WBB#6 Twisted Dalia?

Some like porridge. Some will not touch it with a ten-foot-pole. My family falls in the latter category. But dalia* is a healthy way to include fibre and when made into a porridge with milk can keep you going well till lunchtime.

But even I cannot have porridge more than once in a couple of weeks. And, so the packet of dalia lay woefully in the larder with no takers. Being the true Indian that I am, I am loathe to dump food that is not either totally infested or rotting.

Necessity is the mother of invention, they say. And this is the only dish I have ever created. Any resemblance to any other dish is unintentional and purely coincidental . Mostly I adapt recipes to suit what is available, or change a few proportion to suit my inclination, but this is something I put together all on my own, though I admit it has been inspired by couscous.

I had couscous once, a long time ago, when my sister prepared it in our university apartment. Couscous, which is partially cooked wheat that has been coarsely ground, requires only soaking in hot water to serve. Dalia, on the other hand, needs soaking and pan-cooking. But, the textures are very similar.

With the couscous in mind and that packet of dalia at hand I got an inspiration a couple of years ago. Today dalia is a happy breakfast at our table on many Sunday mornings. Filled with the goodness of veges and fibre, and looow in fat, this (I’m gonna call it Sunday Dalia Twist!) is amongst super-healthy-eating husband’s favorite breakfasts! Porridge? That’s history.

Maybe I should call it Dalia Ravivar! Ice cream that is even better is a Sundae…Dalia that is nothing like porridge is Ravivar! (Lame? You suggest a name…really!)

Dahlias!

I spent a lot of time trying to identify some more of the flowers from out recent Valley of Flowers trip…but it’s not easy. Just when I thought that I would have to let this edition of Flowers Fest go by without participating suddenly the light bulb flashed! In the entry garden at the Auli ropeway I had taken these pictures of happy Dahlias! Bingo!

Divali Treats II: Karanji and Sev

ready for the Puja with diya, haldi-kumkum, and the karanjis

It’s time to hit the gym or jogging track or whatever it is that you are able to do to reduce the guilt (amongst other stuff that might have been added) of over-indulgence. But before I do that I must put down these two recipes lest I forget how I made them this time. I never seem to follow recipes for familiar things…

At our home we make karnajis as prasad for Laxmipujan. The fresh coconut filling makes it different from the North Indian gunjiya, which is stuffed with a mix of khoya and dessicated coconut, and sometimes, a little bit of sooji (semolina) as well. The fresh coconut reduces the shelf life of the karanjis, but don’t ask how long they are good for. I wouldn’t know!

Karanji

Divali Treats I: Shankarpara and Paparia

Paparia

Tonight is Dhanteras, and Divali is officially on! We have our Divali lights out and the first candle has been lit. This is all the Maharashtrian side of me. I guess I can lay claim to it after sharing with TH of 17 years. I cannot believe it myself. Not the sharing for 17 years, but that if we have shared for so long does it mean we are as old as it must mean.

Our Divalis are completely Maharashtrian. Kashmiri Pandits, unique for Hindus I would think, don’t have a Divali tradition and never celebrated it until their recent expulsion from the homeland. But, let’s talk of pleasant things…

Sharing in the family tradition for me means doing it the way my MIL did, as much as I can. Since she hasn’t been gone all that long, every thing has been reminding us of her this week. First, we did the Satyanarayan pooja this week (nothing to do with Divali). And thought of her as we did the elaborate preparations for it.

Shankarparey

It is now just two days to Divali and all that I had prepared were the shankarparey. I had watched my MIL make them a couple of times but never with the intention of remembering…and so, with a little bit of trial and error (very little of this), I made reasonable, very edible, shankarparey early this week.

There’s a few things I have always made even when my MIL was away visiting the BIL in the US. If you are a Maharashtrian then it’s not Divali till there is chakli. So, I always make that. Even if it means soaking rice and a bunch of lentils, letting them dry for a bit, slow roasting each ingredient separately, begging the local flour mill owner to ‘please grind it for me’, then preparing the dough, pressing it out of the chakli-press, frying it carefully on medium heat till beautifully crispy-brown. Every family’s recipe varies just a little to make our’s the best kind we have ever had!! And, of all the Divali treats, it’s my son’s favourite.

When I was away in the US I was very lucky to find packaged chaklis at an Indian store on the outskirts of Denver which tasted exactly like my MIL’s! I would bite into one, savouring every bit, and think of home.

I also manage to make sev, and on the Laxmi pujan day, the karanji, a sweet similar to the North Indian gunjiya, but made with fresh grated coconut instead of dessicated copra.

But all these still remain to be made this time, between tomorrow and tomorrow.

Today, I made paparia, another family tradition. I didn’t want another trial on my hands and called TH’s aunt in Poona. The paparia turned out as good as my MIL’s! But of course, I was using the family recipe.

Wildflowers

Cicerbita macrorhiza (Asteraceae)

Cicerbita is a low growing alpine wildflower from the Aster family. The sun-loving herbacious plant with a mounding habit produces clusters of blue-mauve flowers high above. Flowers from July-Sept. Local people use the plant to treat headaches. It is also used in Chinese medicine.

Photographed in the Valley of Flowers and nearby areas (Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve), Chamoli district, Garhwal (Uttaranchal).

