Panchratani Palak Dal, Raw Jackfruit and Chana Ghashi

My Panchratani Palak dal and raw Jackfruit-Chana Ghashi, both go to Susan of "the well seasoned cook" blog who is hosting a wonderful, protein packed event called "My Legume love affair-8th helping".

My raw Jackfruit-Chana Ghashi goes to Lakshmi G of Taste of Mysore" blog who is guest hosting "AFAM-Jackfruit" event this month, which is originally launched by Maheswari.

Thanks to all of you for hosting and taking time to organize these yummy round ups too! :))

Gravy with five gems and Popeye's favorite!! ;D
This protein packed dish comes from Punjab (Punj=five, aab=River), a state with five rivers flowing through it in India, which is well known for it's earthy cuisine, robust people and their generosity to guests. Panch in Hindi is five and Ratan means gems. In this case, it means a dish made of five different dals or legumes, which makes it a nutritional powerhouse. I have posted a Panchmel dal before at my Foodie's Hope blog, which is little different from this dish.
Palak is my addition to this traditional Punjabi dish, which is Spinach providing loads of iron to us. With aromatic ginger, garlic and spices, there is no better way to enjoy this dal with some Cumin flavored rice or with Bajri rotis or soft, layered Parathas!

Panchratani Palak Dal:

You need:
1/4 cup Tuar/Toor dal,

1/4 cup Chana dal,
1/4 cup Moong dal,
1/4 cup Masoor dal,
1/4 cup Urad dal.

or any five of your favorite dal, whole or split will do too! Just five dals remember, for "Panchratan"! You add one more dal to this dish and I will hunt you down! Hahaha!!

Need these too:
1 8 oz frozen Spinach or 2-4 cups of fresh Spinach, finely chopped,
1 tbsp oil,
1/2 large onion, finely chopped,
1 heaped tbsp of Coriander seeds powder,
1/4 tsp Turmeric,
1 large Tomato, chopped or 1/4 cup canned Tomato sauce,
2 tbsp sour cream or cream, beaten well,
enough salt and chilli pd to taste.

For the final seasoning to top the dal:
3 tbsp butter or ghee (to be authentic but can use less oil),
1 tsp regular cumin seeds or shah jeera if you have it,
1/2 onion, sliced finely,(fry until golden, then add ginger-garlic)
2" grated ginger,
2 garlic, minced,
1/2 tsp chilli powder or paprika, just for color.

To garnish:
4 tbsp Cilantro, finely chopped.

1 tsp good quality Garam Masala or homemade Punjabi Garam masala.

Five dals to use:
Click to see the larger photo with names on each dal. It's helpful for somebody who is a novice in Indian cooking and helps to visually see the five dals I have used.

To make the dal:

1. In a pressure cooker, heat the oil and add chopped onion and fry until soft. Add all the dals and saute for a minute. Add Tomato or Tomato sauce, stir for a while until thick.
2. Add turmeric, salt, coriander seeds powder and Chilli powder and add Spinach along with 3 cups of water.
3. Cover the lid and pressure for 1 or 2 whistles with weight on or until dal is cooked well. Open the lid when pressure is gone, stir to mix. Adjust spices, add beaten sour cream or cream to mix and simmer very gently for a while.
Gravy should be thick enough to scoop with a spoon but not too thin like soup or very thick or lumpy. Turn off the heat.
4. Finally, heat butter and add all the seasoning ingredients one by one in that order, fry until oil shows up on top. Do not burn any ingredient.
5. Add this to the dal and mix well. Garnish with Cilantro and garam masala. Mix again.

Dal tastes better the next day, excellent with rice or layered Parathas or Bajri roti.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Raw Jackfruit(Halasina kayi) and Brown Chana Ghashi:
My mother always called this Ghasi rather than Ghashi, don't know why but I want to play safe here and call it Ghashi too as Konkanis call it, as this is originally a Konkan dish (coastal people of Karnataka and from few other states in India).
Here is my..err..my mom's version of Ghasi/Ghashi with canned raw Jackfruit (I know, I know! But hey, don't blame me! I live in US of A! Don't have any Jackfruit tree in my backyard here like my grandparents have in India! :D) and brown Chana, both my favorites. Enjoy! :))

You need:
2 cans of raw Jackfruit pieces,drained and cut into smaller pieces,
1 cup red/brown Chana, soaked overnight and pressure cooked until soft with 2-3 cups of water,
enough salt.
Masala to be ground: (roast these spices first, without oil)
1 tbsp Coriander seeds,
few peppercorns,
1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds,
2-4 dry red chillies,
1 tsp Cumin seeds.
Grind the above spices with these with some water:
1/4 cup fresh coconut,
few curry leaves,
1/2 tsp thick paste of Tamarind,
1/4 tsp Turmeric.
until very smooth and keep aside.

For seasoning:
2 tbsp oil+ghee,
1/2 tsp mustard seeds,
few curry leaves,
1 small onion, chopped finely,
2-3 garlic, chopped, (optional but for a pakka Lingayat, it's a must! :P).

To make Ghashi:
1. Heat oil+ghee in a deep dish, add mustard, curry leaves and onion. When the onion is reddish, add garlic and stir for a minute.
2. Add cooked chana with it's water (don't make it too thin), and drained Jackfruit. Cook on medium heat for 6-10 mins. Canned Jackfruit is already soft, so it just have cook a little to make the raw taste go away. Adjust the salt.
3. After cooking for a while, turn down the heat to simmer, let the gravy cool a bit so when ground coconut is added, it doesn't split to make the gravy thin.
4. When it's cooler, add ground masala to this gravy, stir well to mix it all and let it simmer for 10 mons or so or until raw coconut smell goes and you see the it 's bubbling slowly.

That's it, beautiful tasting Ghasi/Ghashi is ready. As usual, it always tastes better the next day!

PS: What I do with the everyday gravy or Sambhar normally is after it's cooked completely on the stove top, I will let it cool down. Then, I will transfer the gravy to a microwaveable dish and reheat the gravy for 10 mins or more on high or 100% power. That makes the gravy thicker and the oil shows on top quicker than the stove top cooking for hrs and also I don't have to fear that ground masala with coconut or yogurt is going to split if it gets too hot. Somehow it works for me this way!

Have a great weekend! :))