I've made a batch of Dahl Makhani yesterday and I did a bit of research before going ahead.  I read something interesting that I'd not considered and just wonder if it may be part of the "dry" issue.  One blog site I was looking at mentioned the need to use "fresh" lentils otherwise they take too long to cook completely.  I've had containers of red and green lentils put away in the cupboard for years and always just assumed that they would be ok.  Apparently not, and the same applies for Red Kidney (and other) dried beans as well.

There is an element of truth is this as the dried red beans I used in the Makhani were about 2 years in the cupboard at least and even after overnight soaking and 25 minutes in the Instant Pot under pressure, they remained very firm and "dry".  The fresh Urad Dahl on the other hand cooked as expected.

I cook this dish regularly as it is now one of Mrs L's favourite weekend breakfasts.  She's on break at the moment so I'm about to cook it for both of us.  We now usually have it accompanied with a nice green Sandwich Chutney.

The purpose of this post is to advise that I have found something that may just add to the dish overall.  Unfortunately, I don't have time to do it this morning.  I've often watched the videos of street vendors cooking hundreds of eggs in different forms and wondered what the spices they use are.  Some things are quite obvious, but I always felt that I was missing something.

Anyway, this morning I found a video for Mumbai Egg Bhurji, and it listed the commonly used street food ingredient Pav Bhaji Masala.  I recall seeing it but have never tried it.  A quick look around the web and I find that MDH make a packet masala, but it is very easy to put together and I have all the ingredients here.  This one could be something for Phil as one recipe I found uses Kala Namak instead of plain sea salt.

Ingredients include Red Chilli (Kashmiri or otherwise), Coriander seed, Cumin seed, Fennel seed, Cloves, Cinnamon or Cassia, Cardamom (usually black but green is option), Amchur (Mango Powder), Kala Namak ^* (or substitute plain salt) and Turmeric.  Some recipes add other spices which are ground ginger, black pepper, star anise, nutmeg and mace.

I usually use fresh ginger and black pepper in the dish anyway, but I guess I will add it to the mix when I make a batch.  I may already be close to this as I usually serve my own portion with a sprinkle of Chat Masala which includes several of the listed spices anyway.

* Kala Namak or Himalayan Black Salt has a very distinctive sulphur / egg aroma. 

Posh beans on toast.  You've got me.

To be honest Phil, I don't really care about the morel, mushroom, truffle of whatever else is used. I was more interested in the basis of the Korma dish as it appears to be quite orange in colour and the classification of being Street Food has me intrigued.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CXyMpypur-I/
https://www.facebook.com/TheVineetBhatia/posts/lamb-morel-truffle-korma-an-umami-bomb-of-flavours-new-menu-additions-start-toda/392936142199897/

Interestingly this dish (almost identically named) is from Saffron Modern Indian Dining in Milwaukee Wisconsin USA

Let me know when you've tested # 19 Phil.  The images of this dish on his various pages look pretty good.

You must be nearly eligible for a canular and intravenous drip connection directly to the lab Phil. 8 vaccinations in less than 4 years is an admirable effort.  The best I've heard of over here is 5.  Are you ducking out the back and rejoining the queue? 

Out here the initial vaccines were administered by brand / type being targeted to specific age groups based on who knows what best advice and subject to availability.  I'm sure they were making it up daily as it went. Due to my age and gender, I was given Astrazeneca as my first 2 and Pfizer for the booster.  I felt no side effects from any.  My wife and children were all given Pfizer for all 3 and a few of their shots caused minor issues.  Other people certainly faired less well and it was common for some to become quite ill and some even carked it.  We (my family) have all made the conscious decision to have no further vaccination boosters.

Compulsory masking has finally vanished here.  Voluntary use is surprisingly still fairly common to see, especially amongst the older generation in public settings.  Health care facilities were the last to drop it and this is only fairly recent.  Once the nationwide target vaccination level was reached, it was disregarded as being a threat, however it was announced just the other day that Covid-19 is now one of the top 5 causes of death along with heart disease and cancer.  It seems the governments just picked a spot where they could say, it's not our problem any more.

https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/covid-19-first-infectious-disease-top-5-causes-death-1970#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20top%20five%20causes%20of,deaths%2C%E2%80%9D%20Ms%20Moran%20said.

Thanks Robbo.  I'm pretty much over it now, although the tickle for a cough persists.  I'd say you're correct Santa. Statistically you're in the "well overdue" group.  I think we (me and Mrs) were very lucky to have managed nearly 4 years Covid free.

I enjoyed MR's Balti when I tried it.  I still use his Pre-cooked Chicken and Lamb recipes as my go to.  I rate them.

Quote from: Secret Santa on September 22, 2023, 09:25 PM
I've never knowingly had Covid and I'm one of those awkward cusses who refuses to wear a mask. I put it down to BIR curries and plenty of vitamin D. And of course I'm tempting fate now.

Until 3 weeks ago I was in the same boat Santa.  I had been directly and closely exposed to family members having contracted it and being at home, quite unwell, while isolating from the community on no fewer than 6 occasions that I'm aware of.  My son had it twice that we know of.  I had managed to avoid symptoms and positive testing until this one, and I have no idea where I came to become infected.  There were warnings that it was in yet another wave so it could have been anywhere.  We all had the first and second vaccine shots as over here it was essentially compulsory if you ever wanted to go anywhere outside your home, and it was requirement for my wife to be allowed to continue working.  We all had the first booster which was strongly pushed upon everyone but have had no further boosters and we won't be.  Mrs Livo had also managed to avoid it until only a few months ago when we believe she ended up being exposed to a student who was knowingly sent to school by his mother while positive.

Looking back on the last 4 years since it was first detected is a very surreal thing.  The way society and governments behaved is quite astonishing in retrospect.