It has been a most satisfying week, relaxing, warm, full of reading, sleeping, thinking, writing. I am afraid that the kitchen has been neglected somewhat, thanks to some major dental surgery that has left my mouth sore and definitely unable to eat anything that is not mushy. Porridge is excellent. Soup good. Congee fabulous. Mashes of any type, oh yeah. Smoothies. And yoghurt.

Summer fruits have hit the markets, and these are pretty good if I cut them into small cubes. Yet they have a sourness about them that you don’t normally notice. I don’t mean that they are not yet ripe, they are delicious. But when your mouth has been doctored and stitched back together, the sour note is much more noticeable. I still eat them, they are gorgeous, I am just saying.

In a lovely fit of wanting something mushy but fit for a queen, I made a wonderful rose petal and fruit thick thick yoghurt for dessert. Or is it a main course if there was no fore-course? Whatever. It was, indeed, fit for a queen.

Notes

Thick thick yoghurt is something I often talk about. It is yoghurt that has some or a lot of whey drained from it. It can even be pressed for more “sculptural” yoghurt.

To make thick thick yoghurt, the details are here. If you would like to see how very sculptural thick thick yoghurt can get, have a look at last week’s post here.

If you are not keen to drain your own yoghurt there are a couple of alternatives. Buy a thick Greek yoghurt – it is not the same but it will be fine. Also if you are lucky enough to have an Indian grocer near you, they may have some real Indian yoghurt. I use Desi brand. It is rich and creamy and will be wonderful to use.

You can get rose petals from a number of places. If you grow roses and they have no pesticides on them, you can use fragrant red rose petals, cut into small pieces. Use a scissors. Asian/Chinese shops have small rose buds that you can make tea from, looking like this:

But the method I use is to purchase dried, crumbled rose petals from a Middle Eastern/ Persian shop. They use them specifically for flavouring yoghurt and milk.

Failing all of that, use a little rosewater.

Thick Thick Yoghurt with Rose Petals and Fruit

Source : inspired by conversations with people about rose petals
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Prep time: 10 mins if thick thick yoghurt is on hand
Cooking time: 0 mins
Serves: 4 people, depending how you use it

ingredients
Thick thick yoghurt (see above)
Rose petals (see above)
Fruit -  I used passionfruit, peach and nectarine.
1 – 2 tspn castor sugar (optional)
non-salted pistachios, for serving

method
Chop the fruit into small cubes.

Mix the sugar through the yoghurt, ensuring it dissolves into the yoghurt. The amount will depend on the sourness of the yoghurt, but you don’t want it to be too sweet.

Mix the rose petals with the yoghurt and then mix the fruit through. Set aside in the fridge for a couple of hours to allow the rose perfume and flavour to infuse the yoghurt.

Serve in the most beautiful bowl that you have. Top with some crumbled pistachio nuts. Eat it as though it is a precious thing. It is.

Feel thankful that we live in such a wonderful world. Enjoy!

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I love my yoghurt thick. I mean very thick.

It is quite easy to make, and the final thickness is up to you. To make thick thick yoghurt, simply drain yoghurt through muslin cloth, in the fridge, perhaps with a weight on top, until the consistency that you require is reached. I often leave it to drain overnight. You can see it in more detail here: Making Thick Thick Yoghurt.

Thick yoghurt is easy to use – great dollops on your porridge in the morning, spread on toast and jam instead of cream, mixed with fruit or making Shrikhand. It can be used to make dips, such as Haydari, or delicious curries.

Or try my Yoghurt Tahina Dip with herbs. You might like to eat it with Oatmeal Crackers, or perhaps, just by the spoonful.

Thick Yoghurt Tahina Dip with Herbs

Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 0 mins
Serves: 4 – 6 people, depending how you use it

ingredients
1/2 cup thick thick yoghurt
1/4 cup tahini
large squeeze lemon juice
1/2 clove garlic, chopped finely
3 or 4 Tblspns (or more) chopped herbs, including parsley and mint. You can add also chives, basil etc.
extra virgin olive oil
salt and black pepper
2 Tblspn walnuts

method
Finely chop the garlic and the herbs. You can do this in the food processor.

