Dal Divas Potluck

There was rice, bread, papad, achaar and then there were dhals..a great variety of dhal from different parts of India. All dhals were carefully cooked with great interest and all tasted good! Rushina Ghildiyal, the main flame behind this event of celebrating Dal Divas, invited us all to her APB Cook studio to showcase our speciality.

How could I miss?…since I was in Mumbai this time, I was keen to attend this one.

Rushina has been promoting Indian cuisine since some time now and there have been series of events organised by her, observing different days like Biryani day, pickle day, bhajiya day, masala day, vadi day, but I have always missed it for some reason or other….

Although I have blogged on it..whenever I could... you could read it

Chutneys my family enjoys around the globe

Celebrating Pulao Biryani day with my family 

Authentic Garam Masala used in Sindhi Cuisine

Dhal Divas too, I would have missed because there was another commitment that got cancelled and luckily I was able to attend.

It was a potluck with all the women showcasing their speciality. Rushina made a list so that there were no repeatition.

I was asked to make green split dhal. Now dhal is a comfort food, not that I eat everyday (no, not when I make Chinese, Italian or continental, not even when I make non-veg) when I eat dhal..its only dhal. A complete meal by itself.

I was asked to share my recipe…so..here it is…I cook with instinct, no measurements, no fixed methods..

I boiled 2cups of green split dhal, adding 1tsp of turmeric powder in a pressure cooker. After 3 whistles, I put off the gas and went for a bath.

Till then dhal had cooled off and it was safe to expose it. Mixed it well, added 2 cups of water and kept it back on the burner. Boiled dhal also tastes good, if I would just add salt and black pepper and eat as salad,it would be nice but I  decided to cook it.

Added 3 chopped tomatoes, 2 inch grated ginger, 5 green chilies and a small bunch of chopped coriander leaves. The phone began to ring.

“What are doing? Are you free today?”

“No, I am making dhal for Dal Divas day”

“I want too”

“Ok ..will send you.”

Went back to the kitchen to mix the dhal. Chopped spring onions and garlic.

Another phone call for another small chat. This one wanted to taste too. I must remember to make bigger quantity next time. (Or not answer the calls when cooking small quantity)

Also must remember to keep my phone away from kitchen.

Kept a tiny deep pan on another burner. Deep fried spring onions in 2tbsp of ghee. Added the burnt spring onions to the dhal.

Added more ghee to the pan and deep fried chopped garlic till it was dark brown. Added this to the dhal mixture.

I must taste to check if it is proper. Added salt to adjust the taste, added mango powder to add sourness, added peri peri sauce for pungent taste and added cardamom powder for flavour.

If I like it, its good enough.

Got dressed and left for the potluckparty. Reached the venue after one hour, a bit delayed because of too much traffic.

I was in for a surprise. Chef Ashish Bagul of BKC Trident was to demonstrate four different dhals from East, West, North and South of India.

There were cholar dhar

Mohini moong dhal fit for royalties

Vala chi amti

Khade maash ki dhal

I am reminded of my NRI friend who had visited India and was amused when she heard series of pressure cooker whistles from different kitchens at lunch time. Dhal is best cooked in pressure cooker and then there is tempering done that is not only for flavours but also for improving the nutrient value of the dish and helping to absorb many hidden nutrients in the vegetables.. Pure ghee is the perfect choice for tempering dhals and different regions of India use different combo of tempering depending upon the climate and the culture of that place.

I am not sure if any other place in the world has such a big variety of dhal preparation like in India. But it’s the tempering that makes Indian dhal so interesting and so aromatic.

The kitchen was filled with strong aroma of food..such lovely fragrance of ghee and spices, that I couldn’t wait to taste.

I wanted to taste all the dhals…24 different dhals. I tasted them all and relished it. All these ladies are great cooks. (You might wonder if I have large appetite to try them all..but I did not eat accompaniments, no rice, rice, no bread, no roti)

Made new friends, learnt new techniques, a great day to celebrate.

DalDivas was fun……. What did you cook on 25^th Jan?..do share the link of your dhal if you did…..

Master Class on Dim Sum

I know Rushina M Ghildiyal for quite some years now. She is gentle, friendly and very inspiring cook. Food is always on her mind. She is always on look out for new recipes and new restaurants and is the main person in bringing all the food bloggers together. I remember some years ago, I had met her at a supermarket and she excitingly told me about the food studio that she was furnishing. There was glitter in her eyes when she talked about her new venture of having a cook studio of her own, where there would be workshops and product launch of food and recipes., where new dishes would be tried out, where new recipes would pop out.

That was long time ago. This month Rushina celebrates five years of her APB Cook Studio. How time flies! But like always, she celebrates with a style while whole food industry watches her moves. There were great many events organised at her cook studio to celebrate her five years of success. Last Sunday I was invited for hands-on Dim sum workshop .

Chef Cham of the Emperor’s court restaurant of Renaissance Hotel and Convention centre was to host the fabulous Dim Sum Class.

When I reached her APB Cook Studio, there was lot of activity and preparations. All the vegetables, meat and sea food (that would be used for filling) were being finely chopped. Chopping is lot of work (mind you)

After a short introduction, the class began with making of the dough for 'yeast based Bao'.

300gms of refined flour was sieved into mixing bowl,

30gms sugar, and salt was added to the flour

8.5gms of dry yeast was mixed with warm water and left to activate. Once there was froth, he added to the flour mixture, 120ml of water was added to make a smooth dough, kneading it for more than 10 minutes till it became very soft and smooth. It was covered and kept in the warm place for 45 minutes till it became double the size.

