Haleem – My way!

Snow and cold weather are meant to be enjoyed with warm comforting foods, steaming cups of tea and well spiced food. Back in the day, I remember returning from classes to Rosy’s kitchen, to savor the comforts of her cooking, often featuring traditional dishes like Haleem, Nihari or what she called a simple Birayani. These foods were nourishing and warmed the body and soul. It never occurred to me that I should save a recipe or even think of replicating her cooking, any more than I had done with my grandmother’s or mother’s cooking. Well, the last one, I am trying before it is too late, before all the favorites are lost forever…

Now, how do I really know what a Haleem is, anymore than what I really know what a Birayani is, the latter I will get to later… but a Haleem by some standards is a classic dish, one my born vegetarian husband swears by, but, it is not something, that I grew up eating.  The magic of Indian cooking is just this, there is no end to the knowledge of classic dishes. Yes, folks! this is why it is possible for someone such as I to have a doctoral degree in business, but still be unsure of something that is a classic Indian dish! At the end of the day, Indian cuisine is about, tastes, traditions and nostalgia and these are ALL important!

I would love tolerate the cold weather, if all I could do was to stay indoors and cook! However, life does not work that way. Not my life at least… I certainly do not enjoy slushy roads. Clearly, neither do the birds. I took this gull picture in a parking lot. Never seen these creatures before.

Slushy roads scare me! My children find this strange, especially since it is not a moisture thing! I LOVE the rain! I think it is all about conditioning. Wet roads do not scare me in the rain, however in winter, the slick, almost white roads, circled and garnished by these leafless trees are strange and just plain weird. All this starkness, makes me want to pull up the comforter over my head and hide, just hide until the leaves all turn bright and green and the sun is really, truly warm.

The fur kid in my household has not been happy about being grounded, hehas been mournfully staring out of the window, and crying. The children have been very saddened and are counting down to Friday, where we might get warm enough to let Benji out.

Well, I tried today, except that he was back 30 minutes later, mewing loudly, suggesting that I might have created this frosty, formidable weather!!!

Since, clearly, I have been unable to stay under the comforter, forever, the next best thing for me has been to spend all my time in the kitchen. This week, I decided to create Haleem, my way. Haleem, in case you are wondering, is a melange of meat, lentils, wheat and barley. Usually, I have seen complex, husked lentils being used, in this variation, which I have christened my way, I have used red lentils, and swapped the barley with steel-cut oatmeal.

This is really, pretty darn good! It really is like a chili on steroids! So, if you are looking to wow people for your super bowl party, you just might want to give this are try. If you know me, by now you know, that super bowl for me is all about the food.



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Haleem – My way!

A remix or remake of a friend's recipe than nourishes us when its cold, cold, cold.

Ingredients

For the haleem chili

1 tablespoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoons black peppercorn
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeks
2 dried red chilies or 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 large or 2 medium sized red onions diced ( 1 cup)
4 tablespoons of oil
1 large tablespoons (6 cloves) garlic, minced
1 tablespoon, freshly grated ginger
3/4 pounds of ground lamb
1 cup red lentils (aka dhuli masuur dal)
1/2 cup steel cut oatmeal
1/2 cup wheat or farro
1/2 cup cup coarse bulgur
Salt to taste or 11/2 teaspoons
11/2 cups diced tomatoes jarred or 4 fresh tomatoes
3 black cardamoms
1 large (2-inch stick) cinnamon
4 cloves
2 bay leaves
4 cups of water
for the garnishes
chopped red onions soaked in cider vinegar for 15 minutes
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
chopped green chilies

Instructions

Place the cumin, coriander, black peppercorn and red chillies or cayenne in a spice grinder and grind to a powder and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large heavy pan for about a minute or two on medium heat and add in the red onions and saute stirring occasionally for 6 minute or so, until the onions soften, wilt and begin to turn gently golden.
Stir in the ginger and the garlic and stir for another 3 minutes until the mixture is very fragrant and then add in the lamb and cook for 4 minutes or so.
Add in the lentils, oatmeal, wheat or farro, bulgur and the tomatoes and stir well, and mix in the cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves.
Add in the water and bring to a simmer and cover and cook on low heat for 2 hours. If desired this can be pressure cooked for 20 minutes or slow cooked for 3 hours.
Turn off the heat and let it rest for 15 minutes and stir well.
Stir well and add in the cilantro and serve the remaining garnishes as desired.Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin2.2http://cookinginwestchester.com/2014/01/haleem-my-way.html






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