Creamy Yellow Lentils and Potato Stir Fry from Vibrant India

I was a relative latecomer to Indian food. The first time I tried it, I suspect I was in my late teens and a university student. During those days, food choices were made based on value for money! One of our favourite cheap eats was curry from the cafeteria-style Indian eateries that are found in Sydney. These eateries were usually predictably named -  think monikers like “Taj Mahal” or “North Indian Diner” - and they all offered the same fare. At the hot counter, we would feast on dishes such as dal, vegetable korma, aloo matar, saag paneer and buttery naan. Back in those days, our choice of 3 curries with rice set us back about 5 bucks. Cheap and cheerful at its best. 

My early Indian food foray didn’t prepare me for the curry epiphany that I would experience in London. In the UK, going for 'a curry' is part of the culture, a meal tantamount to the burger and chips or pizza of America. We ate curry, of both Indian and Bangladeshi origin, all over the city; sometimes in Brick Lane, but more often in local pubs or neighborhood eateries. We often took visiting friends to a bustling, touristy Masala Zone in Soho for grand thalis. On the night before I gave birth to my first child Scout, I scoffed a very hot curry at the old Bombay Bicycle Club in Holland Park (now closed) to encourage her arrival (she was 9 days late by this point!!). It worked; she was born the next day. Curry, it seems, serves many purposes!

My Indian odyssey this week comes care of Chitra Agrawal’s new book Vibrant India. This is a beautiful, sentimental volume, showing the lighter, fresher side of Indian cuisine. The recipes are inspired by Chitra’s family traditions from Bangalore, journeying to Brooklyn, where she interpret’s her mother’s traditional South Indian recipes for local home cooks. Chitra’s recipes are a refreshing take on Indian cuisine. Ironically, far from the heavy curries that I formerly favoured, Chitra’s style of cuisine is often called the “yoga diet”, based on seasonal produce, grains, legumes coconut, yoghurt, along with spices, herbs, citrus and chili. And best of all, all recipes are vegetarian.

I might just add, Chitra is a lovely person. And also a very talented cook with her very own range of Indian condiments called Brooklyn Delhi. If you are looking for a new go-to sauce, try her tomato achaar which is my new obsession. It now stands side by side with my other essential condiment, New York Shuk’s harissa.

Today, I’m delighted to share two recipes from Vibrant Food – I cooked these dishes for my kids this week and they loooooved them both. They especially love wrapping the potato stir fry in lettuce cups! Fun and delicious…

GIVEAWAY TIME! I’m delighted to be giving away a copy of Chitra’s Vibrant India. To enter, just comment below and let me know your favourite Spring fruit or vegetable…or your favorite Indian dish! Competition is open to US and Canada residents only. I’ll announce the winner Friday 7th April!
CONGRATULATIONS TO JILL FERGUS, who won a copy of Vibrant India. Happy Cooking.
 

 

 

 

 

Recipes from Vibrant Food by Chitra Agrawal (Ten Speed Press)

My note for the below recipes:

I didn’t have any asafetida so I left it out of both! It was still sooooo good. I also didn’t have all the right legumes or know the correct translation for all the ‘dals’ so here is what I used:

Creamy Yellow Lentils:

For the moong dal, I used yellow split peas.

For the urad dal, I used whole black lentils

Potato Stir-fry

For the chana dal, I used yellow split peas

For the urad dal, I used whole black lentils

I substituted dried curry leaves for the fresh ones. 

 

Creamy yellow lentils with tomato and ginger (Hesaru Bele Thovvay)

Serves 4 

  • 1 cup moong dal 
  • 4 cups water 
  • 1 sprig curry leaves (about 20 leaves) 
  • 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated 
  • 2 to 3 Indian green chiles or serrano chiles, finely chopped 
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon turmeric powder 
  • 1 to 1 1⁄4 teaspoons salt 
  • 2 teaspoons ghee (page 202) unsalted butter, or canola oil 
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon black mustard seeds 
  • Pinch of asafetida (hing) powder 
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon urad dal 
  • 1 shallot or 1⁄4 red onion, chopped 
  • 1 clove garlic, minced 
  • 1 medium tomato, chopped 
  • Juice of half a lemon (about 1 1⁄2 tablespoons), plus more as needed 
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves, plus more for garnish 

SERVING OPTIONS 

  • Chapatis or other flatbread 
  • Cooked rice
  • Raita or plain yogurt 

Dry-roast the moong dal in a saucepan over medium heat until they are golden brown and have a nutty aroma, 2 to 3 minutes. (This step is optional but reduces the stickiness of the dal.) Thoroughly wash the moong dal, using a fine-mesh colander. 

