Food Blog- Indian Thali

Hey guys! Today I’ll be sharing what seems like quite a complicated recipe, but really it’s just lots of different elements and how you bring it together. Now, to my surprise, a lot of people didn’t know what a Thali was when I did this dish for my cooking assessment. Well, from Hindi, thali translates into ‘plate’, however in this context, it basically means a mini- buffet all piled onto one plate. At restaurants, about 10-13 dishes are served in a Thali, however this version that I am showing you only has 6 parts to it, in an effort to make it less time-consuming and slightly simpler. So, here goes:

Indian Thali(Serves 1):

Ingredients:

For Rice:

• 1/2 cup rice
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup sweetcorn
• 1/4 cup peas

For Dal:

• 1/4 cup dal(lentils)
• A pinch of salt
• A pinch of  turmeric
• 1/2 onion
• 1 tbsp oil/ ghee
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp corriander powder
• 2 tbsp tomato paste mixed with 1 tbsp water(this is just for the colour)

For Okra:

• 10-15 Okra 
• 2 tbsp gram flour
• 1 tbsp mustard oil
• 1 Asafoetida
• 1 turmeric
• 1 salt
• 3 tbsp water

For Potatoes:

•  2 boiled potatoes 
• 1 tbsp ghee/oil
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• Pinch of turmeric
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Chilli flakes

For Rayata/ Raita: 

• 2-3 tbsp yoghurt
• A little bit of cucumber and red pepper
• Chaat Massala

For Halwa: ( Can also buy)

• 3 tbsp semolina 
• 2 tbsp ghee
• Sugar(optional)
• Almonds 

Recipe:

1. Put the lentils, water and a pinch of salt into a pressure cooker and leave to boil until 2 ‘hisses’ of the valve. In another pressure cooker, or (the same one after a while) put potatoes and water and leave to boil for the same amount of time. Put all ingredients for the rice into a microwave-able dish for 15 mins.
2. Meanwhile, make the stuffing for the Okra by combining all the ingredients apart from the Okra together. You should get a thickish consistency and might need slightly less or slightly more water. 
3. Wash and slit the okra. Next, wash the cucumber and red pepper and chop into tiny little chunks. Mix a little bit of chaat massala into the yoghurt and add the cucumber and red pepper. Transfer into a bowl, ready for serving(move into the fridge if you won’t use it for a while yet/leave this for last minute- prep).
4. Take out the Boiled potatoes and peel them. Chop into bite size chunks. (8 out of each potato.) Into a frying pan on a low/medium heat, add ghee/oil and cumin seeds. Next, add potatoes and sprinkle turmeric and salt. Let them reach a golden-brown colour before finishing.
5. Stuff the Okra. Into the same frying pan(it doesn’t really matter if some spices are still there), add ghee/oil and then the stuffed okra. Sauté but make sure the okra keeps its green colour. Sprinkle salt to finish.
6. Chop 1/2 onion finely. Into a small saucepan, add a tbsp of oil/ghee,cumin seeds and onion. Sauté with a wooden spoon and when the onion is light brown, add tomato paste and corriander powder. Sprinkle turmeric before adding the Boiled dal and mixing. 
7. For the halwa, add ghee and semolina into a saucepan alongside the water. When the vast majority of the water has gone, add the almonds and sugar. Put poppadom into a microwave for 30 secs.
8. Present. Traditionally, the individual dishes are put into separate little dessert-sized bowls and then all ladled onto a huge plate, but you can present this according to your choice.
9. Serve and enjoy your hard work!

Here’s how I presented mine:

As you can see, this is a very impressive looking dish but actually has very simple elements to it. I hope I have introduced you to something that will become a quick favourite amongst you, your family and your friends! If you make it, remember to drop a comment letting me know how it went. Bye!