Veg Dalcha Recipe, Ghee Rice – Brinjal Gravy For Biryani

• Toor dal – 1/4 cup
• Chana dal – 2 tbsp
• Big onion – 1 no or small onion – 5 nos ( sliced)
• Tomato – 1 no
• Green chilli – 1no
• Garlic cloves – 4 no
• Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Dhania powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
• Ginger garlic paste – 1/2 tsp
• Tamarind – medium gooseberry size 
• Brinjal – 2 nos ( cut into 4 or 5 pieces)
• Salt & water – as needed
• Raw mango – 2 pieces ( optional, I din’t use)
• Mint+coriander leaves – a handful

To temper:

• Ghee – 2 tsp
• Big onion – 1/2 no ( sliced)
• Cinnamon – 1 no
• Cloves –  1 no

For ghee rice

• Basmati rice – 1 cup
• Water – 1.5 cups or 1 cup water + 1/2 cup coconut milk
• Cooking oil + Ghee – 2 tbsp 
• Ghee – 1 tbsp ( for garnishing)
• Whole garam masala – 1 each ( Cinnamon, cloves, Cardamom, Kalpasi, biryani leaf, marati moggu)
• Big onion – 1 no
• Ginger garlic paste – 1/2 tsp
• Mint + coriander leaves – a fistful
• Green chilli – 1-2 no ( slitted)
• Tomato – 1/2 no (optional)
• Lemon juice – few drops ( optional)

• In a pressure cooker base, take the toor dal + Chana dal and soak it adding 2 cups of water. Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup of warm water separately in a bowl.
• Chop onion, peel garlic and slit green chilli. Chop the brinjal into pieces vertically and immerse in water till use.Add the chopped onion, green chilli, one whole tomato, Mint + coriander leaves, turmeric powder,garlic cloves, few drops of oil, G&G paste to the pressure cooker. Mix well and pressure cook the dal mixture very low flame for one whistle.( You can  add chopped tomatoes if your dal cooks well. My dal doesn’t cook mushy if I add chopped tomatoes.So I added as a whole tomato)

• Open the cooker after the steam is released. Mash the dal well with a whisk or mathu. To this, add chopped brinjal & bottle gourd ( and Mutton pieces if using), salt, red chilli powder and dhania powder. Again pressure cook in high flame for 1 whistle just for the brinjal to cook. Brinjal should retain its shape. ( ** Refer NOTES for an easy method). Open the cooker after the steam is released and add the tamarind extract + Mango pieces ( If adding). Mix everything and check for taste.Add more salt , chilli powder based on your taste. Let the mixture roll boil well.

• Heat ghee in a small pan and saute cinnamon, clove, sliced big onion. Saute till onion turns golden brown.Remove and add it to the boiling dal mixture. Switch off the flame and remove it. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with Ghee rice or biryani. Enjoy ! 

• For ghee rice : Wash and soak basmati rice in 2 cups of  hot water for 20 minutes. In the mean time, chop the onion, tomato, slit green chilli. Heat a pressure cooker with Oil +ghee and splutter the whole garam masala items.  Add the chopped onion, green chilli, g&g paste and tomato pieces ( skip tomato if u want white pulao). Saute until tomato turns mushy.Now add 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup of coconut milk and soaked basmati rice ( U can use water or coconut milk completely) . Add the required salt and add chopped mint+coriander leaves, few drops of  lemon jucie.Mix well and pressure cook in low flame for 1 whistle.

• Remove after the steam is released.  Fluff the rice with a fork and serve it. Keep dalcha as the side dish ! This combo tasted simply great : )) Enjoy !!

• **While making dalcha, you can keep the brinjal pieces in a small bowl inside the cooker and cook all the other ingredients together.After opening the cooker, mash the dal well, add the cooker brinjal pieces and then you can add tamarind extract, give a boil & temper it. By doing this way, you can avoid pressure cooking for 2 times. I just followed what Aunty told me. So I have cooked twice here. Next time, I am planning to try this method.
• If you want to follow DUM method for making ghee rice, Just add the rice, water, coconut milk and mix well till all the liquid is absorbed by the rice and becomes thick. Now switch off the cooker. Heat a dosa pan well ( Use a very old, unused dosa pan) and Place the cooker over it. Cover the cooker with a cotton cloth and then place a plate or lid. No need to use the cooker lid. Above this, place a bowl full of hot water. Let the flame be high and dosa pan be very hot. This heat will spread to the cooker and rice cooks soft n fluffy. Remove the cooker after 10 minutes and check the rice. This was the method suggested by aunty. Soon I will try to make a detailed post for this. By doing this way, color of rice can be maintained white.