Crush the walnuts into small chunks.

Mix the yoghurt and tahini, beating it until it is well combined. Add the lemon juice and mix in. Beat in olive oil until the mixture is a thick dip consistency. You can add a little water too, if needed.

Stir in the walnuts, garlic and herbs. Season with a little salt to taste and black pepper. Allow it to sit for 30 mins to allow the flavours to blend.

Serve with a drizzle of oil over the top and a few of the walnuts. Enjoy!

The Tofu, Paneer and Yoghurt Series

• Blueberry Shrikhand
• Carrot Sambal
• Haydari
• Mint Paneer
• Squared Tofu
• Thick Thick Yoghurt - how to make

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I love all things simple. In particular, I love this very simple but delicious salad. When I found some teeny baby zucchini at the Farmer’s Market, I knew what I would make with them.

Marinating the Zucchinis

Marinated Zucchini

Source : inspired by Vogue Entertaining and Travel
Cuisine: Italian
Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 0 mins
Serves: 4 – 6 people, depending how you use it

ingredients
2 zucchini
50 ml extra virgin olive oil
juice 1/2 large lemon
1 clove garlic
handful of parsley or parsley and mint
3 small balls bocconcini (1 large ball)

method
Slice the zucchini thinly lengthwise using a mandoline if you have one. Finely chop the garlic.

Mix the garlic, lemon juice and oil, and pour over the zucchini slices. Allow to marinate for 2 hours. If you want to marinate for longer, place in the fridge.

When serving, slice the bocconcini and arrange over the zucchini, and sprinkle with finely chopped herbs. Enjoy!

You could also add rocket (arugula) to this salad.

The Zucchini / Courgettes / Gourgettes Series

• Zucchini Curry to Die For
• Cool as a Cucumber – Cucumber/Zucchini Curry
• ISKON Easy Mung Dal
• Simple approaches

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One of the things that the most precious man in my life loves to eat is “Ditties” or Oat Crackers (Oat cakes). I don’t bake very often these days, and no longer cook with eggs,  but today I reintroduced myself to the oven, grabbed the organic rolled oats from the pantry, and got to work. All for you, man of my heart.

I love these little circles of oatmeal, blandish but a great base for cheeses, chutneys, tangy spreads. I hope that lovers of oatcakes and oat crackers will not mind when I say that they taste a bit like unseasoned cardboard. Maybe a wry smile from them? But I found that I really like them, and they are especially delicious with celtic sea salt sprinkled over the top.

The recipe was adapted from Joanna’s Food. Joanna has a real sense of exploration in her cooking, and had made several oatmeal based dishes. What I loved about this one particularly is that you make your own oatmeal in the blender. Thanks Joanna.

Oatmeal Crackers (Oatcakes)

Source : inspired by Joanna’s Food
Cuisine: Scottish??
Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 15-18 mins
Serves: 4 – 6, depending on their use

ingredients
250g rolled oats
a pinch of bicarb soda
1/2 tspn salt
1 Tbspn melted butter or olive oil
less than 100ml very hot water – just off the boil

Method
Heat the oven to 200C.

Place the oatmeal in a blender or food processor and whiz until they become medium-coarse or fine crumbs, according to the texture you want in the biscuits.

In a large bowl, mix the oats with the salt and bicarb soda.  Stir in the melted butter or olive oil.

Add the water very slowly – stop as soon as the dough begins to come together. The amount will depend on your oats and the humidity of the day.

Bring the oats together into a ball, then roll them out as thin as you can. I halve or quarter the mixture for easier handling.

Using a cookie cutter, glass or jar, cut out little rounds from the dough.

Place on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15 – 18 minutes. Before I put them into the oven, I like to sprinkle a few grains of Celtic sea salt on the top of each cracker.

Watch them carefully towards the end of the cooking time; they should be just beginning to turn brown at the edges.

Cool on a wire rack, and enjoy.

