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Urad Dal Tarka

Urad Dal Tarka


“U” in our Ingredients Alphabet….

We’re very fortunate to have various Chinese, Polish and Continental stores reasonably local to us. The Continental store is on the way to the doctors and on our way back yesterday we popped our heads in. We’ve been looking for something to take the slot for “U” in our latest bit of food fun and this did the trick.

Urad Dal Chilka are split Black Gram Dal with skins on.

If you have a go at this recipe please note you really won’t need Rice with it. We also roasted a Chicken which certainly wasn’t needed, that’s the foundation of today's dinner. This is a very filling dish in it’s own right and has a really satisfying depth of flavour. We’ve scaled the original recipe to suit two, but they were still generous portions to say this is supposed to be a side dish.

Ingredients:-

110g Urad Dal Chilka
1/2tsp. Turmeric powder
2-3 tbsp. ghee or Sunflower Oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
2-3 whole dried Red Chillies broken up
1/2 tsp. Chilli powder
1/2 tsp. Dried Fenugreek
1 medium sized Onion, peeled and sliced
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and shredded
2 cloves garlic, peeled and grated
2 tomatoes, chopped up

Method:-

(1) Wash Dal well and soak in water for half an hour. Soaking for longer will take the skin off the Dal and is not required.
(2) Drain this water off and rinse the Dal under the tap to remove excess starch.
(3) Add the Dal to a pan of boiling water with Salt and Turmeric and simmer briskly until tender.
(4) You may need to add more water, if the Dal begins to look too thick and dry. This may take 30 minutes or so.
(5) Dals, when ready, should be soft but not mashed and of a custard like consistency. Set aside.
(6) Heat the Ghee or Oil in a frying pan.
(7) Add your Cumin seeds and Fenugreek and fry gentle for a few minutes.
(8) Add whole Chillies and Chillies powder, stir quickly.
(9) Add to the cooked Dal and cover with a lid. This will infuse the flavours into the Dal.
(10) Add the chopped Onion, Ginger and Garlic.
(11) Fry until onions are beginning to turn golden brown.
(12) Add the Chilli powder, Tomatoes etc. and cooked until soft.

We served ours with home made Sag Aloe, topped the Urad Dal Tarka with a Tomato based Chilli sauce and a few Popadums.

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Chinese Braised Ox Cheek

We like something a bit different and when I happened across a lump of Ox Cheek for a little over £2 there had to be an Asian recipe in there somewhere….

Ingredients:-

1 Ox Cheek, cubed
3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
A thumb sized piece of fresh Ginger, grated
3 Spring Onions, chopped
1 Red Chilli, de-seeded and thinly sliced
1 Tbsp of seasoned (Salt & Pepper)Plain Flour (Gluten free for us)
1 Tsp of Chinese Five Spice
2 Star Anise
1 Tsp of Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp of Shaoxing Wine
2 Tbsp of Soy Sauce (Gluten Free for us)
1 Tbsp of Oyster Sauce
500ml of Beef Stock
200g of Button Mushrooms
1 Onion, finely diced
Oil to

Method:-

(1) Heat the Oil in a frying pan and add the Onion.
(2) Fry until the Onion has softened.
(3) Add the Garlic, Ginger, Chilli and Spring Onion and fry until fragrant.
(4) Place in a bowl and set aside.
(5) Toss the cubed Ox Cheek in the seasoned Flour.
(6) Add a little more Oil to the pan and fry the Ox Cheek until browned on all sides.
(7) Add the Star Anise, Five Spice and return the Onion mixture back to the pan.
(8) Add the Sugar and stir in.
(9) Add the Shaoxing Wine, stirring to the meat doesn’t stick to the pan.
(10) Add the Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce and Stock and stir well.
(11) Bring to a simmer and then transfer to a casserole dish with a lid.
(12) Place in a pre-heated oven at 150c for about 3 hours.
(13) An hour before serving and the Button Mushrooms.

This was very hearty meat and very well balanced. We’ll certainly do this again next time Ox Cheek is available.

 

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