Tak er Dal | Mango Dal

Tok er Dal | Mango Dal | Aam Dal

Tok er Dal or Tauk dal,  a Dal with green mangoes, slightly sour and sweet is a favorite Bengali dal to serve during the hot summer months. It is usually made with Mator Dal(Yellow spilt peas) though in my recipe I often use a mix of Red Masoor and Mator Dal.

Tak Dal with Masoor Dal -- This is another version of the Tok er dal but with Red Masoor and spiced with paanchphoron

Beginning of each week, I start off singing “A B C D…” to myself while little S looks on quizzically. No I am not trying to teach her alphabets and neither have I taken the role of Cookie Monster. I am trying to remind myself of the letter of the week for Nupur’s A-Z of Indian Vegetables.

I start the week searching for an Indian Dish with the said letter whatever that might be. But I want to think up a nice exotic Bengali Name, or maybe a more exquisite Sanskrit One, or even one in Pali in my search of something different. I want the name to be lyrical, difficult to pronounce, a name that would give others no clue as to what I am talking about. I might be talking about my every day dal-chawal but I want a name like Lens Culinaris to adorn it.

What’s in a Name you would say or rather Shakespeare would say. But then Shakespeare never knew about k – K – Kkusm did he? Neither did he know of some of my esteemed Blogger friends who took the extreme step to change their names mid-way of their dazzling Blogging careers and some who are contemplating to change theirs. So as I say theirs lot in a name.

When I hear a lyrical name like “Ghugra”, I have a vision of Rajasthani Women dancing in their colourful “Ghahgras” and I desperately want to eat whatever “Ghugra” is. Same with a name like “Mor Khuzambhu”, the name says it all, I want to yell “Dil Mange More” like Aamir Khan did and even add a “Aha” at the end.

So as I chomped on my “Lau Ghonto” last week I was still searching for the “L” word…
But this week I am adamant, I let Lau (Lauki in Hindi) pass just because the name seemed very next door-ish but no not this week. I am not going to search for any veggie dish with “M” and let the week pass. I am going to send Nupur whatever I am having for lunch and she better like my regular Dal-Chawal with M for Mango thrown in. And hey whats better the dal I cooked is Matar Dal (Yellow Split Peas) , one more M, so that makes it M squared for Nupur’s A-Z of Indian Vegetables.

Tok er Dal | Mango Dal | Aam Dal

Tak er Dal in Bengali means a Dal which is a little sour in taste. Tamarind not being used much in Bengali cuisine its the green mango which is used to achieve the desired sourness. Mango Dal is a simple Dal cooked with raw green Mangoes usually during the hot hot summer months in India. It had to be cooked during summer because that was the Mango Season of course. Its beautiful how we always associated certain foods with season in India because of their sole availability during those times.

My beloved “Patel Brothers” manages to get his share of Raw Mangoes all year round so I can afford to eat Mango Dal with my fireplace on. Doesn’t have just the same effect though. Mango Dal and White Rice on a hot summer afternoon with the windows shut, the draperies drawn to hush the harsh light and the fan on the ceiling humming and stirring the hot humid air is just another story

Updated on 05/11/2016: Both my girls love this mango dal, however they always insist that the tauk er dal made by Didun (my Mom) tastes better. I have been dilligently working on this recipe since last summer and appears I did hit the nail this time.n I have updated the recipe with the changes.



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Tok er dal | Mango Daal

What You Need

Matar Dal (Yellow Split Peas) ~ 1/2 Cup (In absence of this try only with Masoor Dal)
Red Masoor Dal ~ 1/2 Cup
Water ~ 2-3 cup to cook the dal in pressure cooker

Raw Green Mango ~ 1 chopped into thick slices. Depending on your love for sourness and the sourness of the mangoes you might want to increase this amount. Decerasing is not a good option though
Green Chillies ~ 4 slit

Mustard seeds ~ 3/4th tsp
Turmeric ~ ½ tsp
Salt ~ according to taste
Sugar ~ 2 tsp. More if you are a sweet Bong :D like my Ma
Mustard Oil ~ to cook

Water ~ 2 cups or more
Ghee ~ 1 tsp to finish off

How I Did It

Wash the Dal and pressure cook with twice the amount of water. Time taken to pressure cook is little more than Masoor Dal but less than Toor Dal. Now go figure.
In my Futura pressure cooker it took 4 minutes. In a regular pressure cooker about 3 whistles.

Meanwhile peel the green mango and chop into longitudinal thick pieces
Heat Oil in a Kadhai/Frying Pan
Add 3/4th tsp of Mustard seeds and 4 slit green chillies
The mustards will splutter so cover it if you are afraid
Add the mango pieces and sprinkle 1/2 tsp of turmeric.
Sauté the mango for a 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle little water and cover to cook mangoes until firm but almost done..