Other Oatcakes:

• Girl Interrupted Eating Rosemary Oatcakes
  

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Diwali, or Deepavali, is a wonderful festive time celebrated by Indian people all over the world. It is a time of lights – the word Deepavali means garland of lamps and everywhere in India lamps and lights of all forms (including fireworks) dominate homes, shops, streets.

Wikipedia has a lovely explanation of Diwali.

While Diwali is popularly known as the “festival of lights”, the most significant spiritual meaning is “the awareness of the inner light”.

Central to Hindu philosophy is the assertion that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman. Just as we celebrate the birth of our physical being, Diwali is the celebration of this inner light, in particular the knowing of which outshines all darkness (removes all obstacles and dispels all ignorance), awakening the individual to one’s true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality. With the realization of the Atman comes universal compassion, love, and the awareness of the oneness of all things (higher knowledge). This brings Ananda (inner joy or peace).

The gunas are the underlying forces or tendencies which one needs to have unaffected, direct relation with in order to find effectiveness and righteousness in life: they are lines of potential and illuminate thought and action, thus the inner meaning of Diwali being the festival of lights.

Diwali celebrates this through festive fireworks, lights, flowers, sharing of sweets, and worship. While the story behind Diwali varies from region to region, the essence is the same – to rejoice in the inner light (Atman) or the underlying reality of all things (Brahman).

It is certainly a joyous time of family, friends, food and firecracker mayhem. Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami says:

“My guru, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, was very fond of Deepavali, and he referred to the festival of lights as “Hindu Solidarity Day” as it is a day celebrated by all the four denominations of Hinduism, Vaishnavism, Saivism, Shaktism and Smartism.

Deepavali is a celebration of the inner light within all of us, and on this day we honor the light within each other by giving new clothes, sharing sweets and snacks, cleaning the house, lighting oil lamps and bursting firecrackers.

Many business communities start their financial year on Diwali and new account books are opened on this day.”

US President Barack Obama also acknowledged Diwali, the first time for a US president:

A Bengali Kheer (Milk Dessert) for Deepavali
One of the beautiful traditions of Diwali is the making and sharing of sweet things. I had been given some raw milk by a friend. This milk is so wonderful I always like to do something special with it.

Indians have a deep understanding of the properties of milk and its products e.g. yoghurt. They use these products in ways that are not very common elsewhere.

For instance, who knew that if you reduce milk by boiling for an hour or two, you get the most sweet liquid – condensed milk, but so very different to the tinned condensed milk that we can buy.

So I took the precious raw milk and reduced it, added rice and cardamom and made the most precious Indian Rice Pudding. Happy Diwali.

A note on ingredients

The recipe uses Indian Bay leaf, tej pata. This is not the same as the western bay leaf. If you cannot lay your hands on tej pata, the best substitute is a cardamom leaf, though these are hard to find. Leave it out if cannot locate tej pata or cardamom leaf.

The rice needs to be a sweeter rice, like basmati. Don’t replace it with a different rice.

Chaler Payesh (Bengali Rice Kheer)

Source : inspired by
Cuisine: Indian (Bengali)
Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: several hours
Serves: 4 people

ingredients
1.5 – 2 l Milk
100 g Basmati rice
1.5 tspn Ghee
100 g Sugar
pinch salt
1.5 Tblspn Cashew nuts
1.5 Tblspn Raisins
3 – 4 green cardamom pods
1 – 2 Indian Bay leaf (Tej Pata)

method
Place the milk in a large heavy saucepan, bring to the boil over a low flame, and allow to boil slowly until it is 3/4 of its original volume or less.

Melt the ghee and add it to the rice and mix it well through the rice.

When the milk has reduced enough, add the rice and cook on high flame, stirring often.

When the rice is cooked and the mixture is thickening, add the sugar, salt, cracked cardamom pods and Indian bay leaf.

Stir until the sugar dissolves, and allow to continue to cook for 5 minutes or so. Add the cashew nuts and raisins. Stir them through, remove the bay leaf, and allow the rice to sit for 5 minutes.

Serve hot or cold. You can garnish the rice with raisins, cashew nuts or fresh or dry fruits.

