[PhDGirl]

Originally Posted by Variable

My Mole Miracle - by Variable

Me and some friends made mole last week! (for those of you who know not... mol-ay: mexican sauce of spices and chocolate)

The recipe was intense, it called for loads of ingredients that were strange to us, and some kind of oven that we probably couldn't get north of San Diego. It was also going to take 3hrs to make.

We had barely enough of the ingredients, about 40 minutes to make it, and none of these advanced mole making ovens.

But, we perservered, and threw one thing after another into the blender - jalapenos, cloves, cinammon, two pieces of toast, chocolate... We liquified it all and threw it into a standard pot.

It actually turned out like the store bought stuff.

The moral of this story - with enough perserverance and will-power you don't even need to follow a recipe, the food just magically transforms in your pot into what you want.

I love mole sauce. It sounds like you improvised, but do you have a general recipe?

[onetspvanilla]

Originally Posted by raatkirani2005

That's all you need--a pot. Rinse and soak daal in water for a few hours (or overnight for tougher daals, like kabuli chanay, maash/urid).
The following is a basic recipe for daals like masoor, moong, chana, sabat masoor, etc. Maash daal won't cook well with this method.
In the pot, add soaked daal, and add water until daal is well covered and there is an inch of water over them. Start boiling on high heat, then reduce to medium low. You can add a little salt, chili pepper and a pinch of turmeric ot water. The daal will cook itself in a couple of hours. You'll see that it's becomes soupy with time and by all means add extra water if needed to maintain consistency. If you keep the heat to medium low, it won't stick to the bottom and burn. Some people say not to overstir that daal while cooking it, otherwise it won't soften. Just stir every so often to see that it's okay. Once it's soft and soupy, you can do a tarka for flavor (some people call it a baghaar, but I'm Punjabi, so tarka it is). In a separate frypan, heat oil with some finely chopped onions, cumin seeds, and chopped garlic. Fry until onion has browned and carefully pour the contents of frypan (including the oil) into the daal pot. Stir through and you're done. Garnish with 1/2 tsp garam masala and cilantro.

ooh i've always made my daal without soaking it for a few hours... i always do like half an hour. and i usually don't cook it on medium-low for a few hours either... eek, i only do again, another half hour. am i totally missing out on great daal by not soaking/cooking as long? bc if so, i'll have to try it your way

[nooni]

I can never make something that has no picture with the recipe, lol, its always been that way for me... but anywhos, im going out now, when i come inshallah ill share some of the stuff ive made over the summer (i saved all the recipes!!!)

[MoonStar]

Originally Posted by Variable

Real deal mole isn't just dinner... it's like a spiritual experience. Try it out!

haha, that's taking cooking to a whole new level.

Sea of roses, are you talking about lentil soup kinda lentils? (aka dal) that's usually eaten with rice though but rotis cool too. I have a recipe for kaali dal somewhere, I'll post it.

[hijabihoodlum]

Originally Posted by MoonStar

haha, that's taking cooking to a whole new level.

Sea of roses, are you talking about lentil soup kinda lentils? (aka dal) that's usually eaten with rice though but rotis cool too. I have a recipe for kaali dal somewhere, I'll post it.

i feel like food should be on a whole new level as often as possible

it's sad with my busy schedule lately how little time i have to cook, but insha Allah i'll get to the mole sooner than later.

[Timbit]

Originally Posted by raatkirani2005

That's all you need--a pot. Rinse and soak daal in water for a few hours (or overnight for tougher daals, like kabuli chanay, maash/urid).
The following is a basic recipe for daals like masoor, moong, chana, sabat masoor, etc. Maash daal won't cook well with this method.
In the pot, add soaked daal, and add water until daal is well covered and there is an inch of water over them. Start boiling on high heat, then reduce to medium low. You can add a little salt, chili pepper and a pinch of turmeric ot water. The daal will cook itself in a couple of hours. You'll see that it's becomes soupy with time and by all means add extra water if needed to maintain consistency. If you keep the heat to medium low, it won't stick to the bottom and burn. Some people say not to overstir that daal while cooking it, otherwise it won't soften. Just stir every so often to see that it's okay. Once it's soft and soupy, you can do a tarka for flavor (some people call it a baghaar, but I'm Punjabi, so tarka it is). In a separate frypan, heat oil with some finely chopped onions, cumin seeds, and chopped garlic. Fry until onion has browned and carefully pour the contents of frypan (including the oil) into the daal pot. Stir through and you're done. Garnish with 1/2 tsp garam masala and cilantro.

Yep, that's the way. I even checked with my mom and she's like "You're telling people on the internet how to cook?!"

These days, I am making samosas with my mom and aunt since Ramzan is coming up. It's one of my favourite activities ever, haha.

And today, I'm baking some fish. Let's see how it turns out...

