CURRY AND SPICE: MATAR ER DAL O BASMATIR KHICHURI

It is Basanta Panchami, Bag Debir Pujo in two days. We had CNY friendly recipes in the past week; tried to coordinate it with celebrations in my family and my country of origin. Now, I must share with you some Saraswati [Soroshoti] Pujo friendly recipes. I wished to share with you the recipe of "dhupi pitha" today but its not a matter of joke. I strongly felt trying it few more times or making few more experiments is required before I blog about it. I shall be ready to share the recipe when not a single piece would break. I had a lot of them with tea in the past few days, so you can understand my high caloric intake. Yet, I felt like preparing something fresh and simple for my readers that they can offer as "bhog" to the God and also prep up anytime as their comfort meal. Here is it; a vegetarian, rice & dal hotch potch with split pigeon pea and long grained Basmati Rice MATAR ER DAL O BASMATIR KHICHURI. Since yesterday morning; I am planning this combination to prepare for our dinner. The help was on leave yesterday is true, this does not require much of precision or chopping of vegetables. What we need is a lot of patience and some love. I started at 7:30pm and finished off around 10pm. Thereafter, fried some omelette too for the three of us. I was unwilling to serve vegetarian food on a Sunday night. I have the feeling that pressure cooker can never give us the same taste as slow cooking would do. May be I do not know the proper use of pressure cooker till date when the world moved towards way more modern cooking equipments. I do not think I will get gadgets for my kitchen anymore even if I am blessed with a bigger kitchen in future. "Haata-khunti" works the best for me; I fear technology.

The reason why I name this pure vegetarian, hotchpotch with rice and lentil MATAR ER DAL O BASMATIR KHICHURI is that it is not so regular among us. We usually do our khichuri with fried skinless split moong dal and gobindo bhog ba kalijeera chal, a fragrant short grain variety. At times, we eat red lentil khichuri too. I think, now onwards I will try hotchpotch with a varied combination of lentils, millets, rice grains. I cannot try getting different kinds of rice grains at home because the senior wants only basmati. In case of payesh, polao, khichuri it can be gobindo bhog or kalijeera. When I visit the biggest Indian Super Market here, I so enjoy looking at the lentil varieties available. We Bengalis may not have tasted a few of the varieties because we are busy buying "mishti jol er maach." I will not hide that it feels like buying all of them at one go. Yet, we cannot quit eating "maach, mangsho" and get vegetarian. You see, I am not at all eager to prove what I am not. I have my own set of rules, I will abide by them. See, while frying the omelette I was in a hurry, it was already 10:15pm, the help was yet not home and I got angry. Every Sunday, I discover a messy kitchen to my standard and burst on her. I have to be a little more sincere homemaker, she is so unable to meet my standard of cleanliness. We cannot think of replacing her either, such a good soul she is.

I must have a "bhaja lanka" with my khichuri.

INGREDIENTS :

BASMATI RICE : 1/2COFFEE MUG
MATAR DAL / TOOR DAL / PEGION PEA LENTIL : 1/2COFFEE MUG
CASHEW NUT : 8-9HALVED
RAISIN : 12-15
GINGER PASTE : 2TBSP
CUMIN POWDER : 1TSP
CORIANDER POWDER : 1/2TSP
TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2TSP + 1/2TSP
AESAFOETIDA / HING : 2PINCH
BAYLEAF : 2
CINNAMON STICK : 2-3 TWO INCH LENGTH
GREEN CARDAMOM : 2-3
CLOVE : 3-4
DRY RED CHILLI : 2-3HALVED
CUMIN SEED : 1/4TSP
GREEN CHILLI : 2-3SLITTED
SALT : AS REQUIRED
SUGAR : 1TBSP [I USE BROWN SUGAR]
OIL : 4-5TBSP [I USE MUSTARD]
GHEE / CLARIFIED BUTTER : 2TBSP

PROCEDURE :

We will wash and soak the pigeon pea dal in hot water for 2-3 hours. We will wash and soak the basmati rice in normal water 1/2 an hour before we start to boil the dal, another half an hour goes for the dal to half boil.

After 2-3 hours, drain the water from the dal. Wash again and pour in a heavy bottomed vessel and add two coffee mugs of water, a little salt & 1/2tsp turmeric.

Cover cook for 15-20 minutes at low heat till half done.

Drain the water from the rice and add to the boiling pot of dal. Add 1coffee mug of water and stir.

Cover cook at low heat for 15-20 minutes. In between, open cover every 5 minutes and stir. Add water if required.

Add the washed and slitted green chillies, sugar and cook further for 7-8 minutes.

Remove the vessel and place a clean pan on the gas top. Mix together the ginger paste, cumin & coriander powder, 1/2tsp turmeric, salt and little water to get a paste.

We have heated oil in the wok and our ingredients for tempering are ready.

We must wash the raisins before use. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds, halved dry red chilli, cinnamon sticks, green cardamom, cloves, bay leaf and hing to it. Stir for 1/2 a minute.

Add the raisins and cashew nuts now and stir for 1/2 a minute.

Add the spice paste and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add it to the hotchpotch mix, stir well to mix. Boil it for few minutes without allowing it to burn at the bottom.

On switching off the gas oven, add the clarified butter.

Enjoy it with mixed vegetables, papad, fries. We had it with "chak-chak aloo bhaja."

For the potato fries, skin and wash them. Cut in thick roundels. Soak in salted water for an hour.