🏷️ eating in

I remembered this video when I read your message:



I don't buy Chili Flakes. I think the ones available here are wimpy and a BIG disgrace to all chillies across the planet. If you want the kick of Indian chillies for your seasoning, get a bag of dried ones from the Indian Store - Super Bazaar (Sheridian and Bailey).

Tear them apart with your hands and voila - you have some awesome chilli seasoning for peanut oil. You could also pop them in a pre-heated oven for a few minutes till they loose all moisture (Don't burn them, you won't be able to get rid of the insane burnt chillie incense from your flat in forever!) When they are dry, they become very brittle. You can either give them a very brief whizz in the blender/food processor or go the satisfying mortar and pestle way.

Bon chilli-flakit!!

Felt like a really light supper today and threw this together in 10 minutes. It's so simple, it takes almost zero effort.

1. Heat 1/2 tsp of peanut oil on high heat - 10 sec
2. Throw in some whole cumin and black peppercorns
3. Wait for the cumin to sizzle - 20 sec
4. Roughly chop red onions, toss in seasoned oil for 2 min
5. Chop green bell peppers, toss with onions for 2 min
6. Add a generous tablespoon of red chillie powder. Toss well.
7. Chop one big tomato, toss with the rest for 5 min
8. Add chopped fresh mint, cooked black-eyes peas/navy beans. Mix.
9. Squeeze half a sweet lime in and toss.
10. Serve and layer with hot tomato juice from the pan.

Yesterday's Twitter stream made me realize that, though people (well, okay, I mean @paul) talk about Kuni's regularly here, I have never actually eaten there. I considered this rather anomalous behaviour and a couple explanations came to mind.

I have walked past it innumerable times so given my defective mind, I must have checked it out at some point, not liked it and thus erased that memory from my consciousness. Or maybe like one of those Tralfamadorians, not chosen to focus on the experience because of the expense or just the blandness of the food.

But the fact of the matter is I really haven't ever been there. Since I can't justify going there today, I made this for lunch.


Steamed French Beans fast-sauteed with garlic, dried red chillie flakes, Thai green chillies, split yellow lentils, white lentils, homemade spicy hummus and soy sauce. Served with a light sprinkle of coconut and lime juice.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Around $3 for 5 servings

Yes, this is exactly why eating out feels like such an unsatisfactory and unacceptable rip-off.

Broccoli and bell peppers steamed with fresh coriander, fresh red chillies, jalapenos, garlic, mint, coconut, ginger, galangal, red-chilli powder and yellow split peas in soy sauce.

Can you imagine the sheer deadweight of concussion-inducing wok-power on that wall in the background?



This is not a restaurant wall or even a wok showroom. This wall is "at home". I think if I had these many frying contraptions in my kitchen, I would be somewhat uneasy at the thought of cooking in it...

My microwave just decided to throw in its nukey little towel. The turntable won't stop turning and the light won't shut off till I pull the door open. It doesn't start heating till I push the start button but the turn table and the light keep going as long as the door is shut. This is creepy so I have unplugged it.



... which has made me realize what a shocking amount of dependency I have on my microwave. It's especially disturbing considering I just started using a microwave around three years ago. I remember having had to consult a manual to figure out how the contraption worked the first time I used it.

The big confession is that this is my first time baking or even cooking with eggs. The results are surprisingly rather pleasant.



I really expected some kind of hard sedimentary rock - considering my former eggless ventures but this one sliced pretty easily and didn't stick to the glass.



Though the recipe called for a truckload of butter ( ), quite possibly, this might be the one of the more healthful cakes I have ever eaten.



I tossed in a granny smith, some almonds and peanuts in addition to the carrot so it is slightly on the more-moist side. Oh, and I freaked out last minute about using only oatmeal flour so I tossed in some toasted bulghur wheat - the fibre value might have gone up 50% because of that. Hehe



According to the label on the package, the hens were apparently running around in a carefree manner eating vegetarian organic poultry feed when they produced the light brown eggs that I bought.



The carrot-tag claimed that they were grown in an "certified" organic environment and the almond-pack says they are from a "green practices" farm. The butter is organic too. The Coop made a killing business out of me yesterday. Hahaha



The oats were packaged and sold by a ubiquitous brand that has a cheruby and probably gouty old man as its mascot. The bulghur wheat is from Lebanon.



The peanuts and apple, unfortunately, didn't have any special qualities listed. I am assuming the spices are pretty generic as well.



As usual, I had no sugar at hand so I used only honey. As a result the cake is very mildly sweet. One slice contains less than 1/2 a teaspoon of honey. If you are looking for a sugar-overload, this is not it.



I think I might be bringing it to the BBQ tonight (is it still on?)

