When cooking is a ritual!!!

Yes, its true, at least for me...Cooking is a ritual. I always consider cooking for someone special, for God's offering I am cooking...be it vegetarian or non-vegetarian so the end product will always be delicious. Sometimes I get frustrated with too many orders, but the guest is paying for it...isn't it???
"Atithidevo bhava"--Be your guest God, such says our Upanishads. Even if I cook for myself or for my friends, its always a ritual for me. I dont know, but I always go with the authentic recipe & follow it verbatim, of course making my life easy, by doing few steps together.
Take this example, Biryani..I am always fascinated by Biryani...one of my fav. I remember making it once at home, as I was hungry & wanted to have biryani right away. I had chicken, rice etc rather all the ingredients for making Biryani, but no preparations ahead. I made the biryani in half-an hour...the end result???My mom swore she would never have Biryani in her life... lols..
I lost confidence...but the following day, was a ritual. I made my brown onion paste, marinated the mutton for 24 hours, & the end result???Well...with all humility, it was wonderful!!! :)
Or another example can be Dal Makhni, rather I make Maa di Dal [Mother's Dal], an offshoot of Dal Makhni. I carefully arrange all the ingredients, soak & let the dal sprout, boil, with masalas & finish off...& once you put it in your mouth with some paratha, roti .....its a "WoW"!!!


Whenever I cook anything special, specially a three course menu, [It was a regular stuff in Kolkata, specially on weekends, followed by a photoshoot--though made only once though in Dubai]my mom comments that I am a nuisance in the kitchen, "Come on...I am doing my mise-en place!!!" Since I dont get brown stock from outside [I dont have trust on those stock cubes too!!!] , I make it at home [Let me pay the electricity this month], by roasting the bones in the oven & then prolonged simmering....If I am making fish as my main course, I dont process it from my fishmonger...rather, I buy the fish whole, only descaled. Rest, I practise my butchery at home--similar treatment for chicken. If Lamb/Mutton, then it depends...


For the time being, I am sharing a *ritualistic* Dal recipe--one of my favorites....

Maa di Daal
Ingredients:
Black Urad Dal (whole)- 200 gm
Rajma/Red Kidney Beans- 25 gm
Ginger-Garlic paste- 25 gm
Chilly Powder- 15 gm
Tomato Puree- 200 gm
Coriander Powder- 15 gm
Green Chilly - 2 nos
Cream- 100 gm
White Cooking butter- 50 gm
For tempering:
Onion- 1 no [thinly sliced]
Dried Methi[fenugreek] leaves- 5 gm
Red Chilly Powder- 5 gm
Method:-
1)Wash & soak the dal overnight. Drain the excess water, cover the dal & keep in a warm place, till the dal starts to sprout.
2)Boil the dal in salted water, leaving 2 inch excess water & boil till almost ready to mash.
3)Add the ginger-garlic paste, powdered masalas,puree  & cream & cook till the masalas are no more raw, without any addition of water. Mash the dal slowly at this point.
4)Add in the white cooking butter & cook for another 1/2 hour. Dont forget to stir continuously--as the dal may stick to the bottom!![the total cooking process is 2.5 hrs].
5)For tempering the dal, heat mustard oil & ghee in a pan, till very hot. Add in the sliced onion, red chilly powder till the onion starts to colour--add in the methi leaves & pour it over the Dal. Finish with touches of Punjabi Garam Masala..