Daal : My comfort food

I don't remember anymore how I came upon it but we were sitting at the table having dinner and talking when we started talking about the taste and flavours in food and i suddenly remembere that there was this fifth "taste" which was discovered much later than the others like sweet, salty, sour and bitter. I was trying to think hard, but the only letter of the word that I remembered was 'U'. The word is comleted as Umami. I don't know exactly if we weren't tought about it in school or we were but I couldn't understand it so didn't remember. :D This is the information I collected:
Taste is one of the five senses of our body and from the biological point of view a chemoreception where a chemical stimulus is recognised by a sensory recepetor in our body - in this case a receptor found in our taste buds or "gustatory calyculi" that transmits the sensation of taste to our brain. Taste is a sensation which takes place on our tongue whereas flavour invloves the sensation of smell as well.
There are five basic tastes (taste sensations) :
Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter and the comparitively newest (1907) - Umami. There are two more taste bud recepetors which have been identified which sense fatty acids (in fats and oils) and calcium respectively. NOTE: Hot or Spicy is not a taste in the same sense, since hotness is sensed in a different way (through somatosensory fibers sensing pain and temperature on the tongue).

Umami flavour is also described as savoury sometimes. It is very often found in fermented foods, and often produced through compounds like glutamate (one of the 24 amino acid) which bind to the taste bud receptors which recognise this stimulus. It comes much more often in Asian food or also Eurpoean than in Indian.I think. Though I could be wrong, as we also have many different fermented foods in all the different Indian cultures. So, I went to check about it in Wiki and found it, of course. When I heard this for the first time I was quit facinated and knew why all these additives like monosodium glutamate (MSG or Ajinomoto) and the likes were being added in all kinds of savoury products, you know now for sure, - to stimulate our taste buds! But, I don't like this overdose of umami at all. I rather go for flavours present naturally in food where there is a balance between the different flavours.

Here is some information on the discovery of the taste Umami and monosodium glutamate:
glutamate.org
Wikipedia

Now I will come to my comfort food: daal. Earlier it was always kitchdi, but since I so rarely have mung daal at home now, with whichI make kichdi, I have found that a plate of rice with hot daal gives me the feeling of "home" and comfort and there are days where I do miss it. I wonder how much of umami is present in daal (lentils).

Urd ki daal

Recipe by PG of My Kitchen Stories

Ingredients:

1 cup skinned black gram, soaked for a couple of hours
same quantity of water for cooking in a pressure cooker
salt, to taste
3/4 tsp turmeric
Tadka (Chaunk):
1 heaped tbsp ghee or 2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin
1 pinch asafoetida, crushed or powdered
1 small red onion (or yellow), thinky sliced
1-2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced - I left it out this time
1/2 inch ginger, thinly sliced or grated
1/4 tsp chili powder
1-2 tsp coriander seeds, ground

2nd Tadka / Mirchi ka Chaunk (optional)* - or call it chilli oil
1 tbsp ghee or oil
1/4 tsp cumin (optional)
1/4 tsp coriander seeds, ground (optional)
1/4 tsp red chilli powder

Method:

• soak daal in water and change water a couple of times in between
  
• Cook daal in the pressure cooker with turmeric and salt as per instructions till the lentils are tender
• in the meantime cut onion, tomatoes and other spices
• once daal is done, prepare tadka :
• heat oil or ghee in a frypan and add cumin and let it splutter
• add asafoetida and stir once
• add the onion garlic and ginger, stir
• add the remaining dry spices
  
• keep stirring and fry till onion is golden brown
  
• add the ready tadka to the daal
  
• preprae second tadka in the same way and serve in a separate bowl along with the daal,
• daal is usually eaten with steamed rice or rotis or both and sukhi subzi(s) (dry stirfried vegetables) of choice
  

*The second tadka serves the purpose of increasing het in your food by adding the chilli oil to the food, usually daal

Another one...

Arhar ki Daal (Toor lentils)

Recipe by PG of My Kitchen Stories

Special equipment: pressure cooker (if not available, then soak for longer and cook in a covered pan for 1 hour or more)

serves 4

Ingredients:

150 - 200 g arhar / toor daal (lentil), washed and soaked for at least 2 hours or overnight
1 -1/2 cups water for cooking
salt to taste (first add 1/2 tsp and adjust accordingly later)
1/2 tsp turmeric

Tadka / Chaunk
1 tbsp ghee or any cooking oil (if using onion 2 tbsp may be required)
1 tsp (heaped) cumin
1/8 tsp asafoetida, finely ground (for beginners - use 1 pinch)
1 pinch (generous) ground fenugreek seeds
6-8 curry leaves (optional)
2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1/8 tsp red chilli powder -or to taste (optional) - you can also use fresh green chillies, if available

