Masoor Dhaal

Red spilt lentils

I opened my cupboard after a long day and peered through the tinned soup and tubs of spices.  As I stood on the tips of my toes, aimlessly letting my hand float around the cupboard. My hand sank into something seedy. The lentils nestled themselves between my fingers and I scoped them in my hands.

The last time I made dhaal was when I was about 12 years old. It was Mother's day and I thought it would be nice to make food for a change. After some real effort, I carried an overflowing bowl to the table, and set up my little banquet: some flowers, a glass of water and the bowl of dhaal. The dhaal I made was completely tasteless, just boiled lentils with some honorary green chillies chucked in, needless to say my mother didn't eat more than necessary! In hindsight, I probably should have added the all important tadka. But I was ready for a second go at it.

Dhaal is a simple dish but great if made well. My father makes really good dhaal but I know that mine will not be as creamy because I don't have enough time or patience. I phone my mother anyway and hastily scribble down her prompts.

Notes to prompt me

The dhaal I prepared

Success! I served the Masoor Dhaal with rice and gave myself a pat on the back!












Instead of giving you a recipe for this Masoor Dhaal, I came across a video by Madur Jaffery from 1982 in which she shows an unfamiliar audience how to make Masoor Dhaal.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMOBTTgpLas
Skip to 6:07 to see how Jaffrey cooks the dhaal.

I happened to watch this video after making my own dhaal and was pleasantly surprised to find that I made it in the same way. There are small differences, of course, but it even looked similar to Jaffrey's dish. Maybe there is hope for me after all.

Masoor Dhaal a la Indu

Jaffrey makes an excellent ambassador for Indian cookery: she is instructional, informative and descriptive too. In this series of cooking show, she emphasises the difference between Indian cooking in India and Indian cooking away from India, a trait which runs throughout her food programmes. Jaffrey assumes an interest in Indian cooking but starts at the basics and even though this video series is somewhat dated, the recipe remains successful, for me, at least!

Tadka in everything!

While making decisions about what to make for lunch today I decided to opt for a timeless classic. Egg and baked beans on toast.However, when preparing beans it did not once occur to me to simply just heat them in the pan. Firstly, I browned some onions,poured in the beans and stirred in some turmeric, red chillies, garlic and a few pinches of other spices too. This is not the traditional method of making tinned beans but it has grounding in traditional Punjabi cooking. The basis to almost every Punjabi meal has a base of browned onions, tomatoes and spices. This sauce is called Tadka.

The tadka I made for dinner

Scrambled eggs with an Indian twist. Green chillies, onions, turmeric and other spices.

  

The tadka has transitioned into my student cooking too, such as the spicy beans I made for lunch. Spicy beans were a doddle and I have watched my mother make those for years the real challenge is in cooking 'proper' Indian food. I would attempt Chick pea curry with rice for dinner this evening. Spurred on by the wise words of my mother (" good luck love!") I tied my hair into a regal bun, unsheathed the knife and diligently began chopping onions for the tadka.

Ginger, red chillies, garlic, chopped tomato, salt, turmeric, chili powder and garam masala are added to make the tadka and then the chick peas are added to the sauce.

After some time, I sat down to eat my meal which was not so bad but had the bluntness of a new cook. The chick pea curry my parents make is yellow in colour and the they have mild spice, creamy taste and consistency of a refined cook.

My version of Chick pea curry

Through comparing my cooking with my parents there is a distinct difference, it is not simply that I am not trying but there is an expertise that can only come with time. The meals my parents cook are aromatic, spicy and they drape over rice or sit in a chapati. I make every attempt to mimic their style and method but my meals are always bitty (as you can see in the photo). The spices, tomatoes, potatoes or meat flavours never blend or seep into one another but they simply and politely sit next to each other like strangers on a tube. Tolerating the presence of the other but always remaining individual and unyielding.

"Next time they will be better" says my mother.

Introduction

Introduction

So I guess I should introduce myself first. This is me:

And so is this!

and again.

You see, the thing about these photographs is that it looks like I'm at home in the kitchen but the trouble is - I'm not. I'm not a foodie. I eat all sorts of rubbish (I'm a student after all) and I have to confess... I'm actually a terrible cook. And I'm not talking about measuring amounts or rubbish baking. I mean burning soup and never getting toast right the first time. It's probably worse because my whole family is centred around food, and not its just the Kumars. Our entire lives are centred around meals, days are structured around it, weekly meal plans are made, shopping lists constructed, ingredients purchased.

My family enjoy food. Not just the meal, the debate of what to have for dinner, how we should make it and what will accompany the mouth-watering morsels that we envisage. My mother and father buy fresh ingredients and prepare the food together. A pinch of love here, and a sprinkling of laughter there. I did not inherit this love of cooking but I'm forced to change. Here it goes. My name is Indu and I'm a bad cook.