Banquets of the nations

To one pound of rice add a quarter pound of split lentils or split peas ; wash them well, and put them on the fire to boil, with just the amount of water as would form a layer of about one inch over them, till half cooked. Mix in a frying pan containing some boiling ghee half a pound of ground cocoanut, an eighth ounce each of cloves, cumin, whole black pepper, Mesua Terrea or chestnut flour, cardamoms, cinnamon, assafoetida, a quarter ounce each of ground turmeric and coriander ; fry them till they assume a dark brown colour, then stir them well into the half-cooked rice and lentils, with one ounce of salt and one eighth ounce of ground black cardamoms. Boil the whole till dry. If the rice and lentils are not well cooked (which can be ascertained by pressing some of them between fingers) , add some hot water, and again boil to dryness. Eat with kadhi. Kadhi. (Curried Curd.) Whisk one pound of very sour curd, and add one and a half pounds water. Whisk again thoroughly. Add one ounce gram flour and put the mixture to boil on the fire. Keep on stirring. After it boils once, add an eighth PUNJAB (Brahmin) ounce of assafoetida, two ounces of ghee or butter, one ounce of salt, a quarter ounce of powdered turmeric. Boil for ten minutes. It is better to have it in the form of a thin paste ; and eat with khichadi. Dal. (Lentils.) One breakfastcupful of lentils soaked for two hours in warm water, after which wash in cold water. Four breakfastcupfuls of water, two teaspoonfuls of salt, a pinch of ground cloves, one tablespoonful of Garam Masalla, one tablespoonful of butter or ghee, and half an onion. Put the lentils in water along with the salt and cloves, and let it boil on a slow fire till quite soft and semi-fluid in consistence, with lentil seeds swelled and floating in thick fluid on top, though partly broken down. Then take another pot and steam the butter in it, put in the sliced half onion, the curry and Garam Masalla, till brown, then put in the lentils along with a tablespoonful of the curds of milk. Remove from the fire and serve. Bhat. (Rice.) Wash rice, and put in a pot with water standing two inches over it ; boil briskly till all the water is evaporated. Shake it up, and again put on fire or in the oven to dry. Give it an occasional shake to separate grains. Phulka Massoor. (Pistachio Pastry.) Work one pound of gram flour and one pound of ghee into a paste that will roll out. Make a strong syrup of one pound of sugar and half a pound of water. Roll the paste out into a sheet a quarter of an inch thick, and cut into rounds of about three inches in diameter, and score them rather deeply crossways with a knife ; cover with syrup ; bake in an oven till the syrup is well soaked in and the rounds quite brown. Before getting cold cover with sliced pistachios. Bhat Pullau. (Sweet Rice Pillau.) Take one pound of rice, one pound of sugar, eighth of an ounce of cardamoms, five ounces of melted ghee or butter, two ounces of almonds, two ounces of pistachios, and two ounces of sultana raisins.