Monday 9 March 2015

Gujarati Osaman and Chhuti Dal Recipe

A memory: my granny telling me a story, mixing together soft rice with warm chhuti dal and slightly spicy osaman. Then she puts in a dollop of homemade fragrant ghee and a squeeze of fresh lemon. She mixes it to a soft mushy texture that I like and feeds me the first bite.


Gujarati Osaman Recipe

Osaman is to Gujaratis what rasam is to Tamils. A warm, comforting broth spiced with home-y memories. It is a thin and tangy broth with warm cinnamon and pungent clove. The real flavour of osaman is in the fragrance of the ghee tempering that fills your home with an appetising and comforting smell.

    
Gujarati Osaman Recipe

Chhuti dal is the flavoured boiled dal that adds volume to osaman and steamed rice when being eaten. The usual way of eating osaman and rice is by adding some chhuti dal to it. You can add some ghee and a squeeze of lemon for more flavour.

Chhuti Dal Recipe

Gujarati Osaman and Chhuti Dal Recipe

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup toor dal
3 cups water
2 tsps cumin seeds
2 tsps turmeric powder
2 tbsps ghee
1 tsp mustard seeds
6-8 curry leaves
1/2 inch piece of cinnamon bark
2 cloves
1 tsp red chilly powder
2-3 pieces of dried kokum/ tamarind
1 tbsp jaggery
2 tsps finely chopped corriander
2 tsps grated fresh coconut (optional)
Salt to taste

Method

Wash and soak the toor dal for about 15 minutes. Pressure cook it with the 3 cups of water, a little salt, 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp turmeric powder.

When cooked, drain the excess water and keep it aside. Then mash the dal to a mushy texture. That's your chhuti dal!

To the excess water, add about 2 tbsps of the chhuti dal. Blend well together.

Heat ghee in a pan. Temper with mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves.

Add the cinnamon and cloves and fry for about 15 seconds.

Add turmeric and red chilly powder and fry for another 20 seconds, making sure they don't burn.

Now add in the water of the dal prepared above. Savour the fragrance for a bit!

Put in the kokum pieces and the jaggery. Stir and bring to a boil.

Lower the flame and add fresh corriander, grated coconut and salt. Let it boil for another 5-7 minutes till the flavours are released.

Serve hot!


No comments:

Post a Comment