1 garlic, finely chopped or thinly sliced (optional)
1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled and grated or chopped
1 onion, thinly sliced (optional)
1 medium tomato, chopped into large cubes or small, as per liking

2nd Tadka / Mirchi ka Chaunk (optional)* - or call it chilli oil
1 tbsp ghee or oil
1/4 tsp cumin (optional)
1/4 tsp coriander seeds, ground (optional)
1/4 tsp red chilli powder

Method:

• soak daal in water and change water a couple of times in between
  
• Cook daal in the pressure cooker with turmeric and salt as per instructions till the lentils are tender
• in the meantime cut onion, tomatoes and other spices
• once daal is done, prepare tadka :
• heat oil or ghee in a frypan and add cumin and let it splutter
• add asafoetida and curry leaves, stir once
• add the onion and garlic, stir
• add the remaining dry spices
• fry till onion is golden yellow
• add tomatoes nd fry till tender
  
• add the ready tadka to the daal
  
• preprae second tadka in the same way and serve in a separate bowl along with the daal,
• daal is usually eaten with steamed rice or rotis or both and sukhi subzi(s) (dry stirfried vegetables) of choice

*The second tadka serves the purpose of increasing heat in your food by adding the chilli oil to the food, usually daal

Daal is a staple in Indian food in almost all the regions of India as we majorly eat vegetarian diet. In many regions fish and in some other either or meat in addition is also eaten, but still it is more a delicacy made on some special occasions or on special days than being a regular at the table. I have to say here that I'm writing this based on my impression of all the Indian cultures from the different regions of India. I always consider the variety in culture and so also foods of India at par, if not more, with the continent Europe. So, it is almost impossible for me to know everything. But, having lived in the capital city of India and some other regions of India, and as my father worked for the cenral govermnent we lived together in a "colony" with friends from many different regions of India whose parents were also central goverment "servants". My mother exchanged foods with neighbours whose origins were different than ours and so had different food than ours. It was always such a delight to get a bowl of hot daals or a curry from the neighbour. Yes, those were the days...

Now I actually wanted to write somethig else, but how my thoughts drift :D.
Daal is prepared differently in different regions of India. What make the daal different is the tadka or "chaunk", as we call it, and there are man others word for it, but my knowledge if it is very bad. And these recipes are the tadkas I saw my mom make, partly adapted from her neighbours, so to say.

So, off it goes to Sunshinemom's FIC : Yellow at Tongueticklers!

And I would like to send this entry to this month's MLLA started by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook being hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 All Seasons.

Uttapam, my very first ever!

Uttapams are one of a wide variety of savoury pancakes made from a fermented thick batter of rice and skinned black gram originating from the southernmost part of India, the state of Tamilnadu.

It is my very first ever trial at making uttapams and I think I wasn't bad at all. It is a very good option for a healthy meal 'cause of a higher protein content through the use of skinned black gram.

Now, what I like so much more about uttapam, just like idlis and dosas for example, is the fermentaion process which to my belief makes them so healthy and tastier too. The process of fermentation not only increases the flavours in the food manyfold, but also helps remove so many different phytotoxins through microbial action. And we all know the positive effects of these 'good' bacteria on our digestive tract. And, now after reading this at Wikipedia, I realised the importance of fermentation to preserve the foods in the earlier times when there weren't any refrigerators. And I believe, despite that the health aspects of these foods remain the same even today, if not even more with our lifestyles.
I always use every chance to try out different fermented products. One of the newest being Tempeh, which an Indonesian colleague and friend of mine used to bring to the Institute, while I was working there. It was delicious! Tempeh is also on my list of things to try once again on my own, as a few years ago my efforts to cook tempeh was a disaster! I believe that the tempeh wasn't fresh anymore.
Coming back to uttapam...
Now I admit that this picture does not show the best Uttapam I made and that I took the picture a day later, so it also looks a bit dry, but I still relished it to the full the next day as my usual "leftovers - lunch", as I call it, as I am usually alone at home to eat it.
The inspiration for this recipe came completely from my sister, who posted a simple and easy basic recipe of Uttapams on Healthy and Tasty! which gave me enough confidence to try out this recipe. And I was surprised how easy it really was, even though it requires a bit of planning when making them.
I was a bit afraid when I started pouring the first laddle of batter on my French cast iron pan I especially bought to use for such Indian pancakes and breads. By the second round I was already more confident. I had to add a litttle more water to the batter, as it seemed a bit too thick. But, I was very careful so as not to add too much to make the batter too thin. But all went right and we ate a lovely meal of Uttapams on that day with sambhar, a variety of podi and freshly made coconut-peanut chutney, which turned a bit brown this time as I could not remove the peels from the peanuts completely, even though I had roasted them for long. But, it did not disturb the good taste of the chutney, to my relief! As I love coconut chutney. And also the gun powder, which really wasn't as much a gun powder as I cannot add much chillies to it because of my son, but it tasted so good that both of us just kept licking it with our fingers, me and my son!

