This Past Month in My Kitchen in Review

“ Coffee should be black as Hell, strong as death, and sweet as love“

Turkish Proverb

This month, thanks to my new consultancy work that will take me right through to mid year next year. Nice to have a break from the multitude of activities that running your own business entails. Thanks so much to all involved in obtaining this wonderful work.

This month I (re)discovered …

• How long it takes to get an Indian visa.
• Stillness is a difficult journey.
• Sydney! Oh Sydney I love you so! 4 days is not enough. I missed seeing some of my friends who were out of town, but did spend serious time with my brother and his family. Cooking. Walking. Talking. Being.

This Month …

• This past month (actually, in October), it was Navratri. Hindus have festivals each week, nearly. Navratri is 9 days of being mindful of the feminine in each of us (my interpretation), and worshiping the Goddesses. Blessings from Navratri.
• It was also Diwali, as anyone who reads any Indian blog will know. At Diwali, here we light a multitude of lamps, and eat stacks and STACKS of very sweet and ghee laden food. Diwali blessings for everyone. Diwali (for me) is about letting go of the old and lighting the way for the new in each of us. There are many many stories associated with it, but I like to simplify everything, and, for me, this is its essence.
• This month I will have to go on a diet to get rid of the effects of very very sweet and ghee laden food which is a must during Diwali.
• This month I have worked so much harder than in previous months. It is unusual for me to work in an office from 9 to 5. Three to four days per week. As a consultant, I am usually dashing into a client’s place, making a difference, dashing back to the office to make phone calls, write emails, send invoices, stirring the curry on the stove, then out again to another client. For the next few months I will be based at 1 client’s site.Not only that, I am walking to work and home every day. Oh, my body is thanking me.
• This month has completed all of the big planning for my trip in January to Cambodia and India. Now just all those little things, what to take, organising for the plants to be watered, the mail to be collected…… I am so excited tho. See here for information. This is my third trip with Gurudeva’s monks. Watch the video – some of the photos are mine from my last trip.

Fast Fast Food

• S A L A D S
• Dinner at a friends place

Hints and Tips for This Month

• Check this out – a blog by Angela Turner that gives you restaurant-style good practice hints and techniques for the kitchen. She also has a web site. This link is a list of what to keep stocked in your kitchen. Place it on the fridge or on the inside of a pantry door.
• Got a cupboard full of spices that you never use? Small remains in the bottom of a container? Nearly at their used by date? I love to mix all of these together in a small pot by the stove and I occassionally sprinkle a little into whatever non-Indian dish I am cooking. It gives the food an elusive flavour, hard to identify and difficult to replicate. People love the difference. And it uses up the spices.

Favourites from This Month in previous years

Gradually as this site develops, these recipes will appear. They are favourites from my old old site (see About). If you are desperate for any of them now, let me know and I will make them available.

• Fresh Tomato Soup (adapted from Woman’s Day Step by Step Cookbook), 1102
• Onion Salad 1198
• Tao Hou Tod (Fried Fresh Beancurd with Sweet Peanut Sauce) (adapted from South East Asian Cookbook)1102
• Potatoes with Cumin 1196
• Saag Aloo (Indian Spinach and Potato dish) 1196
• Potato Pallya (Nilgiris Sydney Indian Restaurant) 1102
• Griddle Scones 1102
• Baked Strawberries 1198
• Any fresh fruit juice combination, with some fresh ginger. 1198

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