Dil Wallon Ka Dilli Aur Daal Makhani

Delhi: The capital of India is a sprawling metropolis

• of 16.7 million people;
• sprawled over 1482 km of land;
• continuously inhabited since the 6th century BC;
• invaded, plundered, looted, fought over throughout history;
• the invaders and the colonizers fell in love with, and rebuilt it, again and again for seven times;
• of two parts, Delhi and New Delhi;
• mediaeval yet modern with ancient parts tucked in here and there;
• seething with power, yet  vulnerably mystic.

The old and the new merge here seamlessly....modern roads, swanky building suddenly give way to a crumbling ancient fort some two thousand years old. The pock marked, geriatric stone wall stand beside the new, smooth surfaced one, looking like a mismatched couple in uneasy harmony. 


Now for such a city one would think that there would be a hardcore bunch of Delhi-zens or Dilliwallas, a group of people passionate about their city, who cannot imagine living anywhere else in the world. Other metropolis of India like Kolkata and Mumbai proudly boast of such populations. But the Dilliwalla is a bit like a Dodo, written and talked about, discussed to death, but hardly ever seen. You see the city is made up of migrants, from all over the country and beyond the borders. These groups of people have tickled into the city sometimes in torrents, sometimes in dribbles, settled down and gone about their daily business. If you asked them, they would tell you that Delhi is their home, but they being passionate about the city? Hardly. Maybe it is the typical migrant mentality, while the physical home is the present anchor, the emotional home is always the one they had left behind, frozen in time and sentiment. 

So who are these dispassionate  Dilliwallas? Are they the political dynasties, the movers and shakers of national power, the traders in Chadni Chowk, the buffalo herds of Yamuna, the bus drivers of the infamous Delhi buses, the clerks who run the complicated bureaucratic machinery that is the Central Government of India, churiwallas (bangel sellers) next to the Hanuman Mandir, the mehendiwallis (women who apply mehendi) who visit wedding houses, the daily commuters from the suburbs, the lawyers in black and white flocking the various courts, the goldsmiths and the silversmiths who bend double over intricate pieces of jewellery, the teenagers shopping in the Sarojini Nagar Market or the UN worker eating lunch in the Lodhi Gardens, the vegetable sellers of Bhogal Market?

Thankfully there is no such confusion about the food of Delhi. The food of the long gone Mughals-- the kebabs (meats grilled with spices), the biriyanis (rice cooked with meat), the pulaos (rice cooked with saffron, nuts and raisins in clarified butter), the meat dishes in rich gravy and the food of the Punjabis-- the daals (lentils), various seasonal vegetables, rotis (Indian flat bread), paranthas (Indian fried breads) mostly dominate Delhi's food scene.

Today I am sharing with you a typical Punjabi staple the Daal Makhani--Split Black Gram cooked with spices, laden with clarified butter and eaten with soft, melt in your mouth, fresh from the tawa (hearth) rotis.  It is a daal grand enough to served to your guests, yet easy enough to be a regular on dinner tables. It is also easily available in the dhabas (roadside eateries) so that no Punjabi has to do without it for long.

I found this recipe in Nupur's UK Rasoi and realised that I had to make it. This is a much lighter version of the original clog-your-arteries one that is found in Delhi. This is an added bonus, now we can enjoy daal makhani without guilt. This is part of Blog Hop Wednesday, which is a great platform for trying out recipes of other bloggers.

So onto Nupur's recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Whole Black Urad Daal
• 2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 large onion, roughly sliced
• 2 tbsp Ginger & Garlic paste
• A pinch of Asafoetida & cinnamon each
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds, Turmeric, Coriander powder each
• 1 tsp Red Chili powder
• A pinch of cardamom powder
• 1 cup Whole Milk
• 2 tbp Double cream (did not use any)
• 1 tbsp Kasuri Methi ( Dried Fenugreek Leaves )
• A Sprig of fresh coriander leaves
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp oil

Method:

• Wash, drain and soak the daal in lukewarm water overnight or at least several couple of hours.
• Next day, add 3 cups of water in the pressure cooker along with a tsp of salt and turmeric and pressure cook till 3 whistles. 
• So, when you have taken the pressure cooker off the flame and waiting for the pressure to ease off.. lets make the tadka.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, add chopped onion into it and cook on a medium flame stirring in between till it turns brown
• Now, take the onions out and let them cool off a bit. Once it’s a little normal to touch, puree onions along with the tomatoes in a blender. Add Ginger garlic paste and give another pulse.
• Now, heat another tbsp. of oil in the pan and splutter cumin seeds and Asafoetida for 10 sec. Add the paste into it and cook covered for next 12-15 min on medium flame. 
• When its nearly done, add all the spices except Garam Masala and cook for next 5-6 minutes stirring in between. By the time this procedure is completed, the pressure in the cooker must be down and you could open and check if it requires some more time to get soft and mashed up.