For other Chaler Payesh Recipes, see:

• Didibhai’s Kitchen
• Bengali Cuisine

THE DESSERT SERIES

• Baked Apples with Star Anise
• Baked Strawberries
• Beetroot Halwa
• Blueberry Shrikhand
• Butter Glazed Apples
• Fresh Pink Strawberry Frappe
• Indian Eggless Custard
• Rizogalo – Greek Rice Pudding
• Roasted Rosemary Pears
• Thick Thick Yoghurt - how to make

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Thank goodness for food, I say.

It plays an amazing part in our life. First and foremost it nourishes our body, providing energy and nutrients for growth, maintenance and repair of our body.

It comforts us, makes us feel good about ourselves and about life.

It brings people together. Eating is a wonderful shared activity, providing community, friendship, family support.

Food deserves our respect, I say. And our thankfulness. Food breaks down barriers.

And for those of us who are never happier than when we have a kitchen knife in our hand, or wooden spoon, or whisk or frying pan, food brings and provides continual joy. How easy is it to express our art, our magic? Every home has a kitchen, a pan or two, a spoon to stir with. Where ever we go, we will find a kitchen and life will be good.

Cumquats (Kumquats) are in season at the moment. Some time ago I made a wonderfully divine Cumquat Marmalade. This year I found some gorgeous oval cumquats from the new Chinese stall at the Central Market and wondered whether I could pickle them, in the same way that lemons are pickled.

They are divine! Easy to make, beautiful to look at, wonderful to taste and even better to share.

I wanted the pickled cumquats to have shades of spice as well, and so introduced Kalonji (Nigella), fennel, cardamom and coriander seed, as well as some cinnamon. You could also use black mustard seed, aniseed, star anise, even black pepper. The salt assists the flavour and helps to preserve the pickles.

The inspiration for the Pickled Cumquats came from a couple of sources. Firstly, ehow, for the idea to make the pickle, and Monica’s chutney inspired the use of spices.

Pickled Cumquats

Source : inspired by ehow
Cuisine: Indian-style
Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 0 mins
Serves: Use as an accompaniment to favourite dishes

ingredients
500 g cumquats
lemon juice to cover – you can use lime juice also
3 Tblspn sea salt
1 stick cinnamon
1 tspn kalonji (Nigella seed)
1 tspn fennel seed
1 tspn cardamom seed
1 tspn coriander seed

method
Wash the cumquats, remove any seeds and cut into halves or quarters, depending on the size.

Layer the cumquat pieces in a glass jar with the cinnamon, spices and salt. Press the cumquats down lightly so the mixture is somewhat compact and sits level in the jar.

Pour the lemon and/or lime juice over the cumquats. Make sure the juice completely covers the cumquat pieces, and keep at least a couple of centimetres of space between the cumquats and the top of the jar. Make sure that there are no air bubbles in the jar – you can cover the jar and turn it over several times to help remove air bubbles.

Cover the jar tightly and leave it in cool dark place for two weeks, turning the jar each day. If the level of lemon juice goes down, top it up. It may go down as the salt and juice is absorbed by the fruit.

It should now be stored in the fridge. Use the fruit and the juice in your recipes and on your favourite foods.

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After years of low rainfall and water restrictions, we are having regular rains this year. You have no idea how delicious it is to smell the rain each morning and snuggle up in a warm bed as it rains outside. I never thought that I would enjoy rain so much.

It has been a quiet year in some respects, but busy and productive in others. While some around me are ruing the difficult economic times, and others are really feeling the pinch, I have been loving the more relaxed working style that you can adopt when there is much less pressure.

When work and its demands are not consuming all of my mental bandwidth , I find more time for refection, for health, for growth, for doing those things that I love. So it has been a great year, even if the bank balance is not as happy as in previous years.

One of the things that I have been doing lately and loving is having a real focus on walking 10,000 steps per day. This means that I am often to be seen in the evenings, striding out a fast 4,000 or so steps to make my total for the day. I am loving it because I feel much better for it, and am finding parts of my city that I never knew existed.

