Dill Dal

One of my favorite herbs is Dill.  When I say favorite, it is not that I use it in everything.  However, when I get the opportunity to use it, I enjoy the flavor it gives to any dish – be it rice, a sauce, a curry or a salad.  Unfortunately we do not always get fresh dill in the market.  So when I do get some, I buy it immediately and use up the dill before it withers.  A stock of dry dill is also always available in the pantry for use on fishes or in rice.  The rice dill recipe with broad beans I will share with you at a later date.

I remember when growing up, we had a neighbor who could not stand the smell of dill.  She would literally throw up as soon as she smelt the herb.  It is strange how each one of us reacts to different things around us.  Tastes and smells are so subjective – you cannot say what you like would be liked by others.  But like I always tell the children – do not judge something without even giving it a try.  Give it a try and then use your senses to decide whether you like something or not.  Do not rely on hearsay.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

100 grams dill

½ cup Green gram dal (roasted)

2 green chilies

1 big red onion (chopped)

1 tomato (chopped)

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon sugar

Salt to taste

Seasoning:

1 tablespoon clarified butter

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

½ tablespoon lemon juice

Method:

1. Wash and chop the dill.  Wash the dal.  
2. Pressure cook the dill, dal, tomato, onion, green chilies, adding water just enough to cook.  
3. When it is cool, churn well and then add sugar and salt.   
4. In a separate pan, heat the clarified butter, and when hot, add the cumin seeds.   
5. When the splutter, add this to the dal mixture and mix well.    
6. Add lime juice just before serving.  Serve hot with rice or chappatis.

Meat Balls in gravy {Kofta}

The Euro 2012 is starting next week.  In the midst of all the excitement over football, reports about racism and white supremacy in the host countries have also been brought to the attention of the world.  Do international events like the Euro Cup, Olympics, Common Wealth games, Football world cup or any other international events bring to focus the attention of the world on the host country and thus force the country in question to take action for the better?  Or should countries with bad human rights records not be selected as host countries for international events until their record improves?  The question is what is the best approach? 

I remember when the Common Wealth games were to be hosted by India a couple of years back, corruption was the focus.  The officials and politicians in charge of organizing the games were the ones who took most of the money.  The games went ahead as planned, but not before some teams quit due to poor living and sanitary conditions.  The country was in focus in the world media and being an Indian, it was an embarrassment to me as well.  After the games, people were held accountable for the corruption involved – but did corruption in India become less?  No.  Ukraine and Poland are in focus now for the Euro 2012 over charges of rampant racism during their football events.  Many are flabbergasted at scenes of football fans taking the Nazi salute or the kicking and hitting of some non-white spectators during a match.  What is being done besides bringing it in focus of the world?  Nothing.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For the meat balls:

½ kilo minced meat

1 egg

4 tablespoons coriander leaves, chopped

1 large red onion, roughly chopped

1” piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

2 green chilies

½ teaspoon cinnamon powder

Salt to taste

To Fry:

4 tablespoons corn oil

For the gravy:

3 red onions, ground

1” piece ginger, peeled and ground

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

250 grams red tomatoes, skinned and chopped

¾ teaspoon garam masala

200 ml water

2 tablespoons yoghurt, for garnishing

Method:

1. Beat the meat and egg together.   
2. Combine the remaining meat ball ingredients together and grind to a paste.  Add to the meat mixture.   
3. Roll the spiced meat into small balls about 2” in diameter and fry in hot oil to seal the juices, but not long enough to cook the meat.  Remove meat from the pan.  
4. In the same oil, sauté the onions until golden brown and then add the ginger.  Stir fry for a minute.  
5. Add the turmeric and the garam masala.   
6. Now add the tomatoes and over a moderate heat fry until the tomatoes soften and become smooth in texture.   
7. Pour in about 200 ml of water.  Bring to a simmer.   
8. Gradually add the meat balls and juices to the pan.  Simmer for a further 15 minutes and garnish with yoghurt before serving.

 

Mung Sprout Salad

 

Why does a massacre have to take place every time before the world decides to take action?   Why do we wait for genocide before we take a stand against it?  Syria has been an issue for the past months.  We know that there has been shelling and killing of innocent victims.  We know that the UN has been helpless in breaking the cycle of violence there.  We have seen endless reports on the brutality of the regime and the helplessness of its people.  Then why did the massacre of Houla have to claim the lives of more than a 100 men, women and children before the leaders of our nations decided to take some action – small action – albeit some action.

Syrian diplomats have been asked to leave in several countries to show outrage over the Houla massacre.  Ties now have been completely cut off with Syria.  When I am upset with my children for misbehaving or bringing home bad results, I cut off ties with them for a day or two – things just get worse.  They rebel; they test the limits even more.  Through dialogue and encouragement things work differently.  I do hope the Syrian regime is not like my children.  I do hope they do not test the limits they can go to with their atrocities now that the world has decided to cut them off.  

