6. Add oil to a separate small pan. Add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds.
7. Add asafoetida as soon as seeds start sizzling and immidiatly add ginger chili paste, curry leaves, red chili, and turmeric.
8. Pour tadka into the daal. Add butter to it.
9. Let it boil for a minute.
10. Add lemon juice into the daal.
11. Garnish with cilantro.

View fullsize

Bottle gourd Pudding

Ingredients:

• 3 cups grated bottle gourd (dudhi)
• Alum (turti)
• 4-5 tbsp ghee / clarified butter
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup sliced almonds and pistachios
• Few strands of saffron
• 1 tsp cardamom powder

Method:

1. Peel off and grate the bottle gourd. Immerse it immediately in pan full of water.
2. Swirl the alum through it once or twice. This helps to retain nice green colour of the pudding.
3. Now squeeze out the grated bottle gourd completely from the water.
4. Heat 3 tbsp of ghee in a pan and add the squeezed grated bottle gourd. Keep on stirring it until it changes its colour slightly.
5. Now keep on adding milk in small portions at around ½ cup at a time. It will avoid formation of lumps.
6. Cook it on a low flame while stirring in between.
7. Add the sugar, when the milk is almost evaporated. The sugar will melt.
8. Keep on stirring for few minutes.
9. When the desired consistency is achieved add sliced almonds, pistachios and few strands of saffron.
10. Add 1-2 tbsp of ghee from sides of the pan. It will give a nice aroma to the pudding.
11. Now switch off the burner and add cardamom powder.
12. Garnish it with some more sliced dry fruits and serve it either hot or cold.