So one small hitch—I didn’t get black urad dal until it was too late in the day, so I started with white urad dal instead. I figured the only difference would be in appearance, and I figured correctly. It’s a really good recipe. One thing I was curious about was how much attention it really needs for the entire 4-5 hour cook time. The answer is that for the first 2/3rds, not much at all—just one or two checks to see that there’s enough water. The cookbook calls for constant stirring from the point where you replace the water from the first phase and I fiddled around a little bit to see whether or when it might start to stick. I think “constant” or “frequent” is a bit strong, but it does need a bit of attention, which in turns means a bit of planning if you’re doing something else that’s on a grill outside.
The chapati recipe worked really well, though I think the recommended touching of the chapatis while they cook with a clean tea towel isn’t strictly necessary—they puff anyway, or least they did on my big cast iron pan. A bit of work to roll them out thin enough but worth it.
The two chicken recipes are in the end pretty similar—the murgh malai is kind of what I think a lot of people think chicken tikka masala should taste like, only without the coloring that turmuric gives, but I think that’s one reason that Dishoom does their tikka masala with a vinegar-based marinade, to emphasize the difference.
Anyway, a good time was had by all. I’m going to be using this book a lot, I think.
Great meal. Thanks for bringing Dishoom home with you.