Parippu

"A dish that includes lentils of some sort is a must as part of any Indian meal." A line from the most amazing Indian cookbook I have ever seen. You can link to it via Amazon at left by clicking on the photo.

I woke up this morning and thought "Tandoori Chicken", but I needed a dish other than just Biryani and this dish hit my eyeballs as I was leafing though the marvelous book at left.

Parippu- is a South Indian flavored dish. "I think" because of the coconut milk and the chiles, but someone correct me if I am wrong. There are dozens upon dozens of wonderful Indian food blogs on the internet, and every single one of them has food that just reaches out and grabs you and screams MAKE ME !

I had every every single ingredient for this dish in my pantry except the coconut milk, I will have to remember to start stocking that.

• Masoor dal (red lentils) is actually a beautiful orange colored lentil that is just delicious to the taste, you can get it at Many Lands Food store here in Provo.
• A "tarka" is a final mixture of various seasonings that many Indian dishes use, It is very necessary to include it when asked for in a recipe because it just adds to the complex depth of the dish. In this case the tarka is cumin seeds and black mustard seeds that were toasted in oil until they popped, and then sauted with finely chopped onion.

Parippu-serves 4
1 cup masoor dal (red lenils)
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 ripe tomato, roughly chopped
250 ml coconut milk
2 green chilies chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
tarka- heat one tablespoon of oil add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds toast until they pop. Stir in one finely chopped onion saute until translucent.

Put the lentils in a heavy-bottomed saucepan with 2 cups water. Add the roughly chopped onion, tomato, coconut milk, green chile, turmeric, ground cumin and coriander, and bring to a boil. Simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until the lentis are cooked to a soft mush (masoor dal does not hold its shape when it cooks). About 25 minutes. Add water if necessary.5 minutes before end of cooking, make the tarka and add it to the Dahl, cook 5 more minutes.

I couldn't stop eating this. I prefer eating my Indian food as soon as it is cooked. I don't like left- overs, so this is a good recipe because it makes 8 side servings or 4 main servings, just right.

Palak (Spinach) Paneer Recipe by Manjula

This is the funniest story... Yesterday Malaina and I were driving down Center Street in Provo, going to Sensuous Sandwich. We had a really hard time finding a parking spot on that block so we kept going to the corner to make a U-Turn to find parking on the other side of the street. As we were making the turn, Malaina saw her favorite restaurant India Palace and it's owner walking inside, and screamed,
"Ooh, follow that Sikh"!!!Well Malaina If I had seen this Sikh walking into that restaurant I would have followed him anywhere!!!

That Malaina loves her some Indian food.

This video is delightful. I am going to make this recipe this week. I love the Indian accent. Everything sounds so magical!

Namaste

Every time a friend comes from Malaysia (hello....the "spice islands"), I have them bring me lots of spices. I literally have several pounds in my freezer. These are a few that I used in our meal today. I am especially proud of the shot above.

Our whole family ADORES Indian Food!

Christina made the Raita , a cooling yogurt condiment, to go with our Tandoori Chicken, which was actually grilled on the BBQ. We eat ours Southern Indian Style..spicy with red onion and lime. I found a really good Naan bread at Albertson's , in the bakery section, that saved me some time. And this whole meal was only 11 Weight Watchers points including 1/2 the Naan.

Malaina and I love Aloo Gobi. A very comforting dish made with Cauliflower, Tomato and Potato.

3 tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 baking potato cubed
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 large cauliflower, cut into florets
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 teaspoon of sugar

I heated the oil in a deep skillet. Don't use cast iron with tomatoes, it will make the food taste metallic. I added the mustard seeds and let them pop. Then I stirred in the potato and stirred for a couple of minutes.

Then I stirred in all the spices and let them fry for a few seconds to bring out their flavor. I added the tomato and cauliflower and mixed it all up well. Lastly I added the ginger, sugar and about a cup of water. Brought the water to a boil, covered, reduced the heat and simmered for about 15 minutes. Seasoned to taste.


Adapted from "The Food of India", Priya Wickramasinga and Carol Selva Rajah. The most incredible book on the cuisine I have EVER seen. (sorry Madhur Jaffrey).