One of those days...

There is nothing more comforting than a home-cooked meal. It gets even better when you eat your childhood favorites..  After one busy weekend of traveling, eating drive-thrus and take outs, all I wanted to do was come home and cook one simple meal to suffice my cravings.
 
I didn't want much, just one plain meal of rice, dal (lentil soup), vegetable and some protein (either chicken or mutton) to complete my plate.

After too much eating outside, I crave rice, and by that I mean plain Basmati Rice. Call us crazy but we (most Nepalese) tend to get picky about rice. There is something about the Basmati Rice, it is very different than other kind. May be the aroma, texture, and mouth-feel..I don't know!  

I have not yet mastered in cooking rice in a saucepan. Can't go wrong with rice-cooker.  I use 1:2 ratio rice and water. You may add 1 teaspoon for butter for tender rice and some buttery flavor before you turn on the rice cooker.

Dal (Lentil Soup) is like chicken-noodle soup to me when I am down with flu. A big bowl of dal rejuvenates me and makes a perfect side for rice or roti (flat breads). Add some tadka with garlic, it adds alot of flavor. There are different varieties of dal out there but my favorite is yellow split peas or toor dal.

Toor Dal

Ingredients:

1 cups toor dal

3-4 cups of water (depends preference of your consistency of liquid)

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2 tablespoon oil or ghee (clarified-butter)

Salt to taste

For tadka:

1 tablespoon ghee

2 garlic cloves chopped

Directions

1. In a pressure cooker, heat oil/ghee in medium flame and add dal

2. Add salt & turmeric and stir dal for 1 minute or so and add water

3. Pressure cook dal in low-medium flame for 3-4 whistles (depends on the pressure cooker too)

4. Check to see the consistency of dal and add water and other ingredients if needed

For tadka:

1. In a small saucepan, heat it over medium heat and add ghee.

2. Add garlic and stir until it turns brown

3. Get a ladleful of dal and pour into saucepan.

4. Stir them together and add everything in dal.

Tadka getting ready

My mom's Cauliflower and Potato Curry still is my absolute favorite dish. There is some magic in her hand because no matter how much I try to replicate the recipe and follow the directions, it still does not turn out the same.  Or it is simply the love and care my mom put in that dish because she knew it was my favorite.

Ingredients:
1 cauliflower head, cut into florets
2-3 medium sized potatoes, cubed

2 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon Fenugreek seed
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1-2 teaspoon red pepper, powder or crushed
1 teaspoon turmeric
salt to taste

Directions

1.	In a medium pan, heat oil and add Fenugreek seeds until it turns brown
2.	Saute potato until golden brown then add cauliflower florets
3.	Add salt and turmeric and slowly stir them
4.	Add all the remaining ingredients and continue to stir and lower the flame
5.	Cover the pan and let it cook for 10-15 minutes until they are tender

Notes: Throw in some fresh or frozen peas if available, 5 minutes before it is cooked.

I am fond of goat curry these days probably because I don't get to eat as much. So glad I live in the community where I have access to goat meat whenever I want. The only thing I don't like is time it takes to cook. Especially on a day like today, I was not up for another trip to the grocery store.. So I ended up making Khukhura ko Masu, literally translates to meat of chicken. This dish can be interpreted in many ways because there is no standard definition. Just like curry, it is a general term used for any dish with meat or vegetable cooked in various blend of herbs and spices. There are hundreds of ways you can make chicken curry and depending upon your flavor, spice blend, region you are from, it is going to be different.

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken, cubed ( your preference of meat cut)
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
2 Serrano peppers, chopped
2 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon garlic ginger paste
1 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2-3 cilantro leaves, chopped
2 teaspoon garam masala
2 teaspoon Everest Chicken Masala or any other chicken masala
salt & pepper to taste

 Directions
1. In a medium pan, heat oil in medium flame and add chicken
2. Let the chicken fry until light brown and add salt and turmeric powder
3. Add in onions, garlic-ginger paste and continue to stir
4. Add garam masala and let it cook for 5 minutes
5.  Add tomatoes and chillies and cover the pan
6. Stir every 2-3 minutes making sure it does not stick to the bottom of the pan
7. If needed added water, otherwise continue to cook when all the ingredients are cooked to perfection
8. Garnish with cilantro leaves before serving

Nepal is sandwiched between India & China, a lot of our food is influenced heavily by those countries making Nepali Cuisine very special. The flavors are very unique because it mainly uses fresh ingredients, different cooking techniques, and uses hundreds of spices and herbs. Often time, Nepal is assumed to be part of India and that Nepali food is same as Indian food...well, we do have a lot of similarities but if you have had traditional Nepali Cuisine & Indian Cuisine, you know what I am talking about.. Among many differences, I think Nepali dishes are less spicy and light compared to some of the classic Indian dishes.  If you want to give it a try, follow the recipe I have provided and give your taste buds a chance for Nepali Cuisine.