Disclaimer
Welcome to intuitive cooking. These recipes are to unleash the chaos in you. No measurements, just vibes
I learnt to make daal at 24. I was instructed by a friend over a video call because I didn't want to Google it. They taught me how to make it in the style their mom made it – the Bihari style. Then my mother told me how we don't do all that in the Bengali style. So I learnt two very different processes of having daal. I'll list both down below.
What I find interesting is that both cultures developed side by side and yet we have so many differences. Industrialisation of the country has only made the gap bigger instead of bridging it. It saddens me so much. Especially when from all over the world we're getting reports of governments assassinating their own citizens, I think it's really important as a nation that we embrace the strength in our diversity. Our cultures, histories, languages, differences and similarities are what make us unique and interesting. This is why colonisers have chosen us over and over and over. Yet, Indians have always managed to assimilate our oppressors into our society, gently redirecting them from pillaging to seeing us as equal traders. We need to remember the sheer power Indians hold in the world. Our greatest exports – intellect, spices, rice, human labour – are what the world functions on. I truly believe the day we reconcile our inter-cultural differences, we will be unstoppable.
Anyway, getting back to daal. My go to is the Bengali version as you'll see it's easier and quicker. The Bihari version is for days when you need comfort in food but also therapy in the preparation. I'm usually lazy and believe in one pot fast cooks but some recipes are so close to my heart, I can't help but share. I know a lot of you also hate chopping and extra prep time but if you have the opportunity and energy, do try the Bihari version of the recipe. You won't regret putting the 15 mins of extra effort.
Ingredients – Bengali version
Paanch foron
Mustard oil
Turmeric
Salt
Moosur daal
Water
Pressure cooker
Instructions
Wash the daal
In some heated oil in the pressure cooker, put the paanch foron in and let it sputter for a few seconds
Drop in the daal
Add salt and turmeric powder and let the water dry off. Stir occasionally
Add water, at least double the amount of daal (this one is a little more flowy. On setting aside for a while, the chonky parts of the daal settles at the bottom, creating my favourite warm drink in the world – daaler jol which literally translates to pulses' water)
Close the lid of the pressure cooker
Wait for 3-4 whistles
Let the pressure release on its own
Serve over hot rice and with some onion, tomato, cucumber salad dressed with lemon juice and salt
Ingredients – Bihari version
Tej patta
Dried red chilli (my preference is Kashmiri, it adds a layer of smokiness to the daal that's just irreplaceable)
Onion
Garlic
Tomato
Green chilli
Mustard oil
Turmeric
Chilli powder
Salt
Moosur daal
Water
Coriander
Pressure cooker
Instructions
Wash the daal
Add salt and water to the daal and let it pressure cook
Wait for 2-3 whistles
Chop onions, garlic and green chilli
In a pan, heat mustard oil
Add tej patta and dried red chilli
When they start to sputter, add garlic
As the raw garlic smell disappears, add onions and a little more salt
When the onion turns translucent, add chillies and tomatoes
Cook till all the vegetables look wilted
Add turmeric powder, and red chilli powder
Fry till you can't smell the raw masala anymore
Open the lid to your pressure cooker once the pressure is released
Vigorously break down the daal pieces with a daal masher
Add the scorching, sputtering chokh/tadka/temper to the daal and stir it in
Garnish with some freshly chopped coriander
Serve over hot rice and with some rice+sabudana papad
Disclaimer
Welcome to intuitive cooking. These recipes are to unleash the chaos in you. No measurements, just vibes
This ones for all the health conscious queers who've bullied me into caring for myself. Thank you. Without you, I'd forever be in heartburn hell surrounded by eno
Ingredients
Crunchy fruits
Soft juicy fruits
Berries which aren't fruits but consumed as such
No tomato even though it is a fruit
Salt
Honey
Citrus fruit juice/vinegar
A fruity foodie to consume said fruits
Instructions
Chop up your fruits in bite size pieces. I used apples, guava, kiwi, bananas (peeled), and pineapples.
Top with some freshly squeezed orange/lime juice. You can also use mosambi juice. Sprinkle some salt and a generous helping of honey.
Mix and consume fresh.
Alternative
You can mix some pasta amd cheese with this to make a spring/summer pasta salad.