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Notes:
@terry: Less eggs
@leetee: More flour.
@paul: Ripe bananas
@libertad: More honey
James (I think or was that Robert?): Dates as a binding agent

I love you all. :)

My Lemon and Coconut flavoured Green Lentil Power Dinner.

I have been keeping watch over what I eat for the past two days using the CRON-o-meter. It's an experiment to see if I am eating a balanced diet and where my macro and micro nutrients are coming from. The whole exercise is pretty involved. It's like maintaining a food diary but you get immediate nutrient data read-outs.

[box]On May 18 I had
1. Milk, nonfat, fluid, with added vitamin A (fat free or skim) 3 cups
2. Chickpeas (garbanzo beans, bengal gram), mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt 80g
3. Nuts, almonds 15
4. Apples, raw, with skin 1 large (3-1/4" dia)
5. Chewing gum, sugarless 1 piece 5.4
6. Water, tap, municipal 1.8 liter
7. Bananas, raw 1 medium (7" to 7-7/8"long)
8. Tea, brewed, prepared with tap water 3 cup (8 fl oz)
9. Oranges, raw, all commercial varieties 1 large (3-1/16" dia)
10. Bread, pita, whole-wheat 28.5 g
11. Peppers, sweet, green, raw 40 g
12. Onions, raw 30 g
13. Hummus,c ommercial 2 tbsp
14. Cereals ready-to-eat, GENERAL MILLS, CHEERIOS 5 g

A total of 963 calories, with 45g proteins, 172g carbohydrates and 16g lipids with around 90% vitamins and minerals.[/box]


[box]On May 19 I had
1. Nuts, almonds 18
2. Apples, raw, with skin 2 large (3-1/4" dia)
3. Apricots, dried, sulfured, uncooked 1 half
4. Dates, deglet noor 3 date, pitted
5. Cookies, oatmeal, prepared from recipe, with raisins 3 cookie (2-5/8" dia)
6. Cream, fluid, half and half 1 container, individual (.5 fl oz)
7. Coffee, brewed from grounds, prepared with tap water 1 cup (8 fl oz)
8. Milk, nonfat, fluid, with added vitamin A (fat free or skim) 2 cup
9. Peanuts, all types, raw 5 g
10. Milk, dry, nonfat, instant, with added vitamin A 4 tsp
11. Chewing gum, sugarless 1 piece
12. Bread, pita, whole-wheat 28.5 g
13. Macaroni, dry, enriched 16 g
14. Mustard Greens and Vegetable Saute 0.75 of full recipe
15. Cereals ready-to-eat, GENERAL MILLS, CHEERIOS 5 g
16. Water, tap, municipal 1.8 liter

A total of 1476 calories, with 65g proteins, 254g carbohydrates and 31g lipids with around 100% vitamins and minerals.[/box]

Strangely, I have begun to feel guilty every time I eat a random almond or down a cookie just because I am recording them all in the software. It will be really interesting to see whether my diet actually changes because I am watching it.

In other news, I am volunteering for a cancer prevention campaign called "Spit for the Cure" on June 13.



My department at Roswell is collaborating with Susan G. Komen's race for the cure on June 13, 2009 at Delaware Park Rose Gardens. We are hoping to recruit as many people from the community as possible to donate their spit (saliva) for cancer prevention research at this race.

If anyone is interested in participating and giving 15 minutes of your time and spit for a noble cause, this is a perfect opportunity! :) Swing by the Roswell Park Cancer Institute's Spit for the Cure tent on June 13 from 7:30 AM to 1:00PM.

Another day, another meal! Feel free to stop me when this gets kind of toxic. Hee Hee. :p



I used the Greek Semolina I bought at the Indian Store. It is awesome! I am SO GLAD I didn't get the conventional Indian brand!

Ding Ding...Recipe time!!

1. Bring water to a boil with a nice scoop of red chillie powder and turmeric powder. Add semolina and cook around 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat.

2. Take half-a tablespoon of peanut oil in a pan and heat till the oil is flowy. Add a pinch of each (see pictures in the post below)
- Black mustard seeds,
- Urad dal (white split lentils)
- Channe ki dal (split yellow lentils)
- Dried red chillies.
- Cumin

3. When the mustard seeds start to pop, add
- tablespoon of chopped ginger root
- Chopped green chillies (thai/indian/jalapenos) to taste
- Chopped Karuvepelai ("Curry" leaves)
Stir them around till karuvepelai becomes really fragrant!

4. Add a dash of Asafoetida powder to the above and stir

5. Add chopped red onions - saute till translucent.

6. Add chopped green bell peppers - saute a bit. Add salt to taste

7. Add cooked semolina and stir to coat the veggies on the semolina.

8. Enjoy with a cup of Mango tea!

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I used to have Semia Upma for breakfast on so many Sundays, growing up - that it's as much of a Sunday morning ritual as church is to some of you. Probably a lot more "sinful". Hehe. :)