Today, in celebration of Sunday, I made a wonderfully vibrant Beetroot Halva. Easy and delicious, but don’t wear white or your Sunday best clothes while making it.  The beetroot needs to be grated – I used my mandoline which made it very easy. The recipe uses one very large beetroot or 2 or 3 smaller ones to make 2 cups of grated beetroot.

The recipe comes from the wonderful Cookery Corner, and I played with it a little. Halwas are very sweet, so they are meant to be eaten in small servings. This one would be good on its own or with some cream or plain icecream. Also, it would be fabulous on thick Turkish toast, or stirred through a plate of porridge.

Beetroot Halwa

Source : inspired by Cookery Corner
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 45 mins
Serves: 2-3 people, depending how you use it

ingredients
2 cups grated beetroot (peel the beetroot before grating)
2 Tblspn ghee
2 cups milk
2/3 cup of jaggery (grate the jaggery if using a block )
1 – 2 tspn cardamom powder (depending on taste)
8 unsalted cashews

method

Using 1 Tblspn of ghee, sauté the grated beetroot until it softens and absorbs the ghee. This takes around 6 or 7 minutes.

Add the milk, stir and cook for around 30 minutes until the milk has  mostly evaporated. Stir occasionally. The mixture will still be quite moist but without a lot of liquid left.

While it is cooking, melt a little of the ghee in a pan and sauté the nuts until golden but not burnt.

Add the sugar and the remaining ghee, and stir until they melt and the halwa thickens slightly. Stir in the cardamom.

Garnish with the cashews. Best served while warm.

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You may have noticed that I have not been blogging much lately. If you are a blogger, then you will understand how much work it is to blog. Cook. Take photographs. Edit photographs. Write post. Upload photos. Maintain blog. It is a b i g commitment. Every blogger needs a break every now and then.

But I have not been idle, and I thought that you might like to know what I have been up to. I have been cleaning a temple. From my lounge room.

Just a note that the photos in this post are copyrighted to Himalayan Academy and were taken by Thomas Kelly, our intrepid photographer.

When I was in India just 12 months ago, one of the incredible places that we visited was Ramanathaswamy Temple on Rameshwaran Island. Rameshwaran is a small island between India and Sri Lanka. It is an island and a town focused around an amazing and huge temple, a town where every inhabitant is in someway connected to the temple. Selling artifacts to the visitors. Providing food and lodging for the pilgrims. Working at the temple. Playing in the temple bands. Hauling water from the 22 temple wells. Providing clothes for pilgrims. …

The temple is a very auspicious temple in India – one of 12 Siva Temples (a Jyotirlinga Temple) and the only one in South India. It is ancient, centuries old, with incredible architecture including one of the longest carved corridors. It has 22 wells (the first being the ocean) where one can be drenched in the water of the well be washed clean spiritually if not physically. It is a temple with great significance spiritually, culturally, historically and architecturally.

It has millions of visitors each year – no exaggeration. In our time there we had amazing experiences, but at the same time, noticed how it suffers from the effects of all of those pilgrims. It is a challenge in India, to maintain these amazing places with limited funds and the taxes that the government imposes on Hindu temples (but not Christian or Muslim Temples).

Our group decided that we could help. We decided that we would donate to help clean the temple. We thought that if we found enough money to clean a brick, we would clean it well and let it shine to inspire others. If we raised a bit more, we would clean a column and that would shine as an example. And if we raised a ton of money we would be able to assist with the management of the water in the temple. With such a high water table and the amount of water that gets sloshed through the temple from the bathing pilgrims, it is a real problem.

We have a website. I would love it if you had a look. If you feel that you can donate a dollar or two or ten or a hundred, then I am sure that blessings will flow to you from the temple.

The temple itself is excited about the fund. I had the Commissioner of Temple Endowments in Tamil Nadu call me from India to personally thank us for the fund. We have a liaison officer in India who will apply the funds and ensure that the specified work is carried out. I also will visit as soon as I can. In this recession affected world, it won’t be as soon as I would like.

