Dal Mukhani

Mukhan means butter, so as the name goes dal mukhani, a Buttery Lintel. It’s a smooth, rich lintel curry.

I being a south Indian and stayed throughout in central India never knew what Dal Mukhani is.  Urad dal for me was clean white dal used for idli. But when we came to north I got introduced to  sabut urad dal. And  saw that a dal made out of it is delicacy here. It took some time to develop the taste for it.  I still don’t like it but my husband and son likes it.  So, tried to learn it.  Here is my version of Dal Mukhani.  

Ingrediants 

1 cup - whole urad daal (urad sabut)
1tbsp  - Red kidney beans (Rajma)
2 -  onion finely chopped
2 -  tomato finely chopped
1tsp – Ginger garlic paste

2tbsp –  MDH Dal Mukhani masala
2 - green chilies finely chopped
chopped coriander leaves
1/4 cup  - fresh stirred cream (malai)
1tbsp - butter
1tsp - cumin seeds (jeera)

Salt as per taste

• Soak rajma & urad Dal  in water overnight.
• Add 3 cup water & little salt and pressure-cook Rajma and urad daal till soft for about 3 whistle .
• Now in a kadhai heat oil, splutter cumin seeds
• Add onions and fry till golden brown.
• Now add ginger garlic paste and dry till light brown ,
• Add  green chilies and tomatoes and fry till tomatoes soften and oil separates.
• Now add MDH masala and salt and stair for 1min .
• Add daal and stir on medium flame. Cook for 15 min or till the consistency is thick
• Now garnish daal makhni with coriander and add butter.
• Serve daal makhni hot. Goes well with  roti or rice.

Mummy’s Basic cake recipe

My first baking lessons where given by my mom. She use to make yummy rum caked for Christmas in her old fashioned round oven.  We use to all relish it. And the place we grew up cake make was not very common. So she use to be a super baker in her own way.  Her underlined theory was there are 4 main ingredient for cake i.e butter, sugar, egg & flour. And all should be in equal proportion. In a way this is drilled into my head.

Ingredient

200gm – flour/maida

200gm – granulated sugar

200gm – butter

200gm – egg (ie. 4eggs)

1tsp – baking power

1tsp – vanilla essence

Preparation

• Sever flour & baking powder together
• Powder the granulated sugar
• Preheat the oven to 180⁰c for 5 min

Method

• In a bowl beat the soft butter and sugar powder ( 2 min with a beater or 5/6 min with hand)
• To this add egg and beat. ( 3 min with beater or about 8 min by hand)
• Add essence and mix
• Now fold in the flour.
• Grease and dust a 8” x 8” round container
• Pour the mixture into it.
• Bake at 18⁰0c for 45 min

Tips : 

To check if the cake is baked from inside insert a tooth pick or a skewer, if it comes clean then the cake is baked properly. If not you can keep it for 5 more min.

Lemon Bars

This was a tryout of last weekend from a magazine.   The formation was not that great but taste wise it was good.  It’s a little sweet & sour in taste. The feedback of my taste committee was 50:50. Some liked the sourness in the sweet, but some did not. I like the crust, which I feel has come out very well. Overall it was okay. 

I will try experimenting on this recipe and come back with a better version. 

Ingredients

1cup -  flour/Maida
100gm – softened butter
¼ cup - powdered sugar
3 – eggs
1 – cup granulated sugar
2tsp - grated lemon zest
1tbsp - lemon juice 
½ tsp baking power

To make the base  ..

• Heat the oven to 180 degree celcieus
• Mix the flour, butter and powdered sugar to form a wet sand like mixture.
• Grease  a 8x8 inch square pan with butter
• Spread the above mixture into the pan, press tightly and evenly
• Bake for 15min and then bring to room temperature.

For the Topping

• Beat egg, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice & baking powder
• Beat till light and fluffy (approx 15min)
• Pour this over the cool crust
• Again bake at 160 degree celcieus until no indentation remains when touched in the center (approx  25 min)
• Cool and cut into squares  

Tips :  -  

1.  The crust should be at  room temperature when you pour the liquid.
2. You can add 2 drops of  lemon yellow colour to the liquid to get a better colour.

Cinnamon Fruit Bun

This Good Friday I was trying to make Hot Cross Buns.  In fact, trying my hands on bread/buns  for the first time.  It was a flop show as it turned out to be hard like rusks.  Though I forced people to finish it, by giving it my colleges, my son’s friends and above all my husband.

 

This time I tried to make cinnamon fruit buns, did a little variation from last time. I have used bakery yeast (wet yeast).  It came out soft and nice.  I will try to get this better but as of now this is how I made it. 

Ingredients

1 cup - milk

1 top wet yeast ( you can try it with 5 to 7gm dry yeast)

1/2 teaspoon granulated white sugar

4 cups (500gm) Flour (maida)

1/4 cup  powdered sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter melted

1 large egg lightly beaten

1/3 cup tuti fruit

For Egg Wash

1 egg

1tbsp milk

Method

•  Heat the milk until lukewarm
•  Add the yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar and stir to combine. Set aside for about 10 minutes or until the yeast is foamy.
• In the bowl mix flour, sugar, spice, and salt. 
• Once the yeast is foamy, gradually add to the flour mixture and beat until the dry ingredients are moistened.
• Add the melted butter and egg and mix until incorporated.
• Now place it on the kitchen platform and knead the dough till is silky smooth and elastic. Add more flour if necessary.
• Gradually add the dried fruit and continue to knead the dough until it mixes properly. 
• Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning the dough once, so the top is lightly greased ( the bowl should be big enough for the dough to expand 3 times).
• Cover with plastic wrap  and place in a warm spot to rise until it has almost doubled in size (about 2 to 3 hours).
• When the dough has doubled in size, gently punch it down to release the air and knead.
• Divide into 12 equal pieces. 
• Form each piece into a small round ball and place on a parchment lined baking sheet They should be spaced so they have enough room to double in size. 
• Make an egg wash of one beaten egg with 1 tablespoon milk, and brush the tops of the buns with the wash.
• Lightly apply oil/butter on the  plastic wrap and place lightly over the buns ( this is done so that the plastic wrap does not stick to the bun). Place in a warm spot until almost doubled in size (about 2 hrs).
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (400 degrees F). Brush the tops of the buns with the egg wash.
• Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the buns are nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool.
• Makes 12 buns.