You can use this as toppings in pancakes.
You can use this in custard.
You can make boba balls with these.
Let me know if you'd like quick recipes for boba balls
Mix aata with a little salt, a pinch of sugar and baking powder
Pour oil on the mix and then slowly add water and mix till the dough is easily removed from the sides of the dish
Now dust some aata on a flat surface and knead that dough like it's not a dough but your English teacher from high school who simultaneously virtue signals young children and possesses the wrongest moral compass (As you can see, I'm still holding on to quite a bit of justified anger)
Set it aside when the dough is soft and supple to touch. Think of the texture if you were a cis male author describing a lead female character
Chop up your veggies real tiny
Mix in your cheese, salt, sugar and black pepper
Roll out the dough and put a tiny ball of stuffing in it and shape your dumpling
The salt will draw water and we'll mix it with some in the bowl we want to use as a steamer. This can be used as a base for a soup. You can also add some vegetables to it
If you do not have a steamer, you can cover a deep bellied dish with aluminium foil, poke a few holes in it. Place the dumplings on the aluminium foil and cover it with a lid
Disclaimer
Welcome to intuitive cooking. These recipes are to unleash the chaos in you. No measurements, just vibes
Ingredients
Bread
Egg
Potato
Cucumber
Mayo
Cheese
Salt
Jalapenos
Pickle (refer to Alex Arson's Pickle Rage for the recipe)
Black pepper powder
Instructions
Boil potatoes and eggs for 12-14 mins.
Peel and mash them along with some diced cucumber, mayo, salt, black pepper. (Do not add salt if you're setting the mixture aside for a while as it will draw water from the mixture. Instead, add the salt right before assembly.)
Slather some mayo on the bread and toast it.
Add cheese, sandwich filling, jalapenos and pickle and cover with another toasted bread.
Toast each side again to melt the cheese.
Cover with a muslin cloth if you're putting it in a tiffin box to absorb extra moisture so your sandwich stays crisp.
You can add lettuce between the bread and the filling to reduce absorption of moisture. I didn't have any on hand.
Pickled leftover vegetables – an amazing way to give new life to your veggies
Disclaimer
Welcome to intuitive cooking. These recipes are to unleash the chaos in you. No measurements, just vibes
Ingredients
Leftover veggies like carrots, brocolli, chillies, garlic. Anything with crunch.
Vinegar of any kind
Salt
Sugar
Boiling hot water
Sterile glass container
Instructions
Chop your veggies in whatever shapes you like. Sometimes I chop them in star shapes and stuff just for fun. Don't make them too thick, maybe a centimetre max because we want the brine to soak through completely.
Put them in the jar.
Mix vinegar, hot water, salt and sugar together until everything is dissolved well.
Add this to the jar till every vegetable is completely submerged in it.
Put the lid on and refrigerate. This will be good for about 2 months if you keep it cool and use sterile utensils to retrieve the pickles. Brine can later be reused.
You can put spices like peppercorn, mustard, sesame seeds, etc as well for added flavour and crunch.
Consume after at least 24 hours for peak flavour. (It's okay to not wait and chomp down on them before as well.)
Disclaimer
Welcome to intuitive cooking. These recipes are to unleash the chaos in you. No measurements, just vibes
In my last Tribute to the Tribe, I said I'm an amalgamation of the communities that raised me. Kannadigas are one of them. I spent the major chunk of the pandemic in a small town in Karnataka. I wasn't used to the cuisine there, having never eaten so much palm oil in my life before. Small restaurants use palm oil instead of coconut oil like most home cooks would. It gave me acid reflux that still lasts today.
Anyway, the first week after settling in my new apartment, I got food poisoning. I was unable to cook and the caretaker of the building I was living in made me curd rice. She said it will calm my stomach. Up until then I hated the idea of curd and rice, it seemed like a sensory nightmare but she insisted and I'm a people pleaser so I ate it. I don't think anyone's ever been glad to be a people pleaser because that dish changed me.
It has been a comfort food for many years now. I even convinced my Bengali parents to try it and now they love it too. Every time I eat it, I'm transported back to that moment when effectively a stranger showed me such gentle kindness when they could have just walked away.
This recipe is for you, Vinutha di. May it forever bring the warmth and comfort you brought me that day.