There is a lot of information about the fund that we have established on the website. You can read about it. In summary, the fund has been created and is managed by Hindu Heritage Endowment Funds. It is an endowment fund which means that the principal remains and the interest is provided to the recipient. This way, the fund gives year after year after year.

Join me, won’t you, in cleaning this temple from your lounge room?

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I found a prepared but unpublished post from late last year. I hope you don’t mind if I post it now. They are still great links.

I am not going to post these links in the future – but you can join me on Twitter to keep up with goodies that I find.

I wanted to start with a wonderful post from Arunchala Grace on Palm Leaf People, people from everyday Indian life created by an artist in Tirruvannamalia.

Cheesy

• This weekend I  have been thinking about grilled haloumi a lot. Then I saw this Grilled Cheese with Cranberry. From Paulchen’s Food Blog.
• Like cauliflower? Then try my Cauliflower Walnut Cream. OR go to Coffee and Cornbread to try Dill and Colby Cheese Mashed Cauliflower.
• At the local Indian restaurant, just down the road from me, I eat two things – paneer tika and masala dosa. All the rest I can make myself just as well, but these, they are exceptional. Now, Tonguetickler shows how to make Hara Paneer Tika. It looks exceptional.
• Have a look at Fankauser’s Cheese Page. How to make all sorts of cheeses and yoghurt. As well as Root Beer!?. Be careful, there are a few very non-vegetarian links there. Avoid those.

Spicy

• Morsels and Musings writes about sorbat susu, an Indonesian ginger milk drink. Sounds delicious.
• From the same author comes a Tamarind and Peppercorn broth. Mmmm. Spicy.
• Then a spicy tomato sambal, a sauce or spread from north east India. From My Food Blog. Quick to make, she ate it all on toast for breakfast. And what about a spicy eggplant spread? From Fat Free Vegan.
• Khichuri / Khitchdi is a wonderful, comforting, easy to digest dish, great at any time but especially when you are recuperating. This version is from Quick Indian Cooking.
• I have featured a lot of Indian spice mixes in this Tempting! series. Here is an Ethiopian spice mix. Melange Barbere, from Rosa’s Yummy Yums. HOT.
• A couple of writings on cloves, that warm but earthy spice that makes such a difference when used in tiny amounts. First, a post from Supreme Spice Blog. The second post is from Ayurwhat? I like reading her blog, as a reminder of the quieter things of life and to keep focused on a wonderful peacefulness.
• And WHF elucidates the great benefits of Ginger.
• Lisa’s Kitchen has a beautifully aromatic Black Bean Indian Curried Soup. While you are there, have a look at her roundup of No Croutons Required.

Grainy and Nutty

• Culinate has a lovely glossary of grains - look up your fav grain, pulse or lentil.
• A quite unusual dish – North African Chickpea Flour Cookies, from Is that my bureka?
• This looks too good to be true, too healthy to be nice, too nice to be healthy. New World Quinoa Salad from Red Ramekin.
• Cashew croquettes? So good. From Tasty Palettes.

Sweet

• I am quite a fan of Basundi. Evolving Tastes shows how to make it.
• I think I have linked to this before, but am keen to do it again. I love this drink, Sweet, Hot Cardamon Chocolate. From Delhi Belle.

Hints

• Foodielicious shows how to freeze parsley for use all through winter. I have done this myself and it works so well. Freeze some peas and corn as well. In bottles. Lunch in a Box has the method.
• While on peas, Chocolate and Zucchini shows how to shell them.
• Want to extract your own coconut milk? My Food Blog shows how, using the weirdest implement. Well, actually, it is not weird in the coconut growing countries. I first saw one of these years ago in a local Indian shop, but they don’t sell them any more. I have seen them in India tho, and a similar one in Bali.
• After that, create your own Lemon Balm Syrup, from Paulchen’s Food Blog.

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It was Tour Downunder here a couple of weeks ago and Lance Armstrong was making his comeback. The final stage of the race was at the corner of my street, and it was a lot of fun to watch and be involved. It was very much a picnic type atmosphere – people with their wines and cheeses, chairs in the shade, bare chests (the men) and thongs (shoe wear – flipflops – not underwear, silly!).

