Shubho Nabo Borsho -- Happy Bengali New Year

Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year

I have not cooked anything special for New Year tomorrow. We celebrated today by ordering Thai Take Out. Tomorrow we will go to the nearby Guruvayoor temple and eat tamarind rice, if they have any that is. No wonder they say the earth is flat.

The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring. ~Bern Williams

The flip-flops finally get their chance in the Sun

You can't see Canada across lake Erie, but you know it's there. It's the same with spring. You have to have faith, especially in Cleveland. ~Paul Fleischman


And I am not even in Cleveland

Yesterday the twig was brown and bare;
To-day the glint of green is there;
Tomorrow will be leaflets spare;
I know no thing so wondrous fair,
No miracle so strangely rare.
I wonder what will next be there!
~L.H. Bailey

My Methi Dal -- simple rants

**This is my pet rant. Brings out the dying, old feminist in me. While nouveau feminists have more important matters to deal with, me, I love this one. Solves my purpose **

Why is it that we women, educated and enlightened like a Sylvania Laxman 100watt bulb, tell the woman, whose husband loads the dishwasher every night, "You are so very lucky".Can someone please come up and ascribe some luck to the male too.

Why do we assume that just because the husband makes the occasional Sunday breakfast, the wife is a lazy slob who polishes her nails while all other house work gets done magically.

Why do we keep on insisting that the woman whose husband does a fantastic "dal tadka" should actually prostrate and worship the ground her husband walks on ?

Why do we think that it is perfectly natural for the wife to work outside the home, cook, clean, take care of kids and tell her it is really easy for her because her husband can change diapers ?

Why do we think that in the secret of their home the wife surely paints her face and dons a Nazi suit, how else can we explain the husband to remember buying "organic brown eggs" when there is "organic brown eggs" written on the grocery list ?

Why do we women think husbands helping around the house is an anomaly rather than the norm ?

I mean what happened to all that feminism thing and demand for equal work and pay and all that hogwash.

Hey, if we keep applauding and going "awwww" for every guy(in the capacity of a spouse and not your offspring) who manages to bake a cake at home aren't we lowering the standards or something? Where is the motivation if he sees his basic skill set is held at the pinnacle of excellence and he would be the best fit for any lucky woman with an open requisition for husband position ?

Do we even understand that this pulls down the global standard for men helping with housework and there could be serious consequences if we all live beyond 2012 ?

Disclaimer: Any resemblance to characters in real life is purely unintentional. As if.

My Methi Dal is just my regular Dal made magical with Methi Greens(Fenugreek Greens). For more of a star kind of Methi Dal, check this.


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My Methi Dal

Step 1: Wash part Masoor, part yellow Moong Dal in several changes of water --> put in Pressure Cooker with a pinch of turmeric, a roughly chopped tomato and enough water(water should not overwhelm the dal, very important, copyright Sra) --> cook till dal is done --> roughly mash the dal

Step 2: While Dal is cooking, wash and chop methi greens. I just go snip, snip with my scissors. That is as much patience I can muster.

Step 3: Heat Oil or ghee in a deep, thick bottomed cooking pot. Temper the oil with few cumin seeds, 1 clove of garlic minced and thinly sliced onions. When the onion starts browning, I said browning and NOT burning, so take care. Anyway when it starts getting brown or whatever color deemed fit, add the chopped methi leaves. Saute for a minute and those leaves will start wilting.

Step 4: Add the cooked dal and saute for couple of minutes. Add salt and sugar to adjust. Add some slit green chili if you are that kind. Now add the dal water or if no dal water regular water.

Step 5: Bring to a boil and adjust the consistency. Squeeze lime juice to finish off.

Step 6: Serve with rice, ghee and aloo methi.

Step 7: Experience Bliss.

Red Goan Chicken -- from Anjum's New Indian

In the last couple of weeks, I have been in deep s*** where time and work is concerned. There is loads of work and very less of time. I don't know how I got myself into this situation but I really want to go and live in Venus with its longer days.

On top of all this the husband will have to move to a work location, beyond everyday commutable distance and so he intends to do a Mon-Thur which essentially leaves me in sole charge of two tiny human beings and their music/taekwondo/swimming/studies/tantrums/fun-moments/life for whole 72 hours and some.

Yeah, yeah M Didi is still around but really not of much help in the evenings. She is not one of those enthu, proactive people you hate at work. She believes in taking things slow, real slow and relaxing a lot which is a mighty good work ethic I must say.

In between all this I have been doing my usual cooking because I feel one of the many purpose that God had in mind while putting me on earth involves offering healthy home-cooked meal to my kids. Yeah, I am a believer that way. But since I have very very little time I cannot go into the details.

Also due to lack of good ol' time, I cannot tell you how embarrassed I am that I did not do a review of Anjum's New Indian(author Anjum Anand) which I received 2 months back. Or say that how beautiful her book is with lush pictures of food. Or how gorgeous, calm and composed she looks hovering over the big pot, very unlike my harried, sweating self over similar pots. Or how her book has nice simple recipes plucked from all around India and then tweaked for the New Indian, whoever he is.

Only thing I can tell you is this Red Goan Chicken Curry from her book is fabulous. The kind that would make you say "De la grandi mephistopheles", like Tenida. I will put down her exact recipe here and then in the Notes I will tell you what all changes I made. Yes, I can never ever leave a recipe unchanged, what can I say ?


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Red Goan Chicken Curry

Make Goan Red Spice Paste

2 large, mild, fresh red chilies, desseded
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1&1/2tsp coriander seeds
3 cloves
6 black peppercorns
171/2" piece of cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground turmeric
9 large cloves of garlic peeled
1 tsp tamarind paste
3/4tsp sugar
3/4tsp salt
1/3 cup white vinegar

Note: I skipped the Tamarind. Used 2 dry red chili, did not deseed.

Make Red Goan Chicken

Note: I started off by marinating 1&1/2-2lb of chicken pieces in 1 tsp of ginger paste, 1 tsp garlic paste, salt and 1/4tsp of turmeric. This is not suggested in the book. Anything under Notes is not as per the book.

Heat 4 tbsp Oil in a large saucepan

Add 1 large onion sliced and cook until browned around 10 minutes.

Add 4tbsp of Goan Red Spice paste and cook for 2-3 minutes

Add 4 large tomatoes chopped, salt to taste and cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes have softened and reduced. Uncover the pan and cook the tomatoes further in their juice for 6-8 minutes, stirring in between till you see oil separating from the masala.
Note: I used only 1 large juicy red tomato

Add the chicken pieces(1&1/2lb chicken skinned) and stir well in the pan for a few minutes.
Note: I did this until the chicken pieces were lightly browned

Add 1 cup of water, bring to boil and cover. Cook covered till chicken is done.

Remove the cover, turn the heat up and boil off excess moisture in the pan, tossing the chicken in the reducing gravy all the time. Also check for salt and seasonings and adjust.

Note: This dish was pretty mild and perfect for us and the kids. I would increase heat up a notch by adding a little red chili powder otherwise. I also garnished the dish with some fresh chopped corriander.