Haleem (Minty Beef with Cracked Wheat and Lentils)

This was a while ago. Do I remember any details of the meal? I do not, except that it was tasty.

The recipe as written calls for cracked wheat and a lengthy pre-soak period. We made it with extra coarse bulgur and skipped the pre-soak, with good results. Note that even if you're making it with bulgur, there's still a long marination phase for the meat -- start early!

Haleem

660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer (p. 175)

Ingredients

• 450g stewing beef
• 30mL ginger paste
• 1mL garlic paste
• 120mL moong dal (skinned split green lentils)
• 120mL masoor dal (skinned split brown lentils)
• 120mL extra coarse bulgur
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 60mL canola oil
• 6 whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 black cardamom pods
• 8-10 fresh green Thai chilis, stems removed, bisected lengthwise
• 1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1½ tsp Kashmiri garam masala
• 120mL finely chopped fresh mint
• 120mL finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine beef, ginger paste, and garlic paste in a bowl. Toss until coated, then refrigerate, covered, for 6-8 hours.
2. Rinse the lentils, if needed.
3. In a large saucepan, combine the lentils (drained), bulgur, and 1L water.
4. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium-high heat. Skim off foam.
5. Stir in turmeric, then reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils and bulgur are tender, 20-25 minutes. Set aside.
6. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat.
7. Add cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, and cardamom pods. Cook until they crackle and the cinnamon swells, ~30 seconds.
8. Add chilis and onion. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until the onion has released its liquid and begins to brown, 15-20 minutes.
9. Uncover and stir-fry until the onion is reddish-brown with purple highlights, 5-10 minutes.
10. Add the beef cubes and marinade. Raise heat to medium-high and cook, stirring, until the meat browns, 12-15 minutes.
11. Add 240mL water and the garam masala and bring to a boil.
12. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until fork-tender, 15-20 minutes.
13. Add the lentil-bulgur mix and their liquid. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the flavours mingle, 10-15 minutes.
14. Remove from heat, stir in the mint and cilantro, and serve.

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Moong Dal Kichidi (Rice-Lentil Porridge)

At this point we've made all of the pulaos and fried rice recipes in the curry book, so I decided to try this "kichidi" instead. I'd never had a kichidi before, but it seems very similar to pongal, another Indian rice-lentil porridge. They are so similar in fact, that I decided to Google around to try to find out what differentiates them.

Both these dishes are savoury, Indian porridges commonly made from rice and moong dal and often eaten for breakfast. But, having read up on them a bit, I now feel like I have a better handle on what distinguishes them from each other.

First of all, pongals are specifically a south Indian dish while kichidis can be found all over India. And, while pongals are sometimes eaten for dinner, they seem to be mostly considered a breakfast food. Meanwhile, kichidis can be eaten for any meal of the day.

Pongals, in addition to being more geographically restricted, also seem to be more restricted in their ingredients. They are always based on rice and moong dal (skinned split mung beans). While kichidis may feature that pair as their primary ingredients (as this one does), there are a plethora of variants using both different legumes and different grains/starches. Kichidis will also often include vegetables (usually tomatoes and onions and sometimes other vegetables as well), while pongals generally do not. Interestingly, despite this huge range of ingredients, it is pongals and not kichidis who can also come in a sweet form with jaggery and dried fruit in place of the spices and ginger.

And while Iyer calls for turmeric in both his kichidi and pongal recipes, apparently pongal tends to have less turmeric than kichidi on average and be a little less vibrantly yellow.

Other than that, the main difference seems to be the typical accompaniments. Pongal is traditionally eaten with sambhar (although it can certainly work well along-side other curries as well¹). Meanwhile, kichidis -- being more varied in general -- might go with any number of things, but chutneys, pickles, yogurt, and/or papads are some common choices. While vegetable stir-fries are often served with some of the drier, less porridge-y kichidis.

For this particular porridge, Iyer suggests that its ideal companion would be kheema mutter. And, while I do think that would have been delicious, that's not what I ended up doing.

Since I had both kidney beans and eggplant that needed to be used up, I decided to make katarikai goshtu and dahiwaale rajmah instead. Both curries that I hadn't tried yet, would use up the ingredients in question, and seemed reasonably easy to prepare. (I also ended up making a pasta "curry" to use up some arugula, but since that has its own starchy substrate built in, I don't really consider it an accompaniment to the kichidi; it's its own self-contained thing.)

Anyway, the kichidi turned out pleasantly well. It wasn't super flavourful on its own (although the ghee and cumin were nice), but it made a nice backdrop for the various curries it was served with. That said, I think I would like to try adding some tomatoes and onions next time. And probably some chilies as well. Just to give it a little more... presence. And maybe dial back the ghee a bit. Not that it isn't delicious, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to get more deliciousness from vegetables and spices and hopefully be able to rely less on deliciousness from concentrated fat!

So, with that in mind, here is the recipe as I made it, plus a bonus variant with some suggested edits.

Moong Dal Kichidi

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. skinned split green lentils/mung beans (moong dal)
• 1 c. long-grain white rice
• 4 c. cold water
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 4 c. boiling water, divided
• 3 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds

Directions

1. Rinse the dal thoroughly.
2. Add the dal and rice to a pot with the cold water.
3. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and skim off and discard any foam that forms on the surface.
4. Add the salt and turmeric.
5. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until most of the water has been absorbed (~10 minutes).
6. Pour in 1 c. of boiling water and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until that water has also been absorbed (~10 more minutes). Repeat until all the water has been used.
7. Heat the ghee over medium-high heat.
8. Add the cumin to the hot ghee and sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
9. Pour the hot ghee and cumin into the porridge and stir to combine.
10. Serve with pickles, chutney, yogurt, papads, and/or your favourite curries.