Combine the moong dal and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Skim the foam off the top. Mix in half of the curry leaves and the ginger, 1 or 2 green chiles, and the turmeric powder. Simmer, partially covered, over medium-low heat until cooked, about 30 minutes. The dal should be easily mashable and creamy in texture. Season with 3⁄4 to 1 teaspoon of the salt. Turn off the heat. 

Put the ghee in a small frying pan over medium heat. when melted, add one black mustard seed. when the seed sizzles and pops, add the rest of the mustard seeds and the asafetida. keep a lid handy to cover the pan while the mustard seeds are popping. When the popping starts to subside (a few seconds) immediately add the urad dal. Stir to coat with oil and turn the heat down to medium-low. Continue to stir the dal so it evenly roasts, until it turns a reddish brown and smells nutty, less than a minute. Rub the remaining curry leaves between your fingers a little to release their natural oils and drop them, along with the remaining green Chile into the ghee. Cover immediately, as moisture from the curry leaves will cause the ghee to spatter. Then stir to evenly coat everything with ghee, a few seconds.

Add the shallot to the pan and fry over medium heat until softened and translucent, a couple of minutes. Next, add the garlic and fry until fragrant. Mix in the tomato and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and cook until the tomato is falling apart, 4 to 5 minutes. 

Pour the flavoured ghee and tomatoes over the soup and mix. Let it all boil together for a minute or two. The consistency should be on the thicker side for soups, able to be scooped up in a chapati or to loosely rest on rice. Turn off the heat. Mix in the lemon juice and cilantro. taste for salt and lemon juice and adjust if needed. Garnish with more chopped cilantro. 

Serve hot with chapatis or enjoy plain or over rice with a dollop of raita on top. 

When reheating thorvay, add water to get it back to your desired consistency, as it has a tendency to thicken up in the fridge. 

 

 

Potato stir-fry with onion and ginger (Alugedde Palya)

Serves 6 

  • 3 medium red or Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed (about 11⁄2 pounds) 
  • 1 teaspoon salt 
  • 2 tablespoons mild-flavored oil such as canola, plus more as needed 
  • 1 tablespoon ghee (page 202) or unsalted butter 
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon black mustard seeds 
  • Pinch of asafetida (hing) powder 
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon chana dal 
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon urad dal 
  • 4 or 5 fresh curry leaves 
  • 2 teaspoons peeled, grated fresh ginger 
  • 1 Indian green chile or serrano chile, chopped 
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced 
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon turmeric powder 
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed 
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves 

Place the potatoes in a pot and add water to cover by 2 inches. Add the salt to the water and boil over medium-high heat until the potatoes are cooked through and tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and let them cool. When cool, coarsely chop the potatoes into bite-size pieces. 

Put the oil and ghee in a wok or large frying pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot and shimmering, add one black mustard seed. When the seed sizzles and pops, add the rest of the mustard seeds and asafetida. Keep a lid handy to cover the pan while the mustard seeds are popping. When the popping starts to subside (a few seconds), immediately add the chana dal and urad dal. Stir to coat with oil, and turn the heat to medium-low. Continue to stir the dals so they evenly roast, until they turn a reddish golden brown and smell nutty, less than a minute. Rub the curry leaves between your fingers a little to release their natural oils, and drop them, the ginger, and green chile into the oil. Cover immediately, as moisture from the curry leaves will cause the oil to spatter. Then stir to evenly coat everything with oil and continue to fry until the ginger and chile are less raw, 10 to 15 seconds. 

Add the onion and turmeric powder to the pan. Turn the heat to medium. Mix well and cook until the onion is softened and translucent. Mix in the potato and stir-fry until they start to become soft and mashable. If the pan is getting dry, add a little oil. Turn off the heat. Mix in the lemon juice and cilantro. Taste for lemon juice and salt and adjust if needed before serving. 

 

VEGETABLE / MAINHetty McKinnon