After an hour, the dough was divided into 12 equal balls. They were rolled into thick circles. A spoonful of the filling was placed into circle and by bringing ends together, the filling was sealed inside the dough. They were then kept on a greasy plate and left it for another 30 minutes. Once it had risen, it was transferred into the top half of a steamer with boiling water and cooked for 25 minutes till tender.

Chicken filling for Boa was already prepared. but chef did make vegetarian filling for boa during the session.

In a large pot, water was boiled and chopped carrots and pakchoy was blanched, removed from water with a strainer and kept aside..

20gms of finely chopped garlic was fried till light brown. He added 40gms of Hoisin sauce, 1tsp of chili bean sauce, 1tsp of honey and mixed it well. Then he added the finely chopped vegetables that included Chinese cabbage, Pakchoy, yellow and green Zucchini, carrots and water chestnuts. Seasoning like five spice powder, and vegetable aromatic powder was added, 2tbsp of corn starch was added to bind the mixture. Finely chopped spring onions and few drops of truffle oil was added. This filling was then used for filling the Boa.

I tried making flour based gyoza

It was simple really. 

Just mix 250gms refined flour and salt and knead it with plain water. The trick is to knead the dough well, making it smooth and soft. Cover it with cloth and set aside. Rolling the circle with the normal rolling pin (that tapers on both sides) might not be apt. a pipe or a bamboo roller pin of equal diameter would be better. You have to flatten the ball and roll it with the pipe in such a way that ends become thinner while the centre is thicker for holding the filling. Only thumb and one finger is used for binding the edges to seal the ends. You can be creative and shape it artistically too.

 The toughest was to work with starch based crystal dough.

Remember the transparent dim sums that we get in the restaurants? I think these are the tastiest of all but toughest to make, because the dough is so rubbery that it was shaped not with rolling pin, but pressed under broad blade knife. Even making the dough is tricky.

Set a pot of water on high flame and let it come to a rolling boil. Sieve 160gms of potato starch and 200gms of wheat starch. Add one ladle of cold water to the bowl and stir till starch dissolves. Then add one ladle of hot water to the bowl and stir till it becomes a smooth, medium soft dough. Transfer the dough on a clean flat surface and knead it with little potato starch and oil, till it is very smooth. (knead at least for ten minutes) cover and set it aside.

Enjoyed making the dim sum and eating it of course. 

The dip was delicious too

We can make it by blanching 2 tomatoes in a pot of boiling water till skin begins to peel off. Take it out from water and peel off the skin and place in mixer grinder. Add 2red chilies, 6garlic cloves(peeled) 1/4tsp black peppercorn crushed and salt to taste.

Grind to a smooth paste and enjoy with dim sum

It was a fun afternoon. Came back with food hamper of goodies from Nordic Kandie, Bonne Maman and Kolln.

Cooking Techniques of Japanese Cuisine

I have tried cooking most of cuisines around the world, Chinese, Continental, Indian, Thai, Spanish, etc. but never before have I tried cooking Japanese cuisine. So recently, when I got the invite from Rushina to learn few Japanese dishes at APB cook studio, I grabbed the opportunity.

Detail of this workshop is written very eloquently by another food blogger Shanti Padukone, who had also attended this workshop. You can visit her post at Riot of Flavors

We were a small group of twelve women, we worked in pairs.

We started with handmade Udon noodles.

 Dissolved the salt in 1/2cup water and mixed it with 200gms of high quality flour to make a dough. Kept it for 1 hour, rolled it, using flour to dust the rolling pin and work surface. Folded the dough up into fourths and cut it into flat noodles, boiled in boiling water to produce shiny udon noodles.

In separate pot we made mushroom soup, adding onions, mushrooms, celery, soya sauce, vegetable stock, vinegar, sesame oil and boiled noodles.

We then sat around the table to make some Sushis.

Boiled the ‘sushi rice’ at the ratio of water:rice as 1:1..added vinegar to the boiled rice. Sushi rice is very sticky, hence wetting finger tips makes the work easier.

Place seaweed on the mat, spread vinegar flavored sushi rice, put the layer of stuffing and roll it tight. The stuffing contained eggs, that was cooked in a special way (fried into paper thin consistency, rolled several times, and then cut into strips). The stuffing should be colorful, so can add yellow strips of eggs, white strips of cucumber or radish, red strips of crab meat or carrot, green strips of capsicum. 

Sushi tastes good with pickled ginger, soya sauce and wasabi.

Okonomiyaki is the cabbage patties. ½ Cabbage is shredded and kept in water for 15minutes. When ready to eat, it is drained thoroughly and mixed with 3eggs, salt and 100gms flour. The mixture is fried till crisp and garnished with mayonnaise, oyster sauce and chopped spring onions.

Since dessert is a must, we made sweet potato cakes. Boiled sweet potato is mixed with butter and sugar to make a smooth paste. Mix in egg yolk. Add cream and rum and squeeze out from a nozzle into the baking tray. Brush the top with egg yolk or milk and bake for 10-20 minutes till it is crisp.

It was a fun event, specially the eating part.

Get the detail account of this workshop at Riot of flavors

At this moment I wish to thank Rushina and APB Cook Studio Team for giving me this opportunity to learn this new technique of Japanese Cooking.

Now waiting for some guests to arrive to test my cooking skills.