Tastes of India – Yellow Dal Fry

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A chilly draft sweeps through the tidy streets of McLoed Ganj on this winter’s day in January. The clean, sweet mountain air touches my cheeks and gives them a rosy glow. I take a deep breath of fresh air and suddenly feel grateful to be in this amazing place. Sitting in the hills 4km north of Dharamsala town in Himachal Pradesh, McLoed Ganj is one of few places in India where litter is mostly absent from the main streets, waste water drainage hardly produces pungent aromas and car noise pollution is dramatically reduced. Signs along the winding road up from lower Dharamsala urge residents and visitors to be more environmentally aware. Use of plastic bags and obsessive hooting of horns have been banned. Reuse of plastic water bottles is promoted with the provision of a dozen or so filtered-water refill stations around the town. A perfect place to experience an Indian cookery class.

My travel companion and I walk briskly along the narrow route that is Bhagsu Road, dodging other pedestrians, stepping out of the way of motorbikes. We are on a mission to arrive promptly for our cooking class at Bhinsem’s Restaurant and Cooking School.  Bhinsem’s is strategically placed in a pleasant second floor premises with an adequately sized kitchen, indoor dining area and spacious terrace  with tremendous views of snow capped hills. Well decorated with light Indian fabrics, wood and metal, and serving mainly north Indian delicacies. For 450 rupees per person, students can choose up to three dishes from Bhimsem’s menu to learn how to cook AND then polish off their accomplishment.

Mountain view from Bhinsem’s kitchen

During our 2 hour lesson, we chose to learn how to craftily and passionately create Mutter Paneer (or Murgh Mutter), Yellow Dal Fry and Allo Paratha.

Courtesy of Bhinsem, head chef and owner of Bhinsem’s Cooking School in McLoed Ganj, Dharamsala., here is an amazing recipe for yellow dal fry.

 

YELLOW DAL (MUNG) FRY (serves 4 people)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons cooking oil

2 teaspoons butter

3¼ cups cold water

2 ripe tomatoes medium, finely chopped or grated

3 onions medium, finely chopped

100g yellow dal (mung)

2 garlic cloves, crushed or grated

Spices:

½ teaspoon fenugreek leaf or powder

½ teaspoon Kitchen King garam masala powder (available from Amazon)

½ teaspoon Kitchen King mixed spices (available from Amazon)

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon hot chilli powder or flakes (add extra ½ teaspoon for spicy)

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ tablespoon fresh ginger, grated

METHOD

• Place dal and 3 cups of cold water in a heated pan and cook for 16 minutes until soft (time can be reduced to 8 minutes if using a pressure cooker)
• Heat a pan on medium heat and add the oil and cumin, fry for 30 seconds
• Add the onion, garlic and ginger and brown lightly for 5 minutes

• Add fenugreek, chilli, turmeric, salt, tomato, ¼ cup cold water, stir and simmer for 2 minutes
• Mash the sauce up until fine
• Add Kitchen King garam masala and mixed spices and stir in

• Add the cooked dal to the sauce and stir for 2 minutes

• Serve with fresh coriander garnish on a bed of rice with a main dish of Murgh Mutter (curry of chicken and peas) or Mutter Paneer (curry of Indian cheese and peas) and Allo Paratha (chapati stuffed with spicy potato)

Enjoy!