West Bengal is in Eastern India.   It spans from the Himalayan range in the north to Bay of Bengal in the south. Its capital is Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta).  Calcutta was earlier the capital of British India. While the capital moved to New Delhi, Calcutta remained the capital of West Bengal.

1. Wash and soak channa dal for about 20-25 minutes.

2. Cut the stems and split the green chillies slightly on the broader side.

3. Chop the coconut into small pieces leaving 2-3 pieces as long strand for garnishing. 

4. Crush the cardamoms slightly and keep them aside.

5. Wash and drain the dal and place it in the pressure cooker. 

6. Add the split green chillies, salt, sugar, turmeric powder and 1 cup of water.

7. Close the cooker and place it over the heat.  After the first whistle, reduce the heat to minimum and cook for 3 minutes. 

8. Switch off the heat and allow cooker to cool down.

9. Heat the oil or ghee in a heavy pan. 

10. Fry coconut till lightly browned and keep it aside.

11. Fry the raisin in the same oil and keep it aside.

12. Keep a few raisins and little coconut separately for garnishing the dal later.

13. Add the remaining to the cooked dal.

14. Add the bay leaves to the hot oil in the pan.

15. When they turn brown, add the crushed cardamom and stir-fry for few more seconds. 

16. Pour the fried spices on the dal.

17. Bring the dal to boil and simmer for few seconds. 

18. The dal should be thick and sweetish.  If it is too thick add 1/4 cup of water and bring it to boil again. Dal is ready for serving.

19. Serve it hot with luci/puri. 

20. Should you make the dal of little thinner consistency it could be served with steamed rice as well.

Odisha previously known as Orissa, is a state in Eastern India.  Bhubaneshwar is its capital.  Bhubaneshwar has hundreds of temples so Odisha is also known as The Land of God or the land of Lord Jaganath.  It has some of the finest architectures and arts. There are many rivers, one of them called Ganga of Odisha, although Ganga does not flow through the state.

Vegetable:

1. Wash and peel the ginger piece.  Grate it finely.
2. Wash and remove the stems from the chillies.  Make a slit on the broader side of the chillies and keep them aside.

3. Wash the dal and place in a pressure cooker. 

4. Add green chili, ½ tsp of salt, ¼ tsp turmeric powder and 1 tsp of grated ginger to the dal. 

5. Add 1 cup of water and stir well.  6. Place the cooker on heat.  After the first whistle lower the heat and cook the dal for 2 minutes and then switch off the cooker.  

7. Allow the cooker to cool by itself.

8. In the meantime, wash, peel and cut the plantain and potato into cubes and soak them in water with little salt.  Raw potato and plantain quickly turn brown if they are not taken care of.

9. Wash the remaining vegetables. 10. Cut the pumpkin into slightly bigger chunks with the skin on.  Pumpkins gets cooked very easily. 11. We are using the smaller variety of brinjal.  Cut off the stems and slit the other end slightly.

12. Cut the tomato into quarters.

13. Peel and cut the carrot crosswise into 1” chunk and then the chunks into 4 strips lengthwise.

14. Peel the gourd and chop into smaller pieces. 

15. Cut the bean into 1” long strips.

16. Place all the vegetables on a plate. Add ¼ tsp of salt and ¼ tsp turmeric powder and mix well.

17. Open the lid of the cooker and place the vegetable over the cooked dal in the pressure cooker. 

18. Close the lid and place the cooker over heat.

19. At the first whistle of the cooker, switch off the heat and allow the cooker to cool down by itself.

20. Open the cooker and stir in the dal and the vegetable very gently.

21. Add 1 cup of warm water and bring to boil.

22. Wash the coriander leaves and chop them finely.

23. Heat a pan with 1 tbsp of oil/ghee. 

24. Lower the heat and add 2 dried red chili and cumin seeds.

25. Switch off the heat. 

26. Add ¼ tsp of turmeric and ¼ the red dried chili powder and stir and fry for few seconds.

27. Pour the spice on the dal and mix well. 

28. Boil the dal for another minute or so.

30. Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and stir in well.  Dalma is ready. 

31. Serve it hot with steamed rice.

The Jharkhand state is one of the states in the Eastern zone of India. Ranchi is its capital. Jharkhand is known for it rich mineral resources and forests. It is also known as the land of forest.

Horse gram is also known as Madras gram, Gahat and Hurali and so on. 

The scientific name of Horse gram is Macrotyloma uniflorum.

Horse gram is nutritious and has lots of medicinal properties.

