DINNER DILEMMAS! MUM'S THE WORD!

It was one of those evenings, after a long day of writing, or trying to write, I decided to take a break... And while sipping on my green tea, it suddenly dawned on me that I had to cook dinner! Thanks to my cook (who is on a sick leave!), I have been switching between playing Creative head for a topnotch movie production house and Chef at home! One of my best friends, Niranjan Iyengar was dropping in for a stay over, and being a hard core South Indian Tam-Brahm; it had to be a vegetarian dinner! I also wanted to cook something that wouldn't be time consuming and easy to rustle up. With my mind full of movie scripts and characters, I was in a dilemma... I couldn't think of what to cook...  I took a deep breath and just like that I had a flash of one of my Mum's dishes popped up in my head. It was one of those quick meals she cooked when she had to cook dinner for unexpected guests in a jiffy! It simple and yet has a festive look! Plus, it's delicious! So here it is lovelies!

Do let me know what you think of it! Cheers!

QUICKEST MASOOR PULAO 

Ingredients:

1 Cup whole Masoor dal/lentils

2 Cups Basmati (long grained) rice

3 large onions, finely sliced

2 medium tomatoes, chopped fine

6 cloves

2 cinnamon sticks of 1 inch each

6 green cardamoms

2 bay leaves

2 star anise seeds

A large pinch of saffron

Half Cup milk

2 Tsps. Chili powder

1 Tsp. Coriander powder

½ Tsp. Turmeric powder

1 Tsp. Garam Masala powder

1 Tsp. garlic-ginger paste

A small bunch of fresh coriander leaves, chopped fine

Salt to taste

Vegetable Oil (You could also use Olive Oil)

Method:

Heat the milk and soak the saffron in it. Wash the lentils. Drain and keep aside.

Deep-fry half the sliced onions to a crisp, golden brown. Drain and keep aside.

Wash and parboil rice with 1 bay leaf, 1 star anise, 3 cloves, 3 green cardamoms and 1 cinnamon stick.

In a pressure cooker, heat 2 Tbsps. Olive Oil, add 3 cloves, 3 green cardamoms, 1 inch cinnamon stick and 1 bay leaf. Throw in half the sliced onions and sauté till it’s nice and golden brown. Add garlic ginger paste and sauté. Throw in the chopped tomatoes. Simmer and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add chili, turmeric, cumin, coriander and garam masala powders. Throw in a handful of chopped coriander and mint leaves and sauté well till the oil leaves the sauce. Add the lentils and sauté. Add two cups of water and pressure cook for two whistles. Once the pressure is released, open the cooker.

Now, brush a dish with some of the oil you used for frying the onions. Spread half the rice on the bottom of the dish. Add all the lentils and spread it over the layer of rice. Spread some coriander and mint leaves and top it with the remaining rice.

Drizzle the saffron milk. Spread out the remaining crisp, fried onions and 2 Tbsps of oil all over this rice. Seal the dish with aluminum foil and cover with lid.

Heat a flat griddle and keep the dish on high flame for 5 minutes. Simmer for another 20 minutes.

Serve with Cucumber Raita!

CUCUMBER RAITA

Ingredients:

3 cucumbers

400 grams thick yoghurt

3 Tbsps. coarsely ground roasted peanuts

1 Tsp. Chili powder

1 Tsp. Cumin powder

1 Tsp. Sugar

Finely chopped coriander leaves (optional)

Salt to taste

Method:

Peel and grate cucumbers. Squeeze out all the water from the cucumbers. Whip yoghurt till it is smooth. Blizzard the roasted peanuts in a food processor. They should be coarse pieces and not powdered. Add the cucumber to the whipped yoghurt. Add salt, half Tsp. chili powder, half cumin, sugar and salt and stir well. Add half the peanuts and stir. To serve, garnish with half chili and cumin powders, remaining peanuts and coriander leaves. Chill and serve with pulao!

TIP: Whole masoor is known as whole red lentils… they look brown in color on the outside and red inside… But you could use any whole lentil or bean that needn’t be soaked at all, unless you’re using canned lentils.