I watched the race until the last 10 laps or so, then trotted home and watched the finish on TV. Fantastic! I took more photos than I care to mention.

Ok, back to food. A couple of things coincided for me this week. You know how it goes, unrelated things come together, arranged by the universe somehow, and the results are good.

I have needed new saucepans for a few years now. After a border that stayed with me for 2.5 years – a student from overseas. Bless her soul, she was fresh from the cosseted mother-managed life at home and did not know about such things as costs of phone calls or care of Very Expensive saucepans.  However, my saucepans, rough around the edges though they had become, continued to serve me well, and although I salivated over various saucepans in the shops, I decided again and again to delay. However, this week they were 30% reduced. I could wait no longer.

Also this week I decided that I could no longer do without smoothies at home and purchased a blender after living without one for over a decade. In fact, the only blending type equipment I have had for quite a while is a hand held immersion blender. It was quite enough for most things, but does not make smoothies or crush ice. Yay! Now I can do both.

Quite unrelated to this, I was stressing over the number of cookbooks that I have and how I need to get rid of dozens some. Some are not much use now that I am vegetarian or because the little ones in my family live interstate and overseas so there is not such a call for cupcakes and train-shaped birthday cakes. But you know, I have an emotional attachment to them. They are for me like photo albums are for other people.

So it was as I saw a book in my cupboard and said, now definitely THAT one can go out. Passed on to me by my fried Nachi as he left to return to India.  “A Guide to Gourmet Vegetarian Cooking and a Karma Free Diet”.  Krishna Consciousness Book. It is a small paperback sort of book, few pictures, looking more like a novel than a cookbook. Half of it talks about vegetarianism, its role and our benefits not only saving the lives of animals by not eating them but also from not putting meat through our digestive system. All good reading.

The recipes themselves are diverse, from Chinese in style to Italian, from cheesecake to curry. Then I found it – a simple dal, quick and easy – a recipe to test drive my new saucepans even though it was 11pm.

Oh my goodness, this is so tasty, like most of the recipes of the ISKCON, unexpectedly tasty. The book is retrieved from the “give away” pile, and I am relieved, because it was given to me by a good friend. Hello Nachi. Happy birthday!

I have also made some Peppers cooked in Oil Italian Style, and some wonderful steelcut oats for breakfast this morning (even though it is mid summer here).

Oh and yes, I have been making smoothies, almond milk, crushed ice, and watermelon juice frappes in my blender, and planning many more things!

Easy ISKCON Mung Dal

Source : inspired by The Higher Taste: A Guide to Gourmet Vegetarian Cooking and a Karma-Free Diet
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 60 mins
Serves: 4 – 6 people, depending how you use it

ingredients
1 cup Yellow Mung Dal
7 cups water
1 cup chopped tomatoes
3 zucchini, less if large. Peel them if they are older and the skin is tough. Otherwise, no need to peel.
5 Tblspn ghee
1.5 Tblspn ginger, minced
1 green chilli, diced small or minced
0.25 tspn hing (asaephotida powder)
1.5 tspn turmeric
2 – 3 tspn salt (the recipe says “1 Tblspn”, which sounds a lot. Interpret this as “salt to taste – it might take a little more salt than you would normally use.”
fresh coriander or other green fleshy herbs for garnish

for tadka
1.5 Tblspn Cumin Seeds
1 Tblspn Black Mustard Seeds

method
In a large saucepan place 3 Tblspn of ghee, the turmeric, asaephotida powder, and mung beans. Fry for 30 seconds on medium heat, and add the vegetables. Fry for 1 minute more.

Add the water, salt, fresh chilli and diced ginger. Bring to the boil and then cover, lower the heat and let the dal simmer for 1 hour until the beans have dissolved into a thick soup.

In a small skillet add the remaining ghee. When hot, add the cumin seeds and black mustard seeds. When the seeds start to crackle, wait some seconds to allow the mustard seeds to pop and pour the mixture into the pot of dal. Stir through, garnish with herbs and serve hot.

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