And not only that, I even made my very own Sambhar powder, YESSSS!!
I don't know if I sound like a braggart, but I was so happy that I finally actually did something which I had been thinking of since long now - to make my own sambhar powder, as every time I used this packed one from the market, hubby would complain as he did not like the taste of the sambhar and it was always too hot for my son to enjoy it and I could take the amount of chilli I wanted so as not to make it too hot. So, it was all worth the effort. Now I have enough for a couple of next rounds too. The recipe , after searching for a number of them, I found this wonderful recipe from this great mother-daughter blog many of you might know - Aayis Recipes. The only difference to the recipe is that I reduced the amount of chillies a lot, for my son.
Now, to those who don't know what is on the plate, clockwise from bottom: uttapam (fermented pancake), coconut-peanut chutney, gun powder - a not so hot version - therefore so yellowish brown in colour (I've added a bit too much of sunflower oil, bad estimation- but still very enjoyable!), and sambhar in th bowl. All of it made at home!
The recipes for the gun powder and chutney are from my older post, here.

So, here are the recipes:


Uttapam:

Soaking time: 4-5 hours
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Fermentation: overnight (8 -12 hours)
Baking time: 2 - 5 minutes per uttapam

Ingredients:

2/3 rd cup skinned black gram (Urd)
1/3 rd cup brown rice

3 cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1/8th tsp Asafoetida, ground coarsely
1 tsp salt

1 cup vegetables of choice, required at the time of baking the uttapams:
1/2 cup finely chopped zucchini
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell peppers or paprika, as per choice
some grated fresh cocnut (didn't have it this time)

Method:

• Wash and soak the urd-rice mixture in a deep bowl for 4-5 hours or overnight.
• Wash with water in betweeen or the next day and drain before grinding
• Add the remaning ingredients to the bowl and grind everything in a blender to a paste, adding a few tablespoons of water, if required
• Let it ferment, covered, overnight
• On the next day, add some water to make a thick batter which is good to spread on a tava or griddle, being slightly thicker than the batter of a pancake
  
• Add the chopped vegetables and stir
• heat a griddle and pour a laddle of the batter on the hot griddle and spread in slow circular movements, moving outwards to form a circular pancake
• cook on this side until the upper side is no more fluid and the lower side is not burnt or too brown
  
• For this, keep the griddle temperature at around medium or a little more, and turn the uttapam with the help of a spatula and cook until done and shows brown spots on other side as well
• Serve warm with coconut chutney, some podis, sambhar (see below) or any other Indian curry
  

Sambhar:

Ingredients:

1 cup Arhar (Toor) daal, washed and soaked for 2 hours or longer in water
1 carrot, diced
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup aubergine, diced
1 tsp Sambhar powder
1 -2 tsp tamarind paste (I left it out, as I didn't have any)
Tadka:

2 tbsp oil or ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 large pinch asafoetida
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 inch piece ginger, grated or finely julliened
1 large clove garlic, crushed or grated
1/2 cup large thinly sliced coconut flakes
1 pinch red chilli powder
a few curry leaves
1/2 tsp Sambhar Powder
1-2 large tomatos, finely chopped

1 tbsp lemonjuice (to replace tamarind paste)

Method:

• soak daal for two hours or longer and change water in between
  
• cook daal with the cut vegetables in 1 1/2 cups water in a pressure cooker or a deep pan with lid until done
• prepare tadke by heating oil / ghee in a frypan, add mustard seeds and let splutter
• adding the remaning ingredients in the given order, stirring each time on high heat without letting them burn, reduce heat if required.
• after the tomatoes are done, add to the daal and stir, add the lemon juice and serve warm with sides like rice, dosa, idli or uttapam. Rotis also make a wonderful combination.

Typically tamarind is also used in a good sambhar recipe, but since I did not have any, I had to do with tomatoes and lemon juice. But, the whole combination with coconut-peanut chutney, gun powder and sambhar along with the yummy uttapams made a wholesome meal which we all enjoyed a lot. Rishab, like so often did not want to eat daal (sambhar), but munched on the
uttapams along with the gun powder. But, I made him eat some sambhar telling him that I didn't make it so hot just so that he could eat it. That made him agree to eat a few teaspoons of it atleast. Now this was a successful experiment for me. And everyone who hasn't tired making uttapams must try once!