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Variants

InstantPot Vegetable Kichidi

Adapted from 660 Curries and Indian Healthy Recipes

Ingredients

• 2-3 Tbsp. ghee, divided
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds, divided
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/8 tsp. ground asafetida
• 1 tsp. bin bhuna hua garam masala or bottle masala (optional)
• 2 tsp. ginger paste
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1-2 fresh green Thai, serrano, or finger chilies, minced
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. green peas (optional)
• 1 c. skinned split green lentils/mung beans (moong dal)
• 1 c. long-grain white rice
• 6-8 c. water

Directions

1. Rinse the dal very well and set aside.
2. Heat 1-2 Tbsp. of the ghee on sauté medium.
3. Add 1 tsp. of the cumin seeds and bay leaves and sizzle for 20-30 seconds.
4. Add the asafetida and masala (if using) give it a quick stir.
5. Add the ginger paste and stir-fry for 30-60 seconds.
6. Add the onion and chili and stir-fry for 3-5 minutes.
7. Add the tomatoes, turmeric, and salt and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
8. If using peas, add them now and cook for ~2 minutes.
9. Add the dal and stir-fry for ~4 minutes. (Or toast the dal in a dry pan in advance.)
10. Add the rice and water² and stir once or twice.
11. Pressure cook high for 8 minutes. Allow a 15-minute natural release.
12. Heat 1 Tbsp. of ghee over medium-high heat and add the remaining 2 tsp. of cumin seeds.
13. Sizzle the cumin for 10-20 seconds, then add the hot ghee and cumin to the porridge and stir once or twice.
14. Serve as above, with your choice of yogurt, pickles, chutneys, papads, curries, and/or stir-fries.

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¹ Iyer suggests serving the ven pongal in his book with aviyal and katarikai goshtu. ^Back
2 Use the lesser amount for a drier porridge and greater amount for a looser, more soupy porridge. ^Back

Bhaja Moong Palak (Toasted Mung Beans with Spinach)

I've been making a lot of curries recently, but they were all a bit short on vegetables. This one doesn't have that much in the way of vegetables either¹, but it at least has a bit of spinach. I figured it looked easy to make and would at least give us something. And, as much as mung beans are more of a protein than a vegetable, they at least feel like a somewhat healthful protein option.

Iyer notes that toasting the beans before cooking prevents them from breaking down. Normally skinned split mung beans will cook and break down relatively quickly. These ones will hold their shape, even through much longer cooking.

Bhaja Moong Palak

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. skinned split mung beans ("green lentils"/moong dal)
• 3 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 250g spinach
• 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp. whole cloves
• 1-4 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. ghee

Directions

1. Heat pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add lentils and cook, stirring constantly, until they are nicely browned but not burnt (5-8 minutes).
3. Add the water and stir to break up any lumps that form.
4. Add the turmeric and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for ~20 minutes.
6. Add the spinach, cover, and cook until wilted (~5 minutes).
7. Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
8. Add the fennel, cloves, and chilies and sizzle for 10-20 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside.
9. Once the spinach is wilted, add the spices and oil to the pan.
10. Stir in the salt and sugar and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for ~5 minutes.
11. Stir in the ghee just before servind.

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¹ I don't count legumes. Dried beans and lentils and the like are more in the protein and starch category as far as I'm concerned. ^Back

Vengayam Adai (Multi-lentil pancakes with onions and tomatoes)

These aren't really pancakes in the sense we usually mean the word in Canada; they're savoury, a bit spicy, and best served as accompaniment to a curry, although you can eat them on their own (and they are quite tasty). Served with curry they're great either as a side dish, or topped with curry and eaten that way.

As written the recipe calls for just chopping the onions and stirring them into the batter; symbol and I both think it would be much improved by browning the onions first, since they don't really get a chance to brown while the pancakes are cooking.

These are really at their best right off the stovetop; the batter will keep in the fridge for at least a week, so if you don't want a full batch, prefer to refrigerate the batter and cook more as needed rather than cooking a batch of pancakes and reheating them.

Multi-lentil pancakes with onions and tomatoes

660 Curries

Ingredients

• ½ C long-grain white rice
• ¼ C chana dal (yellow split peas)
• ¼ C moong dal (skinned split green lentils)
• ¼ C toovar dal (skinned split yellow pigeon peas)
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 4-6 dried red chiles, stems removed
• 2-4 fresh green Thai chiles
• 1 C plain yoghurt
• 1 C finely chopped red onion
• 1 large tomato, cored and finely chopped
• ¼ freshly chopped fresh cilantro
• 25-30 curry leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground asafetida

Directions

1. Combine rice and all three dals in a medium-size bowl. Fill halfway with water, and rinse the legumes by rubbing them between your fingertips; the water will become cloudy. Drain the water and repeat until the water becomes relatively clear.
2. Drain, then fill the bowl halfway with warm water and add the coriander seeds and dried chiles. Cover and let it sit at room temperature until the legumes soften, 1-4 hours; then drain.
3. Combine the legumes, fresh chiles, and 1 C water in a blender jar. Blend until they form a slightly gritter batter.
4. Return the batter to the bowl; stir in the yoghurt, onion, tomato, cilantro, curry leaves, salt, and asafetida.
5. Heat a bit of oil in a medium-sized nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour ½ C of the batter into it and spread it out with the back of the ladle to form a flat circle (it's too thick to flow out on its own). Cook until small bubbles start to form on top and it loses its sheen, ~5 minutes, then flip and cook the other side, 2-4 minutes. Eat immediately.