100 gm Horse gram/Kulthi

½ tsp turmeric powder

2 green chillies

2 medium size tomatoes

A few sprigs of coriander leaves

½ tsp salt

For tempering:

1 tbsp oil

2 Dried red chillis

A few garlic cloves

1 tsp of cumin seeds Salt to taste

1. Wash and soak the dal overnight. 
2. Discard the water.  Wash the dal one more time and drain it.

3. Wash the chillies and cut off the stems.  Make small slits on the broader side of the chillies.  

4. Wash and cut the tomatoes into cubes. 

5. Wash and chop the coriander leaves finely.

6. Pressure cook the dal, with salt, turmeric,1 green chilli, the tomatoes and 1 cup of warm water. 

7. After the first whistle,  lower the heat and cook for 2 minutes. 

8. Allow the cooker to cool down on its own.

9. Open the cooker.   Check the lentil, it must be soft and yet retains the shape.

10. If undercooked, cook it for a 1 or 2 minutes more.

11. Open the lid and gently stir in the lentil with 1 cup of warm water and place it over medium heat and let it simmer.

12. Crush 1 or 2 tblsp of the dal for a creamy gravy. 

13. Keep it simmering for about 1 minute. 

14. Add the chopped coriander leaves and stir well and switch off the heat.

Tempering:

15. Heat a pan with 1 tblsp of oil.  Lower the heat and add the cumin seeds.  Stir it for a few second and then add the dried red chillies. 

16. Add the chopped garlic and switch off the heat. Garlic burns very easily. 

17. Stir fry the garlic till lightly brown. 

18. Pour the fried spices over the cooked dal.

19. Switch on the heat and stir the dal well and bring it to boil. 

20. Adjust the salt.

21. Kulthi dal is ready to be served with roti or steamed rice.

Andaman & Nicobar Islands are union territories of India with Port Blair as the capital.  They are located in the Bay of Bengal about 1300 km east of mainland India.  They consist of more than 800 islands grouped as the two Islands- Andaman and Nicobar.  The two islands are well known for the white-sand beaches, coral reefs and beautiful palm trees. There are several historical sites such as the Cellular Jail. 

100 gm whole moong dal

1 green chili

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 cheena kela (green plantain)

1 tbsp fresh grated coconut** ½ tsp Salt

For tempering:

1 tbsp refined oil/coconut oil

1 medium size onion finely chopped

1 sprig of curry leaves

2 red dried chillies

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp coriander powder

1 tbsp of tamarind paste

½ cup of fresh coconut milk**

1. Wash and soak the dal overnight.
2. Wash it again with water before cooking.

3. Wash and peel the green plantain.  Cut them into small pieces.

4. Wash and cut the green chilli too into small pieces.

5. Pressure-cook the moong dal, with, 1 tbsp of grated coconut, ¼ tsp of turmeric powder, ½ tsp of salt, green chilli, green plantain, and with ½ cup of water. 

6. After the first whistle lower the heat and cook for 2 minutes. 

7. Allow the cooker to   cool down on its own.

8. When the cooker cools down, add ½ cup of coconut milk and bring it to boil and allow to simmer.

For tempering:

9. In the meantime, heat the oil over medium heat in a heavy pan.

10. Add the mustard seeds. 

11. When the seeds begin to splutter add the dry red chillies.

12. Add onion and the curry leaves and fry for few more seconds.

13. Add 1 tbsp of tamarind pulp and fry again for a few seconds more.

  14. Pour the cooked dal over the fried spices stirring gently. The consistency of the dal should neither be too thick nor too thin. Add little warm water to your required consistency. 

15. Adjust the salt. 

16. Boil the dal for a minute or so. 

17. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Clean the coconut and remove the fibres from the hard shell.  Refrigerate the coconut overnight. With a hammer, pound the hard shell of the coconut.  The shell will crack and the kernel will separate from the shell easily.

With a sharp knife remove the dark brown skin from the kernel.

Cut the kernel into smaller pieces and grind them finely in a grinder.

Take the grated coconut in a container and pour ½ cup of hot water over it.  Allow it to stand for some time. Squeeze and strain out the liquid— that is your coconut milk!

Soak few pieces of dried tamarind in boiling water for few minutes. When the tamarind becomes soft, squeeze out the tamarind pulp.  Strain it.

Eastern India – shares the international border with Nepal, Bhutan in the north and Bangladesh in the east.

It is bounded by Sikkim in the north, Assam in the east, Andhra Pradesh in the south, and Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh in the west.

The islands of Andaman & Nicobar are located in the Bay of Bengal on the eastern side of the mainland India.

Tripura is one of the “Seven Sisters” states in north east India.  It is the third smallest state of the India. Its capital is Agartala. It is hilly and extensively covered with forests.  During British raj, Tripura was a princely state.

