Dal Chawal (Lentils with Rice) has got to be one of the most comforting, nostalgia-inducing meals for Indians. It is such a staple in every house, in almost every meal. There are many dals out there, made in various ways and each household has their go-to version of this happiness giving combo.
In our house, it was arhar (aka toor/split pigeon peas) dal. Made pretty much everyday. To date, this is my go-to comfort food. The simplicity, the flavour, the wholesomeness – unparalleled.
Bringing some more of my Bengali food favourites to you 🙂
Jhal Muri translates to Spicy puffed rice. Delicious spicy puffed rice! This is a street food classic from Bengal and is a lovely snack to munch on at any time of day or night. Believe me!
My love affair with aloo continues. One more favourite recipe for you 🙂
Aloo methi is such a brilliant example of a balanced dish – flavour wise. The methi (fenugreek) leaves are slightly bitter, the spices bring some heat, the potato is mild and overall the dish is delicious and all these varied flavours balance out so well. It is also a great way to get some greens into my potato-loving diet 🙂
I love food. All sorts of food. Even salads 🙂 I think salads can be a meal by themselves. They are healthy (for the most part), textural, delicious and sometimes surprising. And they don’t always have just leaves and veggies.
Growing up, ‘salad’ was cucumber, tomatoes, onions sliced and put on a plate. To be had along with the meal. Health+crunch. Just like every other house. Then we started including sprouts as a salad. We used to sprout the beans at home and then mix them with salt and lemon juice. Basic but tasty. This recipe is a more jazzed up version of that initial salad, something that I have made so many times for so many people over the years.
Growing up, I loved eating Chinese food. The family would try chinese restaurants often, we would eat chowmein in school and we would make a few chindian (chinese+indian) dishes at home as well. The home favourites were chowmein and fried rice. Those days were special ones indeed! We would come home from school and realize it was chowmein or fried rice day and be thrilled to be bits to be having something different from the standard Indian fare 🙂
This fried rice recipe is a slightly more jazzed up version of what we used to eat at home. It’s a wee bit healthier as well since it uses brown rice inside of white, but feel free to use white if you prefer. It will still be as yum!
My Tuck Box 