Pongal for One

Today I came home, dead tired, to see that my little hyacinths had opened!  They had turned colors and begun to spread apart this morning, but no hint yet of a bloom.  The woman at the Borough Market said it would take them 3 weeks or so, but I guess they like my warm, damp room.  (I learned that the bulbs could be stored in a dark, dry place until next year when they will bloom again)

Readers, I made the most delicious dinner!  I'm so glad I stopped by the grocery store just to get some fresh spinach and tomatoes, everything else I had in my pantry which I keep very well-stocked with staples.  It was really simple, pongal, a mixture of rice and lentils, with sauteed spinach and tomatoes.  This is becoming my standard dinner, what I crave around 2:30 in the afternoon.

Pongal for one

Takes 20 minutes

Makes 1 serving

butter

1/4 tsp. cumin seeds

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

little bit of ginger

1/4 cup rice

1/4 cup masoor dal

salt

3 small cloves garlic

1/4 tsp. mustard seeds

1/2 chili, sliced lengthwise

2 big handfuls of fresh spinach, washed well

4 or 5 cherry tomatoes, halved

In a sauce pan, heat butter on low-medium low heat.  Decide the size of butter depending on what kind of day it was.  Mine was a 1/2 tbsp. day: I really needed the butter.  Otherwise, I would have used half that amount with some safflower or canola oil.  You do not want the heat to be too high because the butter will burn, but if it's too low, nothing will sizzle.

When the butter is melted, add cumin seeds, pepper and ginger.  When cumin seeds begin really sizzling and everything is very fragrant, add rice and dal, and saute for a minute.  It's ok if the butter is browning because that makes everything taste better.

Add 1 1/2 cups of water and salt to taste.  Bring to a boil, lower heat and cover for 15 minutes.

While the pongal is cooking, heat a little bit of oil in a small saute pan on medium high heat.  Add the garlic, chili and mustard seeds.  Be ready with the spinach!  When the mustard seeds begin popping, add spinach and tomatoes to the pan.  Add salt and saute for 1 minute or until spinach is soft and tomatoes are beginning to shrivel.

Eat!  With pickles or yoghurt or just by itself.  It was so good!

Eggplant at the end of the Rainbow

Things are going really well in London.  Not only because I've recently returned from what can really only be called a vacation in Copenhagen.  And, as you can see in the photo above, the archives are a veritable treasure at the end of the rainbow...

And yet, I have been very embarrassed because I haven't been taking pictures of food, and I have been hiding from my blog.

There's been visits and reunions

Remembrance

 

The National Front

We shared disapproval with a policeman and another man on the street.  They came actually quite close, and they looked so...apprehensive.  Like they felt a little ashamed and were not sure what they would encounter.  But as the policeman said, I guess this is democracy.

I promise there will be more pictures of food soon.  I have plans to make something with mushrooms and farro for dinner tonight, and there are not one, but two Thanksgiving meals coming up!  In the meantime, here's a picture-less recipe for my dinner from a couple nights ago.

Simple and Saucy Eggplant Pasta

Takes 30 minutes

Makes 3-4 servings

a slice of butter

2 cloves garlic, smashed

2 Italian eggplants, chopped into 1 inch cubes

1 can tomatoes (28 oz.)

pepper

salt

1/2 package penne

optional

parmesan

1 medium size ball of fresh mozzarella

herbs

olives

In a large skillet, heat about 2 tbsp. olive oil and the little bit of butter on medium heat.  When the butter is melted, add the garlic, and saute until fragrant.  Add the eggplant, and saute for 10-15 minutes.  You don't have to keep stirring.  Make sure there is enough oil, and let them brown but not burn.   When they appear soft and take up much less room in the pan, add the tomatoes and pepper to taste.  Crushed red pepper is good too if you like spicy.    Turn the heat down to low, and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes until thickened.  Towards the end, begin stirring to make sure it doesn't burn on the bottom.  Check for salt.

Meanwhile, once you've added the tomatoes, you can start water for pasta.  Cook according to package directions.  When the pasta is almost finished, add to the sauce pan, and finish cooking in the pan.  You can add some of the pasta water too if your sauce is looking thicker than you'd like.

If you'd like, chop up the mozzarella into 1/2 inch cubes and add once the pasta is done and you've turned off the heat.  Top with more pepper and parmesan if you'd like.  But really, the pasta is good without any cheese at all.

This would also be delicious with fresh herbs, basil or parsley.  Or olives!  Add a 1/4 cup chopped kalamata or oil cured olives when you add the eggplant, for super olive flavor.  Yum.

Ok, here's something I do have a picture for: poached eggs and polenta!  I had such a craving on Sunday, and so I just went for it.  They were misshapen and delicious!

I ate them with a really simple tomato salad (salt, pepper, olive oil), and some Punjabi Pickles I picked up at the local market.

amazing chocolate chip cookies

I made some chocolate chip cookies before I left Halifax.  Not for Paddy--these are filled with butter and eggs--but for friends going through a hard time.  They are so good, the best medicine I hope.  This is a special request recipe for Kevin, because he says my recipes are too complicated looking.  But really, they are for Katie and Dan, because I am too far away right now and can't bring them over myself.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

based on Carla Rollins' recipe from Gourmet October 2003

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Takes 2 hours (for all the baking and cooling)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (16 ounces)

1/2 c. lightly toasted hazelnuts (or walnuts, or pecans - and really you don't have to toast them), roughly crushed

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl.

Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Lightly beat 1 egg with a fork in a small bowl and add 1 3/4 tablespoons of it plus 2 remaining whole eggs.  Beat in vanilla.

Stir in flour mixture until just blended, then stir in chips and nuts.

Evenly scoop big spoons of dough onto 2 baking sheets, 8 cookies per sheet.

Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until golden, 12 or 13 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool and keep making cookies.

NB: I turn my oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit because my oven is very hot.  if yours seems to work for other recipes at the prescribed temperature, then bake these at 350.  Also, my oven is hotter on one side than it is on the other.  I turn my cookies around 6 minutes through the recipe.  The cookies will look a little puffy and undercooked when you take them out.  Fear not!  They will fall and be perfectly done.  This recipe produces a cookie that is firm on the outside, but moist and dense inside.  Not in any way cake-like, not crispy, but the perfect cookie consistency.

scrounging for food in London town

Traveling is disconcerting.  I loved it when I was younger.  We regularly flew through Heathrow on our summer trips to India, and I looked forward to seeing all the people, getting a Cadbury's chocolate bar, and the yellow signs!  But now, I like comfort and home and routine!  And traveling for 24 hours is not comfortable, homey or familiar.  You wake up in one bed and go to sleep in another, the money looks funny, and you don't know where to eat!

This flight to London was particularly rough, despite the couple of bottles of Underberg Jessica sent me off from Chicago with!  I couldn't sleep at all, and of course, they now charge $6 for beer or wine on the flight, so there was no extra help.  This meal from my United flight was not horrible.  I always order the Asian Vegetarian meal on flights.  It's usually Indian and vegan, and...not horrible.  Definitely comparable to a bad Indian restaurant.  Of course, now I can't even think about meals on flights without remembering that crazy complaint letter about the bhaaji-custard on a Virgin flight.

Arriving in London, I set off for a conference at the British Museum.  That was good, and it was a treat to be at the Museum in the evening.  For dinner, I had hummous and ful at a little take-out place.  Not bad for 3 pounds.

The next day I went to a great conference at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.  Greenwich is so serene and lovely.  And they were nice enough to give us little sandwiches.  I ate about 3/4 of a hummous sandwich.  That evening for dinner, I grabbed a beigel at the Brick Lane Beigel Bake on my way out to a bar.

Not very substantial meals, and if you have been reading this blog, then you know I like to eat.

So I was so thrilled the next day, when after schlepping my things all the way across town to my more permanent place, to get a delicious tofu banh mi for lunch.  yum!   I was hoping to get my produce for the week at the Borough Market, but I am having some cash flow issues at the moment, and I had to stop at Sainsbury's for some quick things.  Unfortunately, everything here comes in plastic, but you do get info about where it's from and how fresh it is.

Dinner that night was with Michael and Tom at Masala Zone, but not before we had a couple of really delicious manhattans at B@1.

On Sunday, after discovering all the wonderful little grocery stores here in Elephant & Castle, I had a real dilemma about what to make for dinner.  But not really, I wanted dal the whole time.  It's the best comfort food.

Dal

1 tsp. cumin seeds

1 small onion, sliced

1/4 inch piece of ginger, sliced

1 cup massoor dal
1 tsp turmeric powder

1 green chili, sliced lenghtwise

In a pot, heat oil on medium high heat.  When hot add cumin seeds.  After they have toasted for a minute or so, add the onion and ginger, and saute until translucent.

Add the massoor dal and turmeric and cook until the lentils are shiny and smell toasty.

Add three cups of water, salt and the green chili.

Bring to a boil, and then turn down to simmer.  Cover and cook for about 15 minutes.

I also made

Cauliflower curry

1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 onion, sliced
1/2 inch piece of ginger, sliced
1 green chili, sliced lenghtwise
1/2 cauliflower chopped into even pieces (maybe 1.5 inches) and the greens too
1 tsp. turmeric

heat oil on medium high heat until hot.  add cumin, saute until toasty.  add onion and ginger and saute until translucent.  Add cauliflower, turmeric and green chili, and saute for a bit.  add salt to taste (about 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp), and the greens from the cauliflower if you have them.  add about a 1/2 cup of water, put lid on it, and let cook for about 10-15 minutes.  Check for salt and spice.

I ate this with some rice and some fresh tomatoes.  It was so good!

 Things are starting to feel homier already.

onion rava masala dosai and sambhar

I've been working on two blog posts, one of my last meal in Halifax, onion rava masala dosai, which I am posting here now.  And one on my first meal in London, dal and cauliflower curry, which I'll post tomorrow.  This recipe is for dosai, potato curry and sambhar!  I've tried to write it the way I made it so that everything is ready at the right time.  I also recommend reading it all the way through before you begin because there are a lot of parts.  But I promise, it's not that hard.

