Chaunk

Chaunk (Hindi: छौंक); sometimes spelled chhaunk, chounk, chonk, chhounk, or chhonk; also called তড়কা (torka), বাগার (bagar), ফোড়ন (phoron) in Bengali, Tarka (ਤੜਕਾ) in Punjabi, Thaalithal (தாளித்தல்) in Tamil, oggaraṇe (ಒಗ್ಗರಣೆ) in Kannada,फोण्ण in Konkani, vaghaar (વઘાર) in Gujarati, fodni (फोडणी) in Marathi, Thalimpu (తాళింపు) or popu ( పోపు in Telugu), Baghaar (Urdu: بگھار) ; Baghaara (ବଘାର) or Chhunka (ଛୁଙ୍କ) in Oriya, often translated as "tempering", is a cooking technique and garnish used in the cuisines of India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, in which whole spices (and sometimes also other ingredients such as minced ginger root or sugar) are fried briefly in oil or ghee to liberate essential oils from cells and thus enhance their flavours, before being poured, together with the oil, into a dish.

Chaunk may be prepared at the beginning of cooking, before adding the other ingredients for a curry or similar dish, or it may be added to a dish at the end of cooking, just before serving (as with a dal, sambar or stew).

Dal

Dal or Dhal (IPA: [d̪aːl]) is a dried pulse (lentil, pea or various types of bean) which has been split.

The outer hull is usually stripped off; dal that has not been hulled is described as chilka (skin), e.g. chilka urad dal, mung dal chilka. The word dal is also used to name the thick stew prepared from these pulses, an important part of Indian, Nepali, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi cuisine. Dal or lentils is staple food eaten with rice and roti or chapati (wheat-based flat bread) throughout India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal where Dal Bhat (literally: dhal and rice) is the staple food for much of the population. Dal is a ready source of proteins for a balanced diet containing no meat.

Etymology

The word dāl derives from the Sanskrit verbal root dhal- "to split". Dhal is sometimes referred to generically as a "dhal bean" rather than, say, "urad dhal".

Usage in South Asia

Dhal preparations is eaten with rice, as well as roti, chapati and naan in Indian subcontinent. In India, it is eaten with rice and with a wheat flatbread called roti. The manner in which it is cooked and presented varies by region. In South India, dhal is primarily used to make the dish called sambar. It is also used to make pappu that is mixed with charu and rice.

Naga Chaitanya

Naga Chaitanya Akkineni (born 23 November 1986) is an Indian film actor who works in Telugu cinema. He debuted in the 2009 film Josh, directed by newcomer Vasu Varma and produced by Dil Raju. Prior to the release of his first film, he signed his second film with Indira Productions, which was to be directed by Gautham Menon.Ye Maaya Chesave released in February 2010 with comparisons drawn to his father Akkineni Nagarjuna's romantic film, Geethanjali.

His next movie was Sukumar's 100% Love. The movie was shortly followed by Dhada and Bejawada. Chaitanya also appeared in the movie Autonagar Surya. In 2013, he appeared in Thadaka. The film Manam also featured other members of his family. He has also appeared in Autonagar Surya and Oka Laila Kosam.

Early life and family

Chaitanya was born on 23 November 1986 in Hyderabad. His parents are the actor and entrepreneur Akkineni Nagarjuna, the son of actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao and a Chennai-based professional interior designer Lakshmi Daggubati, the daughter of producer D. Ramanaidu. His maternal uncle Daggubati Venkatesh and cousins Rana Daggubati, Sumanth and Sushanth are also actors. Nagarjuna and Lakshmi divorced after which the former married actress Amala Mukherjee, to whom Chaitanya's half brother Akkineni Akhil was born.