[Variable]

Originally Posted by PhDGirl

I love mole sauce. It sounds like you improvised, but do you have a general recipe?

No sorry... we found it flipping through 'Joy of Cooking'. But there's a zillion different recipes on the internet.

I did find this complete mole page though - here's a linke to the recipes... http://www.ramekins.com/mole/recipesmole.html

I think I might be part Mexican.

[Variable]

Originally Posted by raatkirani2005

That's all you need--a pot. Rinse and soak daal in water for a few hours (or overnight for tougher daals, like kabuli chanay, maash/urid).
The following is a basic recipe for daals like masoor, moong, chana, sabat masoor, etc. Maash daal won't cook well with this method.
In the pot, add soaked daal, and add water until daal is well covered and there is an inch of water over them. Start boiling on high heat, then reduce to medium low. You can add a little salt, chili pepper and a pinch of turmeric ot water. The daal will cook itself in a couple of hours. You'll see that it's becomes soupy with time and by all means add extra water if needed to maintain consistency. If you keep the heat to medium low, it won't stick to the bottom and burn. Some people say not to overstir that daal while cooking it, otherwise it won't soften. Just stir every so often to see that it's okay. Once it's soft and soupy, you can do a tarka for flavor (some people call it a baghaar, but I'm Punjabi, so tarka it is). In a separate frypan, heat oil with some finely chopped onions, cumin seeds, and chopped garlic. Fry until onion has browned and carefully pour the contents of frypan (including the oil) into the daal pot. Stir through and you're done. Garnish with 1/2 tsp garam masala and cilantro.

Thanks for the help... I'm going to do it! But I may need some translation for some of that... (like I don't know what tarka is - is it like a spice or a stick of something, or a veggie, or other?)

[ursis]

In a separate frypan, heat oil with some finely chopped onions, cumin seeds, and chopped garlic....

That's the tarka.

[dafahojao]

Salam,

I made my original veggie sammich. Its simple and easy.

Cut thin slices of bell pepper.
Chop onions finely.
Dice tomatoes.
Put them all in a pan. Cook it for five minutes on high heat. Add seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, (while cooking)..basically add anything u want.
Toast Bread. and on one side spread cream cheese; on the other side spread mayonaise.
Slice up some cucumbers. Place 'em on cream cheese side.
Put some chopped Lettuce on top and then your cooked veggies...

It tastes SOO good!!

You can add anything u want to it!

[Timbit]

MoonStar, post your eggplant parmesan and shrimp scampi recipes again please?

I made shrimp scampi yesterday for iftaar and it was great, but I'm not sure I made it right according to your recipe because I didn't have it and just made it from memory, since I cooked it once before too.

The eggplant parmesan, I wanna make tomorrow.

[MoonStar]

Eggplant parmesan:



1/4 cup onion, chop
1 garlic clove, mince
2 green chilis, chop
1 tabspn parsley
1 teas salt
1/4 teas pepper
2 cups tomato sauce
1/4 teas red chili powder

1 large eggplant, cut in 1/2 inch rounds
1 egg plus 1/4 cup milk plus 1 tabspn oil
flour
breadcrumbs
1/2 cup parmesan
1 brick mozzarella

Sauce: heat 1/4 cup oil, 2 chilis, onion, garlic, on low heat til soft. add rest, add some water to thin it, simmer for 30 min.

Coat eggplants in flour, then dip in egg mixture, then breadcrumbs, saute in oil til golden. Flip them.

Layer sauce, eggplant, cheeses in a pan. Bake for 30 minutes at 350.

[PhDGirl]

Originally Posted by Variable

Thanks for the help... I'm going to do it! But I may need some translation for some of that... (like I don't know what tarka is - is it like a spice or a stick of something, or a veggie, or other?)

You can think of it as a garnish - you put it on top at the end and the onions/spices impart flavor. Good luck!

[MoonStar]

Shrimp Scampi:

1/2 pound shrimp, cleaned
olive oil
2 tabspn butter, melted
chopped parsley
8 garlic, crushed
1 lemon
salt
pepper

1. Set broiler on high 4" away from heat. Place shrimp in olive oil greased dish in single layer.

2. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic, lemon juice, butter.

3. Broil for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.

[ABCDGIRL]

Some stuff I made recently........

a) for the dahi barey I add crushed and dried mint leaves to the yogurt
and the crumbled stuff on top is dried and crushed tamarind sauce (i think)
not sure though because we have this stuff in a jar which my moms friend got from pakistan but it might be that



b) cashew pakoras..using chana dal..i love this stuff



c) suppose to be fruit pizza but i got lazy to make the sugar cookie crust and instead used graham cracker crust



d) i forgot what these are called..pieces of all purpose dough fried



e) mash ki dal bhajias