|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This recipe is
recommended wholeheartedly for the summers when cutting down on the meat
intake never hurts anyone, writes Pushpesh
Pant THERE is a delectable dish prepared in Hyderabad called dalchai marrying meat with lentils and often including a squash like kaddu or lauki very different in its mazaa — a word so difficult to translate — from the salan of gobhi or nenua in Awadh. We cherish happy memories of the dalchai we have enjoyed in Najma ji’s house in Delhi, where her daughter Ajma was kind enough to share the family recipe with us — but that is another story. We have always wondered why the two proteins — veg and non-veg — are not more often paired. It does stretch the more expensive meats and renders the dish easier to digest. Perfect for a gruelling summer. The Mexicans have no inhibitions blending rajma — kidney beans to them— with mince to dish out the fabulous chili con carne but Indians—with the exception of the Parsis who make the celebrated dhansak— somehow seem to maintain a ‘watertight’ border between lentils and meats. Kofta and kebab are the exceptions where miniscule quantities of daal are used as a binder. Imagine our surprise when recently at a friend’s house we came across daal- gosht. "Aah daalcha!" we exclaimed, all knowingly, only to be corrected swiftly by the hostess. The dish did include some tasty potatoes but no, it was not even a distant cousin of alu gosht. Daal gosht had a lovely texture, not satin smooth but slightly grainy yet creamy at the same time. What was most gratifying was that it did not have scary roghan floating all around. The spicing, too, was beautifully balanced. Aromatics were not overpowering but used in a taste-enhancing manner. Needless to add, ‘seconds’ were eagerly lapped up and there were no leftovers. We recommend this recipe wholeheartedly for the garmi ka mausam when cutting down on the meat intake never hurts anyone. And, the possibilities of playing around interestingly with the basic formula are endless—the permutation and combinations with lentils and veggies and different cuts of meat are simply mind-boggling.
|