Paper Chef #22 and More Pumpkin

I had been wanting to participate in the Paper Chef event for some time now. This weekend I even remembered to check the list of ingredients posted by Owen at Tomatilla but there was only the running list. Then I checked again on Monday. Nothing. As I began to wonder if I really understood the rules…there was the list of ingredients on Tuesday, finally!

1. Barberries - or any berries.
2. Pumpkin
3. Spinach (or any other green), and since Paper Chef #22 had ended up starting on a slow note, the topical ingredient was going to be
4. Slow

One look at the ingredients and I thought ‘Dhansak’! The first time I cooked this was just a couple of weeks back using a combination of Nandita’s (of Saffron Trail, and someone who seems to be getting mentioned here all the time!) and this recipe. Curried lentils cooked with vegetables, served with rice, what else can you ask for. I knew this was a keeper.

And this time’s Paper Chef event seemed to be calling out for a version of the delectable Parsee Dhansak. The Parsees have contributed to the variety in Indian cuisine in no small way. Their food traces its uniqueness to its roots in ancient Persia (remember Mesopotamia?).

Baakar Bhaji (Pumpkin Curry)

It’s Divali time. Yes, I am spelling it with a ‘v’ because that’s how we pronounce it, and I did finally get the difference in the v and w sounds (thanks, Bruce) even if I don’t always remember while speaking.

And all of us have a lot to do: clean the house (the curtains, the slip covers and cushion covers, and…), even get the house painted maybe (what a chore that is). And there are all the Divali goodies to be planned and cooked. I am sure most of the Indian food bloggers are going to put up quite a show.

Is there time to put a good meal on the table? I read Nandita’s comment and how busy she has been and thought it was time for another post in the ‘under 30 min’ category. Something to help you along while you spring clean and still score with the MIL (or TH, or the wife?) .

You’ll need to have access to one Maharashtrian spice though, the goda masala aka kala masala. There is no time to make it at home at the moment but you can find a recipe here (though not the way my MIL used to make). It is to Maharashtrian cuisine what the garam masala is to North Indian. Every family has their own variation and every shop (in Pune or Mumbai) seems to have its own recipe as well.

This summer I had planned to re-stock in Mumbai but the shops failed me. None that I visited, carried the really black kind. Most were a deep brown and did not use any coconut. Now why would it be called kala (black) masala if it was supposed to be brown! So I am going to have to make my own. I now have all the ingredients but have been putting it off. I am down to the last few teaspoons full. So…anytime now.

You cannot substitute the kala masala with any other because of this one spice, the pathar phool (translated: ’stone flower’), a kind of lichen! It gives the goda masala its distinctive taste and aroma. So, talk to your friendly Maharashtrian neighbour (hopefully, they have the black kind) and ask for some. While you are visiting, don’t be bashful, and ask for a little amsul or kokum as well.

Quick and Easy Salad

This is a quick salad to make. A good companion to different cuisines whether Indian, Italian, American, or even Chinese. In fact, it is inspired by Kylie Kwong’s tomato salad from her TV show Cooking with Heart and Soul, which I love watching. I have already made it thrice for dinner this week–just tomatoes (yum!), tomatoes and cucumber (no onions, as requested by TH), and then as per this recipe.

The simple recipe is versatile. Today I added a few cabbage leaves (chiffonade) and some cilantro as well. The taste is in the freshness of the ingredients with the fresh cracked pepper being of essence. Do not use pre-ground pepper. You could add torn spinach, iceberg lettuce, carrots, radishes…Makes a wonderful colourful addition to the meal. Simplicity at its best.

Rose Hip Tea

Going back to those rose hips…

Most of us grow roses for the beautiful flowers. And those of us who have little interest in things wild may not even know that there is more to the wild rose than its fragrant flowers. A rambling shrub rose still looks beautiful when its flowers fade. The stunning brilliance of its fruit, the rose hips, is as arresting.

And the beauty of the rose is not skin deep either. We are all familiar with the culinary, medicinal, as well as cosmetic uses of the rose extract. There’s still more. The rose hip is one of the best sources of natural Vitamin C! Apparently, it has 20 times the vitamin C of most citrus fruits. It also has vitamins A, D and K, in addition to antioxidant flavonoids.

During Word War II when Britain faced a shortage of citrus fruits, rose hip syrup made with wild rose hips collected from hedge rows became an important supplement. In the days before the vitamin C pills, rose hips were also part of standard sailors’ rations.

All these qualities makes the pretty rose hips good candidates for a wonderful cup of tea!

Lemon Marmalade

I was trying to think of a good house warming gift for a client who has everything and more. And I had been wanting to make my Lemon Marmalade again. So I said, “I must make my marmalade!” But as used to happen with a lot of my experimental cooking, I would never note it down and next time around, still need to search. Now I have this blog.

Search I did but no recipe came close to what I had tried the last time (there were no blogs then!). So I did what I always do: look at a number of recipes, make up my mind about the substitutions and eliminations, and then go ahead.

I remembered using sliced lemons last time. But all the recipes I found this time (there weren’t too many, I’m afraid–bloggers don’t make Lime jams it seems) wanted me to follow tedious pulp removals or squeeze the juice. I checked the fruit to sugar ratio (and promptly reduced it!) and went from there…