Did you guys see in the new and last Gourmet that they had a recipe for Rava dosai?!  Theirs was all wrong.  Way too much flour.  And peas and chickpeas in the potato masala?!  Quelle horreur!

onion rava masala dosai and sambhar

Takes 2 hours

Makes enough for 4

Begin with the sambhar, because as it's simmering, you can get everything else ready.  You can also make the sambhar ahead of time, because it only gets better as it sits.

chinna vengyam sambhar (little onion sambhar)

1 cup toor dal

golf-ball size tamarind soaked in 1/2 cup hot water for about 15 minutes

1 pound baby onions

2 big tomatoes, quartered

1 tbsp sambhar powder*

1 green or red chili

salt to taste

1 tsp. mustard seeds

curry leaves from one stem

1 dried red chilli (or 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper)

2 shakes aesofotida

freshly chopped corriander leaves for garnish

In a medium saucepan, bring the lentils and 3 cups of water to a boil.  Lower heat to simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.  While it's cooking, chop the ends off of the onions, and peel.  I find it helpful to have a bowl of water nearby to put the onions in once they are peeled.  They are so potent those little ones!

In another pot, heat oil on medium high heat.  When hot, add baby onions, saute until slightly translucent.  Add sambhar powder, chili and tomatoes, and the tamarind juice.  Squeeze all the tamarind juice and pulp from the remaining harder bits.  Add an additional 2 cups of water.  Bring to a simmer.

When the dal is ready, add it to the other pot.  Continue cooking at a simmer, until it is well-blended and smelling so delicious.  You can jump at this point to the other parts of the meal.  At some point you will have to add the other ingredients.  Here's what you do when you are ready for that part:

In a little pan, heat a little oil on medium high heat.  When hot, add the mustard seeds.  As soon as they start sizzling, add the dried chili, the curry leaves and the asofetida.  As soon as they start popping, pour it all into the sambhar.

This can sit while you are making other things, like the dosai.

Onion rava dosai

1 c. rava (semolina)

1/2 c. rice flour

1/4 c. yogurt

2 tsp. cumin seeds

1 green chili, sliced fine

1 onion, diced fine

curry leaves, if you have them

salt

water

Combine all ingredients and add water, 4 to 5 cups, it will depend on the consistency of the yogurt you use, so it is better to add 3 cups of water first, mix it together and then decide. The batter should be very runny, it should fall easily from the spoon. The real test will be when you make your first dosai.

Leave the batter sit while you make the potato curry.

potato curry
1 tbsp. channa dal

1 onion, diced

1 green chili, sliced lengthwise

4 medium-large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

1 tsp. turmeric

2 shakes asofetida

1/2 tsp. red chili powder

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1 lime

Heat oil in a large skillet on medium high. When the oil is hot, add the the channa dal, and toast until they are fragrant and light brown. Add the onions and green chili. When the onions are translucent, add the potatoes, turmeric, asofetida, chili powder and salt. Saute until the potatoes are evenly coated and everything is very fragrant. Add a cup of water, cover, and let cook for about 10 minutes. Check at this point for salt, if the curry needs more water, and how well the potatoes are done. Adjust as necessary. Cook for about 5 minutes more, depending on doneness of potatoes. It will be ready when the potatoes hold their shape, but are soft around the edges and in a sea of yummy yellow potato curry. When finished, squeeze lime on potatoes and sprinkle with cilantro.

Back to the dosai.

The most important thing about making dosais is to have your pan at the right heat and your batter the right consistency. Heat a skillet to almost but not quite high and add just enough oil to lightly coat the pan. Stir your batter, and when you think the pan is ready, spoon a small amount onto the griddle. It should immediately make a lacy round. If it runs everywhere, your heat is too low. If it sticks and doesn't have holes, then the heat is too high. Another problem can be your batter. If the pan seems hot enough, but holes are still not forming, then add water to the batter.

When you think you are ready for a real dosai: quickly ladle one spoon of batter (we use a 1/2 cup measure) onto the griddle to make a circle.  It doesn't matter what shape your dosai is really, as long as the dosai is thin and crispy and delicious.

Add a little extra oil to the dosai as it cooks for extra crispiness. Swirl the pan around so the oil coasts all the edges, and even spread to the inner holes of the dosai.

When it has fried for about 2 minutes, or the edges are easy to lift from the griddle, flip it over. This is mostly to admire your handiwork. What had been the bottom should be a deliciously golden brown lacework of yumminess. After a minute flip it over again. Place a spoonful of the potato curry in the middle of the dosai, flip one side of the dosai over it, and serve with a bowl of hot sambhar.

Keep making dosais, about 12 in all. Keep stirring the batter as it will separate.

The batter keeps well, better than cooked dosais.

I wish I had some now...

 

* some words on sambhar powder.  Ours is ground for us at my family's mill in Chidambaram.  If you can't stop by Veeraraghavanaickan Street for some, I suggest MTR brand.  It's from Tamil Nadu, unlike other spices.  Or 777, I think, makes some powders.  Otherwise, this very nice blog has a recipe for sambhar powder.  Some friends and I made some recently, not according to this recipe, but a similar one, and it came out beautifully!