oh daal bhat...you, i'll miss the most.
but, fortunately, i can now cook you all on my very own.
daal bhat is about 50% of what you need to know about nepal. for all of the ethnic, linguistic, and culinary diversity in nepal, daal bhat is the common denominator, the staple meal for the vast majority of the population. it consists, at its most basic, of a MASSIVE mound of rice (bhat), and a watery legume soup (daal). standard additions are some kind of curried vegetable (tarkaari), sauteed greens (saag), one or two of an enormous variety of pickle or spicy sauce (achhar), and possibly meat and/or a little yogurt (dahi). it's eaten twice a day, mid-morning and early evening, served on a big metal plate, all in heaps and/or small metal bowls around the mound of rice. you eat it by pouring the dal on the rice bit by bit, and then MUSHING EVERYTHING TOGETHER AND EATING WITH YOUR HANDS, which is flippin' awesome. you're fully expected to have multiple portions of everything.
anyway, shockingly, i never cooked it for myself at any point in the last two years. firstly, i live in fear of pressure cookers. there's a reason they get used as improvised bombs. furthermore, it's pretty labor intensive (plan on two hours prep and cooking) and so ubiquitous that it really just makes more sense to pop down the street to literally any restaurant. i also have yet to find a good recipe online, so learning how to cook it would have required a lesson that i never seemed to get around to. but i recently bought my own copy of a taste of nepal, a cookbook i've gotten for several people as a present. the other night, both my roomie and i were CRAVING dal bhat, so we just went for it. we think it turned out pretty well for a first attempt, but by that point it was about 9pm, and we may have lost perspective in our starving state.
in any case, full recipes after the jump (hopefully i won't get a cease and desist letter from ms. patak).
there are, like, uncountable variations on all of these recipes, from region to region and household to household. i just pulled these from the cookbook 'cause they looked tasty and we had most of the ingredients.
black daal
1 cup split black urad beans
1 1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp salt [note: this was totally not enough. load 'er up with salt. everyone here does]
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp szewchwan pepper (timur, locally) [again, i don't think this was enough]
3 tbs clarified butter [i used olive oil]
2-3 [or 6, whatevs] dried red chilies, halved and seeded
1/2 tsp jimbu [you can literally only get this in nepal. i didn't have it-- tasted fine]
generous pinch asafetida [trust me, it tastes better than it smells]
2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tbs finely julienned ginger
sort and wash beans, and combine with minced ginger, salt, turmeric, timur, 1tbs of clarified butter, with 3 1/2 cups water in a deep heavy pot. quick boil over medium-high heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. cover and reduce to simmer until beans double in size, adding more water to maintain soupy-ness if necessary. remove from heat.
in a small skillet, heat the remaining 2 tbs of butter. fry chilis and jimbu for about 5 seconds, add asafetia and immediately ginger and garlic and fry 'til crisp. pour it all into the daal, stir, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
mixed vegetable curry
this isn't a curry like you'll see in indian restaurants. similar flavor, but no liquid-y stuff.
1 medium-sized head cauliflower
1/2 c. mustard oil [so tasty]
2 [or a billion] dried red chilies, stemmed
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds [didn't have them-- was fine]
1/4 tsp cumin seeds [not enough. go to town]
1/4 tsp jimbu [again, not problem not to have]
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
2 green cardamom pods, crushed
1 stick cinnamon, halved
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 bay leaf [didn't have it- was fine]
2 whole cloves [i put in more than this]
1 tbs minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 small bell pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
3-4 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp garam masal [i added more]
break cauliflower into smallish florets
heat mustard oil in a wide, heavy saucepan until faintly smoking. add chili, chili, fenugreek, cumin seed, jimbu, and fry until dark and fragrant (~5 seconds). add potatoes, cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, bay, and cloves. stir frequently until potatoes are light brown, then transfer them to a bowl with a slotted spoon. cook cauliflower in same pan for about 5 minutes, then add ginger, coriander, cumin, salt, and cayenne. cover and reduce heat to medium. cook and stir until cauliflower is half cooked (~15 minutes). mix in potatoes and the other veggies. cook until tender (~10-12 mins). stir in cilantro, green onions and garam masala.
no-cook tomato achhar
6 roughly chopped tomatos [you should de-seed them too, or the whole thing's a bit watery]
8-10 fresh hot green chilies, roughly chopped
1/2 c finely chopped cilantro
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2tsps peeled and chopped ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground timur
1 tsp mustard oil
1 tbs lemon or lime juice
blend it, biatch.
i also whipped up a quick raita with cucumber, yogurt, olive oil, and cumin.
and i hope i don't have to tell y'all how to cook rice.