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 cups Mung sprouts

1 medium white onion

2 medium red and firm tomatoes

½ cup coriander leaves

1 green chili

1 cup potatoes, boiled and cubed
1 firm ripe mango
2 tablespoons roasted groundnuts/peanuts

1 tablespoon orange juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1. You can make 2 cups of mung sprouts by washing and soaking 1 cup mung bean overnight.  Wash and tie in a fine muslin cloth the beans and keep in a dark place for about 8 hours.  Occasionally sprinkle with water to keep the cloth damp.  For longer sprouts, leave for another 2 to 4 hours. 
2. Chop onions, tomatoes, chilies and coriander finely and keep aside.   
3. Chop mango into small cubes and mix with the vegetables gently.
4. In a bowl, whisk together the orange juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.   
5. Add the dressing to the onion mixture.
6. Stir in the potatoes and groundnuts and garnish with coriander leaves before serving.

 

Baked Spinach with Spaghetti

Sometimes before my children even finish their breakfast, they are already inquiring about what’s there for lunch or dinner.  Before today has even started, they want to know what is going to be done for the weekend.  If they were good planners or strategists, I could understand them asking these questions.  But they are just 14 and 10 years old – why do they have to know what even I sometimes have not bothered to think through.  Why not enjoy what’s in the moment?

A lot of information is available at our fingertips these days.  I put on my digital television and have the program schedule for over 100 channels for the next week in seconds.  I log on to my internet provider and I can see how much my internet usage has been over the past days, how much I need to pay them for my bills and all the upgrades I can get if I just agree to pay them a few euros more.  I log on to a news website, and all articles I might find interesting are suggested to me based on my past reading statistics.  Are we getting overloaded with information?  Do surprises scare us?

Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

800 grams Spaghetti or Fettuccine

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 ½ cups milk

4 tablespoons cheddar cheese, grated

1 teaspoon black pepper powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 eggs

1 cup dried soya

500 grams spinach

1 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Salt to taste

Method:

1. If the soya pieces are not pre cooked, wash and soak them in water for 20 minutes.  Squeeze out the water and keep aside.  
2. Wash and drain the spinach leaves.  In a big vessel, blanch the spinach.  Drain the water and cut roughly and keep aside.  
3. Heat the butter in a pan and add the flour and stirring continually.  When a nice aroma comes, add the milk gradually still stirring.  
4. When the sauce thickens, add the cheddar cheese, salt, pepper and the cayenne pepper.  
5. As soon as the cheese has melted, add the eggs and beat them in the sauce.  
6. Now add the blanched and drained spinach and soya pieces.  Mix well. Put off the flame and keep aside. 
7. Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions.  From the pictures you can see that I have used fettuccine which takes lesser time to cook than spaghetti.  Drain and keep aside.  
8. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.  Oil a baking tray and add the spinach sauce and spaghetti. Mix well.  Garnish with parmesan cheese and put in oven for 15 minutes.  This can be served warm or cold.
   

 

Black Chickpeas & Rice

I came across a very interesting quote today:

“The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people!”  - Napoleon

I genuinely believe that the world is filled with good people.  There are very few people who commit bad deeds.  But the overwhelming majority is the good people – people like you and me.  Then if people like you and me is the majority and we wince every time we see what is happening in Syria or want to take action to save the millions in Sudan or know we are heading towards environmental catastrophe with the way we are abusing our natural resources – is it you and me to blame for the suffering of the world because we choose to keep silent and “go along” with what is happening?  When did the minority become stronger?  Were we not always told that good prevails over evil?

What can I, an individual entity, do to change the state of affairs of the world?  What can I do to stop injustice?  How can you and I get to break the silence of the good people to stop the violence of the bad? 

Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

2 cups black chickpeas (kala channa)

2 cups basmati rice

1 big yellow onion

1 green chili

1 teaspoon dried mango powder

2" piece cinnamon

3 cardamoms

6 cloves

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

100 grams tomato puree

3 cups hot water

1 tablespoon corn oil

2 tablespoons coriander leaves

Method:

1. Soak the chickpeas for 12 hours in water.  Now pressure cook this with 1 cup water for 20 minutes.  Keep aside.  
2. Wash and soak rice in warm water for 15 minutes.  
3. Chop onions and slit the chili and keep aside.  
4. Heat oil in a vessel and when hot, add the cumin seeds, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves.  Now add the onions and the chili.  Fry stirring continually for 8 minutes or till the onion is golden brown.  
5. Now add the chickpeas and the mango powder and stir for another 5 minutes. 
6. Add the tomato puree and drain and add the rice.  Mix well.  
7. Boil three cups of water and add to the rice chickpea mixture.  When it boils, reduce flame and cook on low flame covered for 20 minutes or till the rice is fully cooked.  
8. Garnish with coriander leaves before serving.