Bean-Ginger Dal

 Is there any way to freeze time?  Freeze moments in time actually.  People all too often talk about time travel – travelling back or forth in time.  I would rather want to be able to freeze moments – moments when my children first smiled, when they took their first steps, when they slept so peacefully that you thought they were angels or to moments we spent together playing or sitting together as a family at the dinner table.

My son will be 14 years this summer and my daughter will be 10 years in spring.  I see them as little adults at home – very much developing their own opinion, making their mistakes, talking about new things and discoveries they make every day.  Almost all moments spent with them are joyful.  I say almost because not all moments are joyful – especially when they argue or refuse to do as told.  Getting out the old albums and watching them grow always brings tears to my eyes.  I did freeze the moment in time on my camera lens, but oh!  How I wish I could go through the picture and cuddle them at that instant, hold them in my arms, kiss them.  I guess in a few years when they are adults, the present that I have with them now would be moments I would have wanted to re-live again.  So why spend time prodding over what I cannot have and let me grasp with open arms what I do now.  Babies – you are going to get huge hugs today when I get home and you would not know why!

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

2 cups French beans or green beans

1 cup Tuvar dal or Pigeon Pea  

2 tablespoons Green gram dal

2 tablespoons Gram dal

Grind to a paste:

2 tablespoons coconut gratings

2" piece ginger

1 green chili

5 curry leaves

For seasoning:

1 tablespoon corn oil

A pinch asafetida

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 dried red chilies

For garnishing:

Coriander leaves

Lime juice

 

Method:

1. Pressure cook dals and beans till soft.  
2. Add the ground paste and simmer for 5 minutes. Keep aside.   
3. Separately, heat oil in a pan and when hot, add the seasoning and pour over the dal mixture. 
4. Add salt and bring to a boil. 
5. Add lime juice and garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

 

Ginger Nuts

Winter is gradually setting in.  In olden times before winter, all the vegetables were stored, fruits were made into compote and people would spend the summer planning on ways and means to survive the winter.  Luckily for us, we do not have to do all this.  With modern times, come modern amenities like canned fruit and vegetables and imported vegetables and fruits from countries as far as Kenya and New Zealand.  The only thing we need to plan for is to make sure we buy the firewood or fuel before the winter or the prices soar or the supplier has a longer waiting line.

In addition to that, we need to mentally prepare for the winter.  Clocks change, it gets dark by 5 o’clock in the evening and a warm soup in the evening after a tiring day at work or school is always a welcome.  One of the things I like about winter is curling up in front of the fireplace with a book in hand and spending the evening reading.  I usually prepare my reading list for the winter and for this year I decided to go with all the Wilbur Smith series I have at home – adventures through the warm African continent. 

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 24 cookies

Ingredients:

100 grams wheat flour

½ tsp soda bicarbonate

1 tsp ginger powder

25 grams honey

50 grams butter

50 grams grated jaggery or palm sugar

2 grams chopped crystallized ginger or dried dates or chewy figs

2 tbsp milk

Method:

1. Cream butter and jaggery or palm sugar together until the combination is light and fluffy.  
2. Add honey and stir well.  
3. Sieve the flour, ginger powder and soda together.  
4. Mix these ingredients into the butter mixture and then add the milk finally.  
5. Mix and add the crystallized ginger.  
6. Form balls, allowing space on the greased tray for the balls to spread on baking.  
7. Flatten slightly and bake at 180⁰ C for about 15 minutes or until they are golden.  
8. Cool them on a wire rack and dredge them with sieved sugar before serving.