I went on a crazy cooking spree last weekend.. I made Punjabi Aloo Gobhi, Mirchi Dal Dhabewaali, a giant apple crumble and baked a cake..

It started off when I decided to make lunch.. I’ve mastered the art of browning onions and love to get a gravy started whenever I get a chance.. In fact I enjoy doing this so much, I’m thinking of changing the URL of this website to madonionbrowner.com.. Hmm.. doesnt have the same ring or should I say sting, to it.. Lets put that on the back burner for now..

Coming back to the grub..

PUNJABI ALOO GOBI –
I browned the hell out of three medium sized onions and cooked up some ginger garlic paste with it. Heres a tip, folks.. Always mix the GG paste with a little bit of water before adding it to the onions. Not only does the water arrest the browning, it also makes for better cooking of the paste.

Once I had my GG paste all cooked, I added the ground spices – turmeric, red chiili and coriander powder. A little more water and fried the masala well till it left the sides of the pan. Added the cauliflower florets and the potato and mixed well. Covered the pan with a lid and let it cook for 8-10 min. Added a handful of thick ginger, some fresh coriander and five slit green chillies. Mixed the whole thing up on a high flame and allowed it to cook for five more minutes.

The ginger makes a world of difference and the last minute green chilli really ups the spice quotient. Feel free to leave it out if you aren’t a member of the dragon family.

One can argue that this isn’t authentic Punjabi Aloo Gobi, but until I find a better recipe, I shall continue to call it this. 😀

MIRCHI DAL DHABEWAALI

This is a simple recipe that I love to eat with just about anything. I sauteed one chopped onion, two tomatoes and about four green chillies in some oil. Added two cups of Toor dal with some turmeric and pressure cooked the whole thing till cooked. (15 – 20 min on a slow fire after the CT) [CT=seeti] {seeti=whistle} ;D

Tadka/tempering: 2 tsp cummin seeds, 6 cloves of garlic – sliced, 5 dry red chillies, 2 green chillies – slit, 1 tsp coriander seeds – crushed, 1 tsp red chiili powder, (remember, its called Mirchi Dhabewaali dal), 1/2 tsp asafoetida.

Heat five tbsp oil (yeah, five) and add ingredients one at a time. Finish with the chilli powder and take off the flame instantly. Stand back and temper with a flourish! The chilli powder gives the dal a dangerous red colour and looks like something Satan would eat with his phulkas.

Let the tempering get slightly over done. Thats what gives it the Dhaba flavour – mildly burnt tadka.

YAPPIL KRUMBIL

Pi or ? is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any circle’s circumference to its diameter in Euclidean space; it is the same value as the ratio of a circle’s area to the square of its radius.

A long standing favourite in the Shanker household, my recipe for Apple Crumble is as simple as Pi. 😀

That was just for laughs, folks.. its a bloody simple recipe. Read on.

Core and dice six apples. Mix in the juice of two lemons, a cup of sugar and two medium 1/2 inch sized pieces of cinnamon. Add half a cup of chopped walnuts and mix. Allow the mixture to sit for about half an hour.

For the crumble, mix equal portions of butter and refined flour and work with hands till the mixture looks like bread crumbs. Make as much topping as you need. It should ideally be enough to completely cover the apples.

Bake at 180 degrees C for half an hour. Up the temp to 220 and let the crumble brown for 2 – 3 minutes.

De-oven (sic) and serve warm.

The cake was kinda simple and nothing much to write about.. Maybe I’ll write about it later. I had fun in the kitchen that Sunday..

If you try any of the recipes, do let me know. I’d like to know how the stuff turns out.

Over and out.