Langar Di Daal

Langar Di Daal

by VIVEIK OBEROI




My favourite dish: I've newly turned vegetarian, so that throws all the non-vegetarian dishes out of the window for now.

I love anything Punjabi, so it's hard for me to choose - kaali daal, raajma chaawal, pulao, makki di roti with sarson da saag.

My favourite place to eat is, honestly, the gurdwara, I love the langar da khaana - I don't know what's the secret ingredient in their kaali daal; maybe it's faith, maybe it's love. The best daal in the world is at The Golden Temple!

My favoured cuisine: Earlier, it used to be sushi but now that I'm vegetarian, it has to be Lebanese for the sheer freshness of their vegetables and ingredients. I think it beats Indian vegetarian food because we dunk everything in masala and can only taste the masala. I think it's important to be able to taste the vegetable.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/cooking-and-recipies/27117-langar-di-daal.html

My non-food passions: I love to watch great performances in cinema and all the arts - watching classical dances and ballet. I also have a passion for poetry - Neruda, Rumi, and I also write some myself.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=27117

Best meal I've ever had: I was in Mayo College and was hitchhiking with a bunch of my friends - we used to do a lot of mad trips. We got onto the back of one of those empty cement-carrying trucks and it was freezing winter. We reached Kurukshetra and somewhere between Kurukshetra and Ambala, the driver stopped at a dhaba and announced: 'main to idhar hi khaoonga' - ‘This is where I will eat!"

Those paranthas were the most amazing I've ever had - crisp coverings and melt-in-your-mouth aaloo (potato) which was not the saada (plain) aloo stuffing -perfect masala and big dollops of home white makhan (butter) - no Amul butter here - along with the most perfect channe-aur-saunf ka aam ka aachar.

The lassi was the tadka maarke lassi and came literally in pitchers.

The best part was the bill, which was only Rs 4.50 (10 cents) per head. After eating, we were so stuffed we just had to lie down on the cots there and stare at the sky - we couldn't move!

Ingredients for Maah/Urad di Daal
I Black maah/urad daal (whole) I 02 kg/ White butter I 02 kg / Tomato puree I 02/ Tin ginger-garlic paste I 300 gm/ Red chilly paste I 300 gm/ cream I 200 ml/ Kasuri methi powder I 03 tbs/ Salt to taste

Procedure
I Thoroughly wash black urad daal, and then soak it for two hours.
I Boil the daal over night on tandoor (alternately pressure cook till soft).
I Next day, add ginger garlic paste, red chilli paste, tomato puree and white butter in the daal and cook it on a slow fire till well done.
I Finish it with kasuri methi and cream.

　

[Article, courtesy: Times of India. Recipe, courtesy: J.W. Marriott, Mumbai]

October 15, 2009

 
Do share your immediate thoughts or reactions on this issue? We value your views! Login Now! or Sign Up Today! to share your views with us.. Gurfateh!

__________________
http://www.scoopthemock.co.in/

The Daal at Harmandar sahib Amritsar..is truly heavenly..no two ways about that..I too thought people were exaggerating...until i tasted it myslef...

I am vegetarian by choice, and I agree Veg food whether, North Indian, South Indian, Gujrati, Chinese (Yes Veg!), Continental, Italian (Yes, yes Veg!) made well are just great.

yes i am agree with alls

Gyani Jarnail Singh ji I fully concur.

I do believe however that this is more than a recipe thing as the article points out.

Some of the tertiary reasons in my mind in addition to perhaps the finely honed recipe over decades if not centuries is the following,

• Making any dish in small quantities is a hit and miss no matter how good the recipe is
• You eat alone (say home or non Langar setting, you have a meal)
• You eat with a group, you have a party
• You eat in Langar, you are eating with Sangat, and it puts icing on the cake for the meal

Now I am salivating

Sat Sri Akal.

Mahaan dee daal (black peas for the uninitiated) has its very own special flavour...different from all other daals (green mungee daal is very watery compared to maah) ..and its also blamed for a lot of "goda pains..lak pains..joint pains..ha ha" and of course for gas production. Whatever the case it has no equal...and in the Guru Ka Langgar especially if the CHEF is form the MAJHA areas (Amritsar/Gurdaspur etc ) then the mahan dee daal will BE GUARANTEED DELICIOUS...Finger licking good (beats KFC hands down).
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=27117
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=27117

2. Black Mahan dee daal is also joined to some superstition..that IF there are fights/anger/discord in the family...donate afew KILOS of mahan dee daal to the GURDWARA and the anger/discord etc will be transferred to the GURU !!...Our Local Gurdwara has a lot of Mjaha sangat..and so more than the usual KILOS of mahan dee daal get donated on a weekly basis..ha ha..lots of suppressed anger ??? Maybe Ambarsariah Ji will be able to shed more light on this..being an ambarsariah himself...should be interesting to hear ...