Comfort Food

My idea of comfort food has always been steamed rice, dal and potatoes in any form. This is the simplest, fasted and easiest meal to prepare and taste divine after a feasting episode.

Today was one such day when i wanted to keep it basic but was itching to try something different. The only form of dal which i had never cooked or eaten was the (Red) Masoor dal. Somehow it was never cooked at my mom's place but my hubby used to always rant about how nutritious it was and how great it tasted when cooked in bengali style. A brief search on Wikepedia confirmed it. With 26% protein, lentil is the vegetable with the highest level of protein other than soybeans. And i found a authentic bengali recipe on this blog.

So began my expt....since i was cooking on a friday, when i cannot eat sour, i omitted the tomatoes n lime juice from the recipe and added a few things of my own but it tasted just as great.

Masoor Dal
Ingredients:
1 cup masoor dal - boiled
1 big tsp of Panch Phoran( bengali mix of 5 spices..luckily i found a pkt of it)
1 medium onion
1 small piece of ginger chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic chopped.
1 tsp pf turmeric
2-3 green chillies slit
1 tsp of sugar
ghee or oil
water

Method:
Mash the boiled dal and add the turmeric pdr to it
Heat up a tsp of oil and add panch phoran to it. Let the flavours of the spices come out. Do not let it burn.
Then add green chilles, ginger & garlic. Saute
Also saute the onions.
Lastly add the boiled dal. Adjust salt n sugar.
Add water to maintain a watery consistency

It supposed to be fun to slurp it as it runs thru ur fingers. It can also be had as a soup on a rainy day. Masoor dal has a very distinct nutty taste and the nutritious punch added can have you asking for more.

I served masoor dal with steamed rice n Alu Bhaja...another bengali classic. Its a spicy brother of the french fries.

Alu Bhaja
Ingredient:
2-3 Potatoes
1 tsp turmeric pdr
1 tsp chilli pdr
salt
oil for frying

Method:
Cut potatoes into match size pieces n soak in salt water for sometime.
Drain out the water and add turmeric and chilli pdr. Adjust salt.
Heat up the oil and fry pototoes till golden brown.
Take care as the oil may spurt due to the water in the potatoes.

A comforting meal of steamed rice, masoor dal and alu bhaja was served to lift our spirits after an unusally busy day.