Hey Phil,

have you ever tried frozen creamed spinach (I'm using Iglo brand)? I like the semi-dry punjabi versions. I prepare some basic tomato-onion-masala, puree and reheat it and simply add the frozen spinach cubes. Round about 7-10 minutes after that, I'll add the pre-boiled potato cubes (you can also fry them). Instead of making some fresh masala, you could start off with some base-gravy. I use 100ml pureed tin tomatoes, 250g frozen creamed spinach and 200g potato cubes.

Best

While you'll find many differing recipes for this particular dish on the web, this one comes out of Joyce Westrips "Moghul Cooking" and is tried and tested. I actually believe this to be a variation of the famous "Sultani"/"Shahi Dal"  Following Westrip, this dish comes ouf the courtly cuisines of Avadh - hence its name! Very, very mild but very tasty, like you would expect from a Moghul dish 

Great for guests and special occasions 

While the original recipe calls for split husked urid beans, it works very well with red lentils too! 

Here ya go:

1 1/2 cups urid dal
1/2 tsp turmeric
pinch of hing
3 cups water (always reserve some more)

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2 Tbsp Ghee or Oil
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala*powder*
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
2-3 ripe, medium tomatoes, skinned and pureed
1/2 Tbsp finely chopped mint leaves
1 Tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1 cup lightly whisked yogurt
1/2 tsp saffron threads, steeped for 15 Minutes in 1 Tbsp hot milk or water (optional)

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1 Tbsp Ghee
1 Tbsp slivered blanched almonds
1 Tbsp blanched and chopped pistachio nuts
1 Tbsp seedless raisins, like Sultanas

(I like the crunchy texture and sweetness this tadka adds, so personally I like to add a little bit more - about 1,5-2 Tbsp)

Wash lentils and soak them for 30-60 minutes. Drain and discard. Combine with the water, turmeric and hing and bring to a boil. Let it simmer until the dal is soft and most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat. In another saucepan heat the oil or ghee, add the ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute. add the coriander, cumin, garam masala, chili powder and salt and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes**: Then add the tomatoe puree, mint and coriander leaves and simmer gently for about 3 minutes. Stir the yoghurt and saffron with milk/water into the mixture and bring to the boil. Mix in the dal and simmer for about 3-5 minutes. Consistency should be quite thick. Check seasoning and remove from the heat.

Finally, heat up 1 Tbsp of Ghee - preferably in some tadka pan - and add the nuts and raisins. Or  tilt your normal pan a little bit and stir slightly but frequently. When the nuts change colour and all the raisins puffed up, you know it's time to add it to your dal mixture. Mix this into it very well and serve immediately with one or two other dishes and some rice or bread - enjoy!

Cheers! 

___

* While Westrip recommends using Shahi Garam Masala, it will work with your usual GM just fine. If you want to use the Shahi Garam Masala nonetheless, you'll find the recipe there -> http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=14793.msg129276#msg129276

** Be safe and remove your pan from the heat when adding powders to hot oil. You can also add a little water afterwards or dilute the powders in some water before adding them. The spices are cooked through as soon as you can smell them.

Hey StoneCut!

Did you try the recipes?

I prefer the very simple versions, which you'll often find freshly made in bigger indian supermarkets here in Germany. Often, these only include potatoes, no peas and can be quite spicey. Do you know these? The filling is brownish. Vidhu Mittal's recipe pretty much nails it for me. It calls for 400g parboiled, coarsely mashed potatoes. Heat up 1 Tbsp oil and add a good pinch of hing, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp ginger paste and 1 tsp green chili paste, the potatoes and mix well. add 3 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp amchoor powder, 1 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp garam masala powder, a generous pinch of salt and 2 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves and mix well. Let it cook for 5 minutes at low heat while stirring from time to time. Remove from heat and let it cool. Makes about 20 fillings.

If you're looking out for a cinnamon-y and sweeter version (one of my favourite places serves them just like that), I recommend trying out Raghavan Iyer's "Punjabi Garam Masala" as Samosa Masala. He goes crazy with the cinnamon there  ;D The recipe calls for:

1 Tbsp coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon black cardamom seeds
3 cinnamon sticks, each 7-8 cm long, broken into smaller pieces
3 fresh or dried bay leaves

Dry roast everything for approx. 1-2 minutes over medium heat until fragrant, Let everything cool down. Grind up and store airtight.

Cheers! 

Hey Phil!

JB's mention of "mix powder" has piqued my interest.  Except when slavishly following someone else's recipe, I make no use of mix powder at all, preferring to use instead a blend of spices that is unique to each dish.  I would be interested to learn roughly what fraction of CR0 members habitually use mix powder, and what fraction prefer to use individual spices.

This deserves its own thread! You could add a survey there 

I believe a good mix to be more than just the sum of its parts, so I think you shouldn't compare these too directly. I think spice mixes are great in general and I like to use a few different ones - e.g. different regional-style Garam Masalas, some Chaat Masala, Dhaba Masala.

Normally, I use these to add some extra depth/"body" while striving for few well-composed flavors instead of something totally unrecognizable. Individual single spices on the other hand, will give you always this more freedom and the opportunity to add different accents more directly. So personally, I can't and don't want to limit myself to dry OR full OR single OR mix 



Cheers!

Looks great! Impressive indeed 

Cheers!