mcld.co.uk

Inspired by my recent trip to India, tried some more Indian cookery tonight.

The main lesson I learnt this time was about amchoor - a powder made from sun-dried green mangoes.

Ah no, the main lesson was actually how to eat curry one-handed using a chapati. But I've definitely not mastered that one yet.

Anyway amchoor has a nice clear flavour and is used in some Indian cuisine to add fruity zestiness to a dish without making the dish too wet. The top hit from this evening's meal was amchoor chana (chickpeas with mango powder). An otherwise simple chickpea curry is made zingy by a generous teaspoon per person of amchoor cooked in.

I'd like to get better at dhals too. Although a basic dhal is easy - just simmer some lentils/pulses for a while, with some spice - I haven't got the hang of the different types of pulses and how you'd use them. Here we were using a recipe which called for a mix of half red lentils, and half mung dal (mung beans). It gave a good gloopy texture.

My thanks to Samira Agnihotri, who kindly gave me some home-made amchoor!