Ingredients
Rice
Water
Pressure cooker
Curd
Salt
Curry leaves
Black mustard seeds
Mustard oil
Pan for tadka
Instructions
Wash your rice 3 times or until the water runs clear.
In the pressure cooker, add the washed rice.
Now I'm gonna give you measurements for the perfect rice, at least by Indian standards. Add just enough water so when you dip your index finger in it, the water level should be along your second knuckle of your index finger.
Put the lid on.
Cook it on low flame and wait for 2 whistles.
Turn the gas off and let the pressure release on its own. Do not release it forcefully.
Before you take out the rice, FLUFF IT!
In the pan add some oil and let it heat.
Now add salt, curry leaves and mustard seeds and let it sputter.
Add this tadka directly to the curd and let it cool a little.
Disclaimer
Welcome to intuitive cooking. These recipes are to unleash the chaos in you. No measurements, just vibes
Ingredients
Mushroom
Cheese (can replace with tofu or just skip)
Milk or water
Eggs
Salt
Chilli flakes
Herbs of your choice
A non stick pan
Instructions
In the pan, add your mushrooms and let them sear ona side. Mix occasionally to get the mushrooms to cook evenly.
Then add you cheese or tofu, salt, chilli flakes, herbs and little milk/water if the mixture is too dry.
Mix and cook for a minute or two.
Drop in some eggs, top them with the same seasonings as before.
Put a lid on and let your eggs cook to a consistency you like. I like it best when the yolk is a little runny but the whites have solidified so I need to let it cook for 3 minutes tops at medium heat.
Disclaimer
Welcome to intuitive cooking. These recipes are to unleash the chaos in you. No measurements, just vibes
Can't believe I'm gonna do this like I'm a cookbook writer lol. Please skip if you don't want to read nostalgic rants of things lost from my childhood.
I lived in Assam-Bhutan border, in the small district of Baksa for many years as a child. All of my comfort foods and dishes – egg curry, pithe, momos, chicken/local birds curry, and hot chillies – are an amalgamation of the community that brought me up. In our village, while many kids treated me as an outsider, I always found baidos and aitas who plumped me up on hot rice and chilli chutneys like I was one of their own. In 3rd grade, our landlord carved a cricket bat for me by hand just like he did for his grandson. We shared resources when floods wrecked Assam and our village was left without power and water for weeks in a stretch.
Small villages along the country's borders are the most neglected. They do not have reliable basic facilities, like internet, electricity, healthcare, education, clean drinkable water and so much more. I want to be an advocate for the same but the political climate has changed with me being an adult. I understand why people don't consider me an Axomia ally or I am seen as an outsider and that's okay. Axom has been neglected and exploited since Independence, as has been all her sister states. I haven't been to Assam in over 10 years, even though my half of my heart is still there, I do not have a say in their politics. It's not my home anymore and it's not okay for me to speak over the ones who're there in the flesh, dealing with everyday realities. So I will shut up, listen, comprehend and cook in the meantime.
This dish is a spicy tribal chicken curry and it is so delicious and light. I hope you enjoy making Do'o Khaap (chicken) and sharing it with your loved ones because this dish is all about community. I do not know the origin and did not think to research on it before posting but from my personal experience it is a Santhali Axomia thing – they sit in the paddy fields and cook it on an open fire while the kids run around playing some variation of the game of tag.
Ingredients
Chicken
Lemon
Chilli
Ginger+garlic paste
Fresh Coriander
Salt
Khaar (Baking soda if you can't get your hands on authentic North Eastern khaar)
Water
Preferably non stick pan, seasoned iron/aluminium utensils or just raw dog it. I personally love the crispy burnt part that I've to scrape from the bottom of an unseasoned pan.
Instructions
Clean your chicken and drain it off excess water.
Mix in some lemon juice and leave it aside for a few hours to marinade. I do this because I prefer the lemony hint in the taste. The khaar will soften the chicken anyway so you can skip this step.
On medium low heat, put in your chicken and start to roast it on the pan.
When the chicken starts to sweat, add ginger garlic paste, chillis, salt and baking soda and cook again until everything smells cooked.
Add water and let it simmer for a few minutes until everything comes together.
Serve with hot rice. Best consumed in rainy, windy weather.