One more from the garden of lentils- Dal Makhani

Food sustains life, food is so much more than food, and food brings people together. To eat something you like, it has to taste good; to taste good it has to have ingredients and the perfect 'X' factor added to make it taste good….
Dal is a dish which is a part of every typical Indian meal …the typical thali (Round plate) which has roti, subzi dal and rice with salad and other such mouth watering dishes. Ask any of the celebrity what his or her favorite food is …pat comes the answer Dal…chawaal…!!!
Everyone has a taking for dal and I am no less, hence I decided to make dal makhani this time.Dal makhani is a popular dal variety made out of whole udid dal cooked with onions, tomatoes and other masalas which is savored with naan, chapatti and rice. It is a dish from the northern garden of lentils –Punjab. Though this dal is similar to the other dals due the similar ingredients that go into its making, but the only thing which adds to its richness and taste is the blobs of rich cream that is added to it for thickening and taste. Look down to find more about this recipe…don’t worry …its ok to indulge in such rich things once in a while!!!

Ingredients-
Black udid dal(whole)- 1cup
Rajma/kidney beans- 1/4cup
Onions- 1big chopped fine
Tomato- 2big chopped
Ginger- 1"
Garlic- 5 pearls
Green chillies- 2 chopped
kasoori methi- 1tsp
Turmeric powder- 1tsp
Red chilly powder- 1tsp
Coriander powder- 1tsp
Punjabi garam masala- 1tsp
Salt to taste
Cream- 1/2cup or milk- 200ml
Oil - 2tsp or butter-1tsp


Method-
Wash and soak the udid dal and rajma overnight till they swell . Pressure cook this dal till it becomes soft and you are able to mash it.
Heat oil /butter in a pan. Make a paste of ginger , garlic and green chillies and add it to the oil. Then add onions and saute for sometime. Add the tomatoes and then turmeric powder, red chilly powder , coriander powder , garam masala and salt. Mix well. Add half a cup of water and let the tomatoes cook completely. Then add the cooked dal. Add another cup of water if needed and let this cook for around 10 minutes till all the spices mix well with the dal. Then add cream or milk and cook for another 2-3 minutes till it thickens.
Have this with hot rice. Tastes fantastic. A perfect comfort food.
A good side dish for Chapatis too!! So am sending this to Viki's kitchen who is hosting an event called " Side dish for chapatis".

It felt so good this year to be a part of the ganeshotsav celebrations in India after almost a gap of four years. I am sharing some photos of Ganesh visarjan(immersion of the ganesh idols in water) which is celebrated with the same joy as welcoming The God!!