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Today, my regional thaali comes from Uttarakhand, a state in the northern parts of India. The region formerly called Uttaranchal is fairly a new state considering that it was carved out from the state of Uttar Pradesh in 2000. 'Uttarakhand' which literally means northern land has been inhibited since prehistoric times. Situated at the foot of the Himalayas, the land is home to some of the most sacred and ancient Hindu temples and pilgrimage sites including Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunothri and Gangothri which are collectively called the chota char daam. It is therefore referred to as the 'Devbhoomi' meaning land of gods.
Uttarakhand is divided into two regions, Garhwal and Kumaon, which in fact were two different kingdoms before the British empire. The recipes can also be classified into two because of the regional diversity, Garhwali recipes and Kumaoni recipes. The cuisine of the state is largely affected by the surroundings and climate of the region and the food here needs to be extremely nutritious to suit the high energy requirements due to the cold, hilly terrain. I read somewhere that the cuisine can be considered organic by default where locally grown herbs and ingredients are used in the cooking which impart a freshness to the dishes.
Kumaoni raita (Recipe here.)
Lentils, grains and vegetables play a prominent part in the cooking though there is non vegetarian food as well in the region though they do not tend to be elaborate preparations. The home cooked meals are usually nutritious, filling and flavorful in spite of using minimal spices and simple ingredients. I happened to notice in a video that meals are also supplemented by the foraged ingredients in the hills such as stinging nettle (which by the way stings and causes itchiness / pain when touched with bare hands that don't go away quickly), fiddlehead ferns, wild figs, a local variety spinach and so on. Outside Uttarakhand, the dried leaves of fiddlehead ferns are hydrrated and used as a stuffing to momos and greens in omelettes.
Buckwheat (kuttu), finger millet (mandua), barnyard millet (jhangora), unpolished red rice are traditional crops. Gehat ke parathe (flatbreads with horse gram filling), mandua ki roti (ragi / finger millet rotis), lesu are some of the commonly made breads in the region. Dals are made with the easily digestible kind of pulses like pigeon peas, masoor, moong in Summers. Heavier ones like black gram, bhatt, (the local black soybean), horse gram (gehat), kidney beans are preferred in Winters for their warming properties. They are used to make dishes which are unique to the region like phanu, chainsoo, bhatwani, etc. Vegetables are used to make subzis, raitas and chutneys. Aloo jhol, aloo ke gutke, kafuli, kandali saag (the one prepared with stinging nettle), kaapa are some of the common preparations. Mustard oil / ghee is the medium of cooking. Ghee is heavily used to combat the freezing temperatures.
What makes the cuisine distinctive is the use of indigenous spices and herbs though ginger, garlic, asafoetida, chillies are used in cooking. Jakhya is an important ingredient used in tempering. This spice which looks like mustard seed is grown in the hilly areas is believed to aid in digestion and used instead of mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Jamboo, a locally grown herb is one more important ingredient. Aloo ke gutke is prepared with a simple tempering of jakhya and jamboo. Interestingly bhang / hemp seeds are used to make chutney and other dishes. Bal mithai, singhori, arsa, roat, gulgule are some of the popular sweets.
My menu is below. I had made this thaali during our winter and most of the dishes here are suitable for the season. Bhatt ki dal which is normally prepared with locally available black soy beans is a winter dish and gehat or the horse gram is used in winters as well. I have made parathas and pakode with it. Palak ka kaapa is a winter dish and I am guessing that sesame seeds chutney is also one. Aloo techauni, where the potatoes are not cut but bashed to use in the recipe is a common vegetable preparation in the state. Jhangore ki kheer / barnyard millet kheer is one of the popular sweet dishes in the region and I included it in the thaali. In fact I cook a payasam / kheer on Fridays for neivedyam and most of my regional thaalis were made on that day and so I ended up making kheers for most of my regional thaalis. 😀
Accompaniments:
Salted cucumber slices
Til ke chutney - Sesame and cilantro chutney
Kumaoni Raita - Yogurt sauce, lightly spiced
Rice and Bread:
Gehath ke parathe - Flat breads stuffed with a spicy horse gram filling
Plain rice
Side Dishes
Aloo techauni - A potato based side dish
Palak ka kappa - A spinach preparation
Bhatt ki dal - Mashed soy bean dal (The dish is made with local black soy bean but I used the regular ones.)
Snack and Sweet:
Kulith dal ke Pakode - Horse gram fritters
Jhangore ki kheer - Millet kheer
I am posting the recipe for palak ka kaapa which I found here, cooked by a pahadi woman. Kaapa is a simple spinach gravy that is served with rice. I like the basic gravies made with greens and that's why I chose it to be a part of my thaali. However it is a commonly prepared dish in Kumaon region during winters. This is a no onion-garlic recipe and is a fine example of the simple pahadi cooking. The consistency of the final dish should be like a dal / gravy recipe that is pourable with a ladle but I had cooked it thicker.
