MOTOR DAL BORA PAPOR ALOOR DALNA

 

I COOKED THE SAME RECIPE TWICE WITHIN A MONTH!

I do that if ain't I am happy with the outcome of the first. This morning I cooked it again and wanted to present the platter as this. Coming Saturday there is something back home and I believe certain things need not be talked about too much in public. There early morning, I cooked those chapatis to do the photo feature, I am yet to have what was supposedly to be my lunch! After the cooking & photo feature, there comes arranging & editing the pictures as much as possible within my limits! Usually, we would eat chapati "garmagaram" fresh from the tawa, but unfortunately, I am unable to eat the breakfast! The man is again travelling since last night; this time on a leisure trip! You can guess where to! Around 1:10pm, I went for a walk & did the mistake of buying a peanut butter stuffed waffle, located just the opposite side of our back gate! I am approaching 52, I felt heavy on the stomach, kept walking while eating! Then I planned the roti meal sometime around 5-6 pm with tea / coffee & my dinner should be light! After few months, I had a waffle, yet I got scared! The problem is I get scared only after having a high caloric thing! This does not help!

Too strict a diet regime would lead me to depression, what to do all day? This week there was no food order to deliver! I cannot think of going for walks & not eat something! Hence, my already broad structure looks broader; it takes a lot of sweat & self control to get slimmer during the process of menopause; if one is a born obese!

I SAT WITH MY LUNCH DURING THE TEA TIME!

And I enjoy such meals, homemade! Today, I felt, a 50+ Indian should have waffle once every three months!

Two chapatis, laal shaak, dhonepata bata, kali dal that was. I can have roti-prata with anything! I remember, I was too fond of fish since childhood & some days, I would have "ruti-mach er jhol" for dinner, even "dudh-ruti" & "mach er jhol" on the side. The idea was not to give up my share of fish at any cost! There was a lot of happiness in a two roomed rented flat, there is happiness in the present day rented flat too! It is my worries, tension with regards to the safety & security of my own, & my dearest son that kills me. Even if my brother drives to somewhere for an overnight stay, I live in tension until he is back to the Barrackpore home. Our mother is way stronger mentally, the way she handled our family, her physical fitness is also exemplary! I come no where near! Even with a Cristine at home, I feel lonely, worrisome; not unhappy I believe!

WHAT IS THIS MOTOR DAL ER BORA PAPOR ALOOR DALNA!

I knew I would share a Bengali recipe today, no other way but. Okay, I could have shared a cake or a soup, even a sweet bun, a bhature & aloo matar combo! Tandoori Roti would have been best but I am not good at it, also I get angry at how fast a tandoori roti gets hard! Instead, I decided on this vegan, gluten-free Bengali Curry; MOTOR DAL BORA PAPOR ALOOR DALNA! It is not totally a family recipe, but motor dal er borer jhol / lentil fritters curry is! I learned about this particular recipe from Gargi, she is the wife of T's friend, elder daughter of my father-in-law's childhood friend; our family friend!Last month she cooked this at a get-together; she says this is the family recipe from her in-law's side! Gargi / Dola is the elder daughter-in-law of the Neogy family! I had been to both sides of her family; both her mother & mother-in-law are great cooks! For today's blogpost, I have chosen this Bengali recipe! My entire family would enjoy it! I cooked the recipe last month, was unhappy with the outcome & the photo feature! I felt something was missing! Dola's fritters were spongy! Like our mother, she was not telling all of the secret, I felt!

With today's outcome, I think I am almost happy! I read somewhere, we are to add some baking soda while we soak the dal / lentils! Last night, I did the same!

INGREDIENTS :

YELLOW SPLIT PEA LENTIL / MOTOR DAL : 1 SMALL TEA CUP

POTATO : 1 BIG SIZED

PAPOR / PAPADAM / LENTIL CRACKER : 2-3

BAKING SODA : 1/2 TSP

CUMIN SEED : 1/4 TSP

BAY LEAF : 1

DRY RED CHILLI : 2-3

GREEN CHILLI : 2

GINGER PASTE : 2 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 11/2 TSP

CUMIN POWDER : 11/2 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 1 TSP

GREEN CARDAMOM POWDER : 1/4 TSP

CINNAMON POWDER : 1/2 TSP

CLOVE POWDER : 2-3 PINCH

SUGAR : 1 TSP [I USED JAGGERY POWDER]

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 5-6 TBSP [I DEEP FRIED THE LENTIL BALLS & POTATO CUBES]

A TBSP OF GHEE TO GARNISH IS REQUIRED, I SKIPPED TO KEEP IT A VEGAN DISH!

PROCEDURE :

We would wash & soak the dal in enough water adding the baking soda to it! I kept it covered overnight, say for 8-10 hours!

We would drain the water & wash well quite a few times! We would take the dal & the green chillies in a blender & blend to a coarse paste!

To get a coarse paste, we would not add water; blend for a few seconds, stop, scrape the sides & repeat 2-3 times!

We would take the lentil paste in a bowl, add some salt, turmeric & jaggery powder; mix well!

We would heat some oil & deep fry the lentil balls at the minimal heat! The baking soda is used for fluffier fritters, I guess!

The fritters need not be fried too much as we would put them in a curry!

While frying the fritters, I peeled & cubed the potatoes! I had washed them & rubbed with some salt & turmeric! We are to fry the potatoes in the same oil & take out!

We would prepare a spice mixture with the ginger paste, turmeric+chilli+cumin+coriander powders+salt! 

In the remaining oil, we would add the cumin seeds, bayleaf, dry red chillies! We would give a stir & add the spice paste to it! We would stir fry it 3-4 minutes at minimal heat, add the fried potatoes & stir for a minute or two!

We are to add 2 coffee mugs of water at this point & cover cook at minimal to low heat for 7-8 minutes!

We would remove the cover & add the fritters & cover cook for 3-4 minutes; remove cover & turn over the fritters; cook for another 2-3 minutes!

Thereafter, we are to break each papad half & add to the curry, along with them the sugar or jaggery, cinnamon+green cardamom+cloves powders! We would give  a stir!

We would transfer the curry to a bowl & enjoy it with rice or chapati! This is the variety of mango my family home grows; I get it from the Rajdhani Stores!