What have you done Sailu ??? JFI -3

What have you done Sailu ??? You hosted "Jihva for Dals" and all the food blogs are flooded with Dal recipes. People are trying out different dal recipes!!! Now I went to the Indian stores and guess what ?? Dals are in shortage - No kidding Guys !!!! A big pack of any Dal is $7.99. That too not more than one packet per customer. The Dals dont come to the shelf. I had to pick up mine from the packing area..

I wish Sailu was the reason - but itseems there is a shortage in production of Dal in India and imports have gone down itseems. People in Bay Area already know what I am talking about !!!! How is it in your area ??? Is it the same in all places or these local grocery guys playing some fool with us ???

For my part to this I am going to post my entry for JFI. I know this post is a bit late for JFI. I saw some of the great recipes. Especially the one by Pushpa - never knew I would have to discover a new one with Dal. Dal Pasta ???

Well for the holiday weekend, after almost 5 years I had a blast of time with fire crackers - There was a stall where they sold fire crackers,(on occasion of independence day in USA) and in a park near by we had such a fun time lighting the fire crackers. It was a really great experience.



So since I have very good reason to have skipped Jihva for Dal on July 1st. But I made the dish in advance - Ulunthangali ( Urad dal halwa ). This dish is typically given to girls when they attain puberty, for it is said to strengthen the bones making it easy during child birth.

The ingredients are simple - coarse urad dal, sugar, gingely oil or ghee. My mother uses gingely oil in this recipe

So here is the procedure:

1. Roast the dal slightly till aroma comes
2. Coarse grind the roasted dal
3. Heat a pan add a tsp of gingely oil and the ground powder
4. Add sugar ( half cup of sugar to 1.5 cups of powder ) and little bit of water
5. Keep stirring until the dal is cooked around 5 to 10 mins. Take care not to burn the dal. If it becomes dry and sticks to the pan add water or oil.
6. Switch off and allow it to cool.
7. Add a dab of ghee or gingelly oil before serving