100 gm pink masoor dal

4-5 small onions/ 2 medium size onion

2 tbsp of mustard oil

3 green chilies

Salt to taste

1. Wash and drain the dal.  Keep it aside.

2. Peel, wash and cut the onions finely and keep them aside.

3. Slit the green chillies through lengthwise.

4. Heat a pan with the mustard oil.  5. When the oil smokes, lower the heat and add the sliced onion and the chilies. 

6. Fry them for a while until onion are lightly browned.

7. Keep aside a little for garnishing later.

8. Add the dal and saute for few seconds.

9. Add enough warm water and salt and cook over low heat until the dal is soft and retain the dal shapes.

10. Bring the water to boil, cover it and cook for about 20 minutes until the dal is cooked. 

11. Stir gently from time to time, but make sure to maintain the round shape of the dal. 

12. Add ¼ cup of warm water to the dal and gently stir it.

13. The consistency of the dal should neither be thick nor very thin.

14. Simmer the dal for another few seconds and remove it from the heat.

Sikkim is the 8^th state from north east India, brother of the seven sisters. Mt Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world is situated in Sikkim. It has beautiful rugged mountains, deep valleys and dense forests with many lakes and water falls. It is a paradise for tourists.  Its capital is Gangtok.  Sikkim has lots of Buddhist monasteries, so it is known as the ‘Land of Monasteries’.

100 gm black urad dal

1 tbsp mustard oil

1 inch ginger finely chopped

¼ tsp turmeric powder salt to taste

1. Wash and soak the dal overnight.

2. Wash coriander leaves and chop them finely. 

3. Peel, wash and finely chop the onion.

4. Wash, remove the stems from the chillies and make a small slit on the broader side.

5. Wash, peel and finely chop the ginger. 

6. Peel, wash and chop the garlic finely.

7. Rinse the soaked dal and cook it in a pressure cooker with 1 tbsp of mustard oil, 1 tbsp chopped ginger, ¼ tsp of turmeric, ½ tsp of salt and 1 cup warm water.

8. After the first whistle, lower the flame to its minimum and cook it for 3 minutes. 

9. Allow the cooker to cool down on its own before opening the cooker lid.

10. Add ½ cup of warm water if necessary and stir in gently.

11. Heat the oil over medium heat, add chopped onion and saute for few seconds. 

12. Add the slit green chillies and chopped garlic and stir well. 

13. Add a little cooked dal and mix well.

14. Pour the remaining dal and bring it to boil. 

15. Mash the cooked dal a little.  Cook for 2 to 3 minutes and switch off the heat. 

16. Garnish with the chopped coriander leaves. 

17. Kalo dal is ready to be served with steamed rice.

Nagaland is a beautiful hilly and mountainous state in north east India and one of the ‘Seven Sisters’ states. The state capital is Kohima.  Nagaland is known as a ‘Land of Festivals’. 

100 gm whole moong dal

2 tbsp of bamboo shoot

2 green fresh chillies

2 red dried chillies

1-2 flakes of garlic

2-3 medium size of mustard green leaves

4 garlic chieves

Salt to taste

1. Wash and soak the dal overnight.
2. Next morning wash lightly and strain it.

3. Wash peel and slice the garlic finely.

4. Wash and slit the chillies.  

5. Wash and chop the garlic chives.  6. Wash and tear the mustard green roughly with your hand as in the picture.

7. Place the dal in an open pan. 

8. Add garlic and salt. 

9. Add about 1 cup of hot water.

10. And cook over low heat until the dal is half cooked.

11. Add the bamboo shoots and the chillies and keep cooking for another 2 or 3 minutes until the green grams are cooked.

12. Add the garlic chives and then the mustard green and cook until the green gets cooked. 

13. Serve it hot with steamed rice.

Mizoram state is in north east India and is one of the Seven Sister States. Its capital is Aizawl.

Mizoram means –‘Land of the Mizos’- Mizo is the name of the native inhabitants of the state, and ‘ram’ means ‘land’.  Mizoram is also known as the ‘land of the blue mountains’.  The hills are overlapped by gushing rivers and water falls.

100 gm moong dal

1-2 mustard greens

2-3 bay leaves (tejpata)

1 green chilli

¼ tsp turmeric powder Salt to taste

1. Wash the moong dal and place it on a cooking pan.
2. Add bay leaf, chili and a little salt. 
3. Add 1 cup of hot water and a little turmeric powder. 
4. Place the pan on heat and bring it to boil. 
5. Lower the heat and cook dal cook over low heat until cooked.  It will take about 10 to 15 minutes

6. In the meantime, wash and chop the mustard greens roughly

7. Add the greens on the cooked dal. 

8. Add little warm water if needed.  Cook for another 1 or 2 minutes more and remove the dal from the heat.