Ingredients:
2 tsp. rice
2 tbsp. mustard oil or oil of your choice
1/8 tsp. fenugreek seeds / methi seeds
2 dried red chilies or to tatste
4 cups chopped spinach
1 tsp. coriander powder
Salt to taste
2 pinches of turmeric powder
Directions:
* Soak 2 tsp. rice in water for an hour.
* Heat oil to a smoking point if using mustard oil or else just heat the oil. Add fenugreek seeds and red chilies. Immediately add the chopped spinach, coriander powder, salt, and turmeric. Cover and cook until it is half done.
* Meanwhile grind the rice to a paste adding a little water if needed. Add this ground paste and about 1/2 cup water (or more) to the spinach and cook until the spinach appears completely cooked and the rice paste is not any more. (The original recipe mentions to cook for 30 minutes which is not needed if using gas / electric stoves.)
Comments
This meal was not part of the plan until a few days ago. The originally scheduled post was the first thaali I cooked for this event, a simple lunch from Andhra. I realized while drafting that there was not really color contrast in the images and the thaali looked drab. This is what happens with me when I prepare posts in advance and have the extra time to mull over. 😉Then I thought of replacing it with a Kerala breakfast platter I cooked last month as I had two more thaalis from Andhra. And over weekend I decided that it is going to be a north Indian meal on the spur of the moment when I was cooking our lunch since I already posted one meal this week from southern part of India. I did not spend much time in deciding the menu as I was going to randomly cook from the northern region of India rather than picking one particular state which would have needed some planning.
My thali doesn't contain the ubiquitous chole, dal makhani, or any paneer dish - the kind of Punjabi dishes popular all over the world (or where ever the presence of an Indian eatery is) and has become equivalent to north Indian cuisine. There are more states packed in northern India compared to other regions and so obviously there is a wide variety in cooking techniques and recipes across the region. The Indian food that has become popular worldwide in restaurants like the tandoor dishes, breads, curries all come from this region. I am not going into detail here because it is beyond the scope of this post.
This platter is a balanced and nutritious meal just like the Tamil Nadu meal I posted. North Indian meals in general include rotis and rice for their carbs. The roti served may vary regionally and I included jeera rice, phulkas and tikar in my platter. The protein part in a north Indian meal comes from dal, a lentil based side dish to go with the rice and rotis. I included a subtly spicy dal from Uttar Pradesh and a raita as I had made my tikar spicier. A bowl of yogurt / raita or even buttermilk aka chaas served at the end of the meal is protein packed too. The vegetable dish aka subzi is a side dish as well. And if the subzi happens to be a paneer (Indian cheese) based one which is common in some of the northern states, one would get an extra dose of protein. If I had paneer, I would have gone with it though it would have been a stereotypical choice. I went instead with aloo matar making my paneer detesting husband happy. I served dahi baingan too since I wanted to include a Kashmiri dish as well. I had jalebi in the platter as I had some homemade ones though a sweet dish is not eaten by everyone for every day meals. Simple vegetable based salad and chutney / pickle is a common part of the meal. We had carrot and cucumber salad and a mixed vegetable achaar.
My north Indian lunch platter had
Salad and pickle (Not pictured.)
Jeera rice
Phulkas - Wheat flour flat breads
Tikar - Rotis from Rajathan, made using maize and wheat flours, onion and spices.
Aloo matar - Potato and peas curry from Punjab
Dahi baingan - Kashmiri dish of fried brinjals in yogurt base
Lucknawi dal - A lentil dish from Uttar Pradesh that is lightly spiced and cooked adding milk.
Raita - A yogurt dip
Homemade jalebi - Dessert
I am today posting the recipe for Lucknawi dal which is a simple flavored one that I found online. What makes this dal unique is that here toor dal aka pigeon peas are initially cooked until done and further boiled in milk and then given a flavorful tempering of with cumin, chillies and asafoetida. One can add some garlic cloves as well in the seasoning. There is another version from Lucknow or Awadh cuisine called Sultani dal where the dal is cooked in a mixture of milk, yogurt and cream. Sure that sounds like a dish fit for the king. Lucknawi dal would be thinner than what it looks like in the above image. I had made it slightly thicker so that my seasoning doesn't sink and disappear.
Ingredients for dal:
1 cup toor dal / pigeon peas
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1 cup milk
1 tbsp. ghee / oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
4 red chillies, broken to bits (or to taste)
A pinch of asafoetida powder
Minced cilantro to garnish
Directions:
* Rinse and pressure cook toor dal along with 2 cups of water, green chillies and turmeric until soft. (The number of whistles depend upon the pressure cooker used and the quality of dal being used.)
* When the valve pressure is gone, remove the lid and add salt. Slightly mash the dal with the back of the ladle.
* Heat ghee / oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and red chillies. When the cumin starts to turn brown, add asafoetida. Immediately add the cooked dal to the pan.
* Next add a cup of milk and about a cup of water to the dal and simmer the mixture for about five minutes.
* Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