Whisk the pressure cooked Dal with a Wire Whisk or Spoon and add it to the Kadhai
Mix well and cook for a minute.
Add about 2 cups of water and salt and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook. You may need to add a little more water if the dal turns too thick. The result should not be watery though.
Cook till the mangoes are fully mushy.

Add 2 tsp of sugar and take it off the heat
Have it with White Rice and any other veggies on the side. A tsp of Ghee adds to the taste of this Dal.

Note: Matar Dal is not same as Chana Dal though both look almost same. You can also try this recipe with Masoor Dal but never with Chana Dal . When using Masoor Dal a popular spice for tempering is Kalo Jeera or Kalonji



Trivia:The yellow Split Peas or Matar Dal have an earthier flavor than green peas. Scandinavians like to use them in soups, while the British use them in their pease pudding. It's best to buy them split, since split peas don't need to be soaked and cook fairly quickly. Source:Cook's Thesarus

Shubho NaboBorsho

...Happy Bengali New Year To Every One

Poila Baishakh or the First Day of the Month of Baishakh is the first day of the Bangla Calendar. This is the Bengali New Year and is celebrated amongst Bengalis in a much festive manner. According to the Gregorian calendar it falls on April 14th or April 15th, this year it is April 15th. This is the New Year for both BanglaDesh and West Bengal.

The Bengalis usher in the New Year with a lot of festivities importance being given to cultural functions, and food. The day is started off with visiting the temples to seek blessings for the New Year but this is not a religious festival and Puja is not the mainstay of this day. Though for businesses this is the day to begin their new accounting year and so this group of people offer Puja and seek blessings to begin the year with a new accounting book called halkhata. With all the new accounting software I don't know what they do, maybe open a new fresh account or something.

For mere mortals like us it was more about a quick prayer at the temple early morning and then off to school , yes my school did not believe in Bong Calendars. Rushing back home in the afternoon, we would change into new clothes bought for the Day -- and then after devouring the sweets my Ma would have made we would rush off in the evening to attend the cultural program that our town had to offer. That was important for my parents. My Ma in her fresh new Tanter Shari with that crisp smell that only such saris can have and my Baba in his starched Pajama and Punjabi would sit there engrossed in the Rabindra Sangeet being sung. I would be thoroughly bored and look around for familiar faces of my friends who would be equally bored.
Often we would be invited by the shops we were loyal customers to and this part was more fun because it involved gorging on great food.

It is not very different here regarding the cultural functions part and I am sure the Bengali Association has things lined up for this day but I have already said about D not very keen on going there. So we usually visit the temple on this day and binge on good food.
Though the New Year is tomorrow we we extended invitations and had an early celebration with some of our friends over last weekend for dinner. Though we did not serve a typical Bengali menu this is what we had for the main dinner. The appetizers were assortment of Dhoklas, mini samosas etc.

Plain White Rice ~ like what an average Bong would prefer
Roasted Yellow Moong Dal ~ Split yellow moong dal roasted and then cooked and garnished with grated Coconut
Cat Fish Nugget er Charchari - Remember in my Charchari post I had said that Charchari might not be vegetarian and we have Fish Charchari too. In absence of the small fish like Mourala etc. we made a Fish Charchari with Cat Fish Nuggets. Tempered with Panch Phoran and with Potatoes and Brinjal to keep the Cat fish company this was the most wanted of all the food items.
Paneer in a gravy of Kaju and Posto ~ Paneer cubes simmered in a light gravy of cashew and khus khus paste
Mashla Chingri or Shrimps in Masala ~ A spicy shrimp dish
Pepper Chicken ~ This I followed Sailaja's Pepper Chicken Recipe and it was a big hit too
Pineapple Chaatni ~ The recipe is here

For Dessert
Mango Pudding
Pineapple Malpua

However since we cooked for a large crowd neither me nor my Ma took any measurments while cooking so I won't be able to post the recipes until I measure and cook again !!!

To end this post on a Sweet Note I will post the recipe for the desserts soon but you have to wait for the rest :)

Mango Pudding

Pineapple Malpua

Thai Red Curry

This Thai Red Curry is for GBP and also my dear friend N who has no clue that this blog exists.
N is the first Bong friend I had made after coming to US and when I think of it now, I cringe thinking of the way I befriended her
It had been more than two months that we had arrived and I was yet to meet a single Bengali soul, not considering the hubby of course. How I pined to gossip in Bengali, to chat with someone about Kolkata, to ask someone the best place to buy Hilsa. But there was none.