but, fortunately, i can now cook you all on my very own.
daal bhat is about 50% of what you need to know about nepal. for all of the ethnic, linguistic, and culinary diversity in nepal, daal bhat is the common denominator, the staple meal for the vast majority of the population. it consists, at its most basic, of a MASSIVE mound of rice (bhat), and a watery legume soup (daal). standard additions are some kind of curried vegetable (tarkaari), sauteed greens (saag), one or two of an enormous variety of pickle or spicy sauce (achhar), and possibly meat and/or a little yogurt (dahi). it's eaten twice a day, mid-morning and early evening, served on a big metal plate, all in heaps and/or small metal bowls around the mound of rice. you eat it by pouring the dal on the rice bit by bit, and then MUSHING EVERYTHING TOGETHER AND EATING WITH YOUR HANDS, which is flippin' awesome. you're fully expected to have multiple portions of everything.
anyway, shockingly, i never cooked it for myself at any point in the last two years. firstly, i live in fear of pressure cookers. there's a reason they get used as improvised bombs. furthermore, it's pretty labor intensive (plan on two hours prep and cooking) and so ubiquitous that it really just makes more sense to pop down the street to literally any restaurant. i also have yet to find a good recipe online, so learning how to cook it would have required a lesson that i never seemed to get around to. but i recently bought my own copy of a taste of nepal, a cookbook i've gotten for several people as a present. the other night, both my roomie and i were CRAVING dal bhat, so we just went for it. we think it turned out pretty well for a first attempt, but by that point it was about 9pm, and we may have lost perspective in our starving state.
in any case, full recipes after the jump (hopefully i won't get a cease and desist letter from ms. patak).
there are, like, uncountable variations on all of these recipes, from region to region and household to household. i just pulled these from the cookbook 'cause they looked tasty and we had most of the ingredients.
black daal
1 cup split black urad beans
1 1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp salt [note: this was totally not enough. load 'er up with salt. everyone here does]
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp szewchwan pepper (timur, locally) [again, i don't think this was enough]
3 tbs clarified butter [i used olive oil]
2-3 [or 6, whatevs] dried red chilies, halved and seeded
1/2 tsp jimbu [you can literally only get this in nepal. i didn't have it-- tasted fine]
generous pinch asafetida [trust me, it tastes better than it smells]
2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tbs finely julienned ginger
sort and wash beans, and combine with minced ginger, salt, turmeric, timur, 1tbs of clarified butter, with 3 1/2 cups water in a deep heavy pot. quick boil over medium-high heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. cover and reduce to simmer until beans double in size, adding more water to maintain soupy-ness if necessary. remove from heat.
in a small skillet, heat the remaining 2 tbs of butter. fry chilis and jimbu for about 5 seconds, add asafetia and immediately ginger and garlic and fry 'til crisp. pour it all into the daal, stir, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
mixed vegetable curry
this isn't a curry like you'll see in indian restaurants. similar flavor, but no liquid-y stuff.
1 medium-sized head cauliflower
1/2 c. mustard oil [so tasty]
2 [or a billion] dried red chilies, stemmed
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds [didn't have them-- was fine]
1/4 tsp cumin seeds [not enough. go to town]
1/4 tsp jimbu [again, not problem not to have]
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
2 green cardamom pods, crushed
1 stick cinnamon, halved
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 bay leaf [didn't have it- was fine]
2 whole cloves [i put in more than this]
1 tbs minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 small bell pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
3-4 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp garam masal [i added more]
break cauliflower into smallish florets
heat mustard oil in a wide, heavy saucepan until faintly smoking. add chili, chili, fenugreek, cumin seed, jimbu, and fry until dark and fragrant (~5 seconds). add potatoes, cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, bay, and cloves. stir frequently until potatoes are light brown, then transfer them to a bowl with a slotted spoon. cook cauliflower in same pan for about 5 minutes, then add ginger, coriander, cumin, salt, and cayenne. cover and reduce heat to medium. cook and stir until cauliflower is half cooked (~15 minutes). mix in potatoes and the other veggies. cook until tender (~10-12 mins). stir in cilantro, green onions and garam masala.
no-cook tomato achhar
6 roughly chopped tomatos [you should de-seed them too, or the whole thing's a bit watery]
8-10 fresh hot green chilies, roughly chopped
1/2 c finely chopped cilantro
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2tsps peeled and chopped ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground timur
1 tsp mustard oil
1 tbs lemon or lime juice
blend it, biatch.
i also whipped up a quick raita with cucumber, yogurt, olive oil, and cumin.
and i hope i don't have to tell y'all how to cook rice.
at least one of us got over our fear of pressure cookers! ...i'll never be able to cook daal. ever.
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