Carmelized Onion Dal and Fabulous and Delicious Indian Rice Recipes

I've been experimenting with many new savory dishes lately, although I've been very bad about posting them onto the blog. I think part of it stems from the fact that my photography skills are not-so-hot, and I'm much more invested in the food than in the photography. But, I also know that when I look at other people's blogs, the photographs are what I adore. So, I will try harder. I've often been tempted to just post the recipes without any pictures, but really, who wants that?

Otherwise, Spring has sprung here in Minnesota, and the hubby and I are excited to see all the fresh produce at the farmers' marker. This week we picked up some wild onions, wild watercress, and fresh chocolate mint, which I popped into my french press this morning for some lovely mint coffee.

We're still figuring out how exactly we want to use the watercress and wild onions. So, in the meantime, we decided to make dal for a late lunch / early dinner. Dal, a red lentil dish, is one of our favorite Indian meals. It's a great because it's not only easy to make, but is also super healthy while still full of flavor. You can eat as much of it as you want practically guilt free!

This is my own personal recipe for dal. I love the mixture of savory spices and caramelized onions that give the dish such a wonderful flavor. I keep it light on the hot spices, though. You of course, can add more or less spice to your liking. I hope that you enjoy!


Caramelized Onion Dal
Created by me!

1.5 cups red lentils
3 cups vegetable broth
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 small onion sliced into smiles
1 large carrot cut in half lengthwise and then cut into chunks
3 Tablespoons red wine
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon red hot pepper flakes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground corriander
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon garam malasa
2 Tablespoons lime juice (or lemon juice)
1/2 cup frozen peas (optional)

1. In a medium stock pot, cook the lentils in the vegetable broth over medium heat until they are mushy. About 20 minutes.
2. In a larger pot or dutch oven place the oil, onions, and carrots. Cook slowly over low/medium heat until the onions start to brown/caramelize.
3. Add the garlic and red hot chile flakes and allow them to cook until the garlic becomes fragrant. Then, add the red wine to deglaze the pan. Add the spices and stir for a minute or so until they become fragrant but aren't burning.
4. Add the mushy lentils and lime juice to the onion mixture and stir. Add the peas and stir.
5. Once the peas are no longer frozen, the dal is ready to eat. If it looks like it's drying out a bit, just add 1/8 cup of water or so and stir.
6. Serve with my fabulous and delicious Indian rice. (Recipe below).


Fabulous and Delicious Indian Rice

1.5 cups basmati or jasmine rice
3 cups vegetable broth
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Place all ingredients in a medium stock pot and bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low, and allow to cook for 20 minutes. Once done, fluff the rice with a fork.

Zucchini Curry and Basmati Rice

Sunday was an Indian food day here in our household. We had promised a friend that we would have him over for dinner, and he could pick the menu theme. He settled on Indian, which we were delighted about.

Indian food is probably one of our favorite foods to make. It was challenging in the beginning because the combinations of spices are so different from what we are used to in Western cooking. Fortunately, the hubby found a classic Indian cookbook for $1 at a garage sale a few years back, and that has been a great guide to the foundations of Indian cooking. Luckily, my husband has an amazing palatte and sense for spices, so he can adjust recipes to mimic those we've had in restaurants. I love it.

The internet is also an amazing source of delicious (and free!) recipes. In addition to our fabulous and delicious samosas, we decided to highlight the zucchini we've been harvesting from the garden farmette everyday, and decided to try to make a zucchini curry. We found an awesome tutorial on YouTube by Currysutra on how to make Ghiya (zucchini curry), and copied it almost exactly. The tutorial is really easy to follow and would be great for beginner Indian home chefs. I've included all the ingredients and directions (with our changes) below, but definitely check out the tutorial as well. Enjoy!

Ghiya - Zucchini Curry

Adapted from Currysutra

Yield: Feeds roughly 4 people

2 medium to large zucchini, cubed

1 Tablespoon canola or sunflower oil

1 small can tomato paste (6 ounces)

1 1/4 cup potato water*

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

6 cloves garlic, sliced

1 onion, sliced

1 cube salted veggie bouillon (we use the Rapunzel brand)

1 teaspoon tumeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 Tablespoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon corriander

1/2 teaspoon ground chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1.) Heat oil in a pressure cooker over medium-low heat, add cumin, garlic, and onion and saute until the onions begin to cook (look translucent). Try to avoid having the veggies brown by keeping the heat low.

2.) Add in 1/4 cup of potato water* and spices: veggie bouillon, tumeric, ground cumin, curry powder, corriander, chili powder, garam masala, crushed red pepper.

3.) Add in tomato paste. Stir.

4.) Add in zucchini & stir. You may taste now to see if spices are alright. Then, add 1 cup of potato water*

5.) Put lid on pressure cooker and being to cook, according to your pressure cooker's directions, to max pressure (about 5-8 minutes).

6.) Then turn off heat and let the pressure cooker slowly let go to room pressure (about 20 minutes).

7.) Carefully, open pressure cooker (read manufacturer's instructions), and the curry is ready to serve over basmati rice (see rice recipe below).

* Potato water refers to the leftover water from boiling potatoes. Because we were also making samosas, we had boiled potatoes on the stove, and therefore saved the water to use in this dish. The potato water adds a bit more flavor and also can help thicken with the starch. If you're not making potatoes, just substitute regular water.

Basmati Rice

Yield: 4-6 cups rice

4 cups water

2 cups basmati rice

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 bay leaves

1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns

1/4 teaspoon whole cloves

1.) Place water, olive oil, bay leaves, peppercorns, and cloves in a medium sized pot on the stove over high heat. Bring to a boil.

2.) Place rice in the boiling water, stir a bit. Cover the pot and reduce heat to low. Allow rice to cook for 15-20 minutes until soft.

3.) Stir rice and serve.

4.) Note that rice will double to triple in amount. So, if place one cup of dried rice in a pot, you'll end up with 2-3 cups of cooked rice. Therefore, adjust the recipe above to your needs by halving (or doubling!) it if necessary.

Indian Samosas

I am so excited to be able to post this recipe for you! My husband and I absolutely love samosas with their flakey yet doughy crust and and spiced potato and pea filling. Unfortunately, when Chris became vegan, we couldn't visit some our favorite Indian restaurants because they most likely included dairy in their recipes. So, we began to search for our own recipe to make samosas at home. After much trial and error, I think we finally developed a recipe that works for us!

Here is a mixture of the pastry dough after being kneaded just to perfection.

I rolled pieces of this dough into rounds that fit just about into my palm, then rolled them flat with my beloved French rolling pin.

I rolled out 10 pastries from the dough, which is enough to make 20 samosas.

For the filling, Chris sautéed onions and black mustard seeds.

Then added spices, and finally the potatoes - we used organic blues.

After being cooked down, here is the yummy filling!

Now time to stuff! Begin by cutting the dough circles in half and then folding them in half and pinching along the cut edge.

This creates a little cone.

Which you can stuff.

And then pinch closed.

Mmm ready to fry!

Heat up two inches of canola oil.

And when the oil is hot and will sputter when flicked with some water, place in the samosa and fry until golden.

Finished product. Mmmm enjoy!

For full recipe and ingredients, please click here!