Of course there were the Bong organizations like all other cultural desi organizations beckoning to you with a smile in return for the yearly membership fee. But no, D would not be a part of them, he flatly refused to be part of the Bengali milieu that spoke and talked about a Bengal they had left some thirty odd years back. Though D is a Bengali and has grown up in Bengal unlike me who stayed outside Bengal for a considerable time, he lacks the full dosage of Bangaliana (the Bengaliness) a true blood Bengali has and was as happy in absence of the above.
Ok but this about N and not D so let’s not deviate

In my then state of frustration I was walking the aisles of K-Mart in lack of better things to do, when I hear fragments of Bengali being spoken in the neighboring aisle. I peered and I see this young couple, the girl in a Salwar-Kameez talking animatedly to her husband about some mundane K-Martish stuff.
I felt an immense urge to butt in and join in their discussion, voicing my opinion too in Bengali and then maybe inviting them over. But I restrained, I was frustrated yes, but still short of being labeled a lunatic.

Back at the Parking Lot while I was getting into my car, they were there too, lugging something into their trunk. I felt the urge again and this time asked D. D being the non-passionate Bong refused to play a role but gave me leeway to do things I wanted. The couple in the mean time were closing the trunk and revving the car. In a sheer state of desperation I bolted toward their car, said “Hi” muttered something about me being Bengali and it would be nice if we could meet etc. and scribbled my number on one of D’s business cards and ran. Yeah I just ran back while they stood there patiently, quizzically…

Thankfully none of us knew anything about Quixtar aka Amway

Then one day she called and I called and as they say – Rest is History

N has since grown to be my best friend. Though she is younger to me and is a English major, she was kind and patient enough to let me explain my tacky tech assignments to her while I attended grad school. She still listens to all my woes, gives me all her support and occasionally chats up my 3 yr old too. She is an awesome human being and a great friend and a foodie at heart and yesterday was her twins – 2 cute boys first birthday. Lots of happiness to them and their Mom & Dad

Recently N & her family were on house hunt and almost every weekend they would be out with the twins. If they were in my 15 mile radius I would ask them to drop by for lunch. Since N loves Thai food I made Thai Red Curry with Chicken for her on the weekend they finally decided on a house they liked. I served it with a Fried Rice, but its best with White Jasmine Rice. Just like N we love Thai Food too and this curry came out perfect. I often use shrimp instead of Chicken in this recipe and that comes out better.

I mostly frameworked my recipe from here - this site. I did throw in my own steps but the whole thing is pretty easy and quick and you can mould it around your comfort level. I did not use Fish Sauce as I had none. The recipe says chicken stock and cornstarch, but I don't think you need these. I also do not exactly remember the measures as I did this a month back, so give me some leeway there too


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Thai Red Curry

What You need

Chicken ~ 1 and ½ lb approx. I used skinless Chicken Thighs cut in small pieces(this is approximate measurment)
Onion ~ 1 large grind to a paste
Red Bell Peppers ~ 3 cut into thin slices
Garlic ~ 2 cloves minced


Coconut Milk ~ 1 can
Red Curry Paste ~ a 4 oz can of Maesri Brand Red Curry paste . This is pretty hot. So you could add less of this

Sweet Basil Leaves ~ 7-8
Lime Zest ~ from half of a medium sized green lime
Kafir Lime leaves ~ 2-3 if you can get hold of them . I never found them

For Marinade (if you are doing it)
Ginger paste ~ 1 tsp
Garlic Paste ~ 1 tsp
White Vinegar ~ 1 tbsp

Salt

How I Did It
Marinade the chicken pieces with 1 tbsp of vinegar, salt and 1 tsp each of ginger paste and garlic paste. I did this because I cannot have chicken when it has not been marinaded, I get a smell !!!
Heat Oil in a Wok/Frying Pan
Add 1 clove of minced garlic and 4 Basil leaves(no need to chop them)
When you get the fragrance of Basil and Garlic, remove the garlic and the basil leaves from the hot oil. Now you get a beautifully flavored oil which you use for rest of the recipe
Now to this oil add the chicken pieces, lightly brown them and remove and keep aside
Add Onion paste and fry till it turns pink
Add 1 clove of minced garlic
Sauté and add the red bell pepper
When the Pepper turns soft add the Red Curry Paste. I added the entire content of the can. It was fiery spicy but I liked it. You may like to reduce the level if you wish
Cook for couple of minutes and then add the Coconut Milk. You may need to add ½ or more cups of water at this point.
Let it come to a boil and add the remaining Basil Leaves
Add the chicken pieces and let it simmer at medium heat
Add salt and 1 tsp sugar and cook to desired consistency
Add the Lime Zest or Kafir Lime Leaves

Trivia: The word basil comes from the Greek βασιλευς (basileus), meaning "king", as it is believed to have grown above the spot where St. Constantine and Helen discovered the Holy Cross (Source: Wiki)