Toor Dal with Drumstick Vegetables (Indian Lentil Recipe)

If you're not familiar with drumsticks, they are long, thin, green pods commonly used in Indian cuisine. They are often used in sambar soup but they can also be a substitute for spinach or green beans in dal dishes.

I prepared toor dal, which is the most common lentil paired with drumsticks, although I've seen this dish prepared with mung beans and chana dal (garbanzo) as well. To guarantee optimum tenderness, I choose immature drumsticks at the market; otherwise they become a little too fibrous. When the lentils are soft and gravy-like, drumsticks are added. The drumsticks are chewed until all the artichoke-like texture is eaten, then the outer skin is discarded. If you can get your hands on some, give them a try. They're definitely out of the ordinary.

Indian Sabzi Recipe: Spicy Butternut Squash

Spicy butternut squash sabzi is an Indian vegetable dish made with cumin seeds, fennel seeds, ground coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, sweet and sour ingredients (mango powder, lemon juice and sugar), butternut squash and its skin. I know what you're wondering. Yes, butternut squash skin is edible; it's just a matter of taste. I discovered this while learning to cook Indian food with Baji, my husband Lulu's late grandmother. If the skin is cooked long enough with a generous amount of water, it becomes soft and tender. The skin also helps prevent the squash from falling apart and turning all mushy.

Butternut squash sabzi is traditionally served with puri (fried flat bread). Baji tried teaching me how to make puri and all sorts of Indian flat bread, which I always failed at miserably. I find kneading and folding the dough very tricky, so usually I ask Lulu's aunt, Sheerin Auntie to make them for us. She was over recently so we got to enjoy a nice meal of puri and sabzi. Everyone should have their own Sheerin Auntie!

Sambhar Recipe (Indian Soup)

Sambhar is a South Indian dish made of toor dal, vegetables, turmeric powder, curry leaves, tamarind, cinnamon sticks, whole dried red chiles, cilantro, roasted coriander seeds and other Indian spices. It resembles a soup; and is often served alongside idli (rice cakes) or dosa (Indian crêpe).

To make my version of sambhar, I start by boiling toor dal with a lot of vegetables, such as Indian eggplant, drumsticks, okra, carrots, turnips, pumpkin, sweet potatoes or Idaho potatoes and tomatoes, shallots and onions. Then I let the vegetables simmer until the lentils are cooked through.

If you’ve ever had sambhar at an Indian restaurant and wanted to make it at home, now you can. It’s very easy, healthy and filling.

Drumsticks.

Masoor Dal Recipe (Yellow Dal)

Masoor dal is an Indian dish made with coral-colored lentils. Lentils are a very common ingredient in the Indian diet because they provide a great amount of protein for a vegetarian diet. The lentils are mixed with chopped tomatoes, turmeric, ginger garlic paste, onions and curry leaves, then slow-cooked at low temperature.

I think I mentionned that this last summer, we had a terrible planting season this year because of gopher infestations in our garden. We did get a few tomatoes from potted tomato plants Lulu added to the garden later in the season. I gathered that last little crop of Sweet 100 tomatoes and used them for the dal. The natural sweetness from the tomatoes works very well in the dish. It's a simple recipe but both tasty and healthy, and it's also ideal for a vegetarian diet. Serve the legume with a starch and a complete meal is ready.

Chana Masala Recipe (Chole)

Chana masala, also known as chole, is my father-in-law's favorite Indian dish. It is a very common dish sold by street vendors in India. Daddy is a vegetarian like Lulu, so the garbanzo bean-based dish is perfect for their diet. Garbanzo beans are full of protein and make a complete dish when paired with a starch such as rice -in the case of this dish- a bhatura. The beans are cooked in thick, spicy tomato-based gravy and finished with amchur, a dried mango powder which lends a sour note to the garbanzo beans.

As I mentioned, chole is traditionally served with bhatura. If you're not familiar with Indian cuisine, bhaturas are deep-fried bread rounds. They are similar to, but slightly larger than puris, which I love. I'll post that recipe soon.