Saturday, October 17, 2009

Masala Matrix


Just a ready reckoner for me to look up to figure out how vegetables and lentils are made at my home.



Recipe Fat Rai (mustard seeds) Jeera Methi seeds Hing (asafoetida) Green chilli (whole) Kadi patta Haldi Salt Ginger paste Dhania and jeera powder to season
Dudhi (bottle gourd) Ghee No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No
Tendli Ghee/Oil Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
Karela (bitter gourd)[1] Ghee Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Dudhi + Dal (chana or tur daal)[2] Ghee Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Cauliflower (fool gobi) Oil Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
Cabbage (patta gobi)[3] Oil Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
Tur Daal[4] Ghee Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Aaloo mutter and tomato sabzi[5] Ghee No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Pumpkin (bhopda) sabzi Ghee/Oil No No Yes Yes Maybe No No Yes No Yes
Fanshi (french beans) sabzi Ghee/Oil Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes[6] Yes Yes Yes
Moong daal (yellow) Ghee/Oil Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No



[1]: Also put jaggery(gud), kaju(cashew) and kishmish(sultanas).
[2]: Also put jaggery(gud), kokam and corriander leaves to season.
[3]: You may optionally add tomatoes halfway through cooking the cabbage, and also add jaggery(gud) if you add tomatoes.
[4]: You can also add jaggery(gud) and kokam. It gives a very good taste to the daal. If you don't want to add gud and kokam, you can add lasun(garlic) to give it a nice taste and aroma. A 3rd option is to add tomatoes. If adding tomatoes, leave out the kokam, but you should add jaggery and may optionally add garlic.
[5]: You can also put a bit of jaggery(gud) into this preparation.
[6]: Add Haldi only if you are adding potatoes to the sabzi.
* Dhania powder is generally added only to vegetable preparations and not to daal preparations.