Tinypliny's Journal

02/08/2009 12:34 #47679

Semolina Upma
Category: eating in

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!

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. :)

jenks - 02/08/09 13:34
Tiny i seriously want to hire you as my personal chef. Everything looks/sounds so delicious.... and from nice healthy ingredients. yum! I am jealous! (and starving!)

02/07/2009 17:40 #47671

Keerai Molaguttal
Category: eating in

Since (e:heidi) requested more food posts, here is one! :)

Keerai Molaguttal is an uber traditional dish from the Palakaddu district of Kerala. Its not so much Tamilian as it is Malayali. You won't see this in ANY Indian restaurant - north or south, even if they are in India. It's very unglamorous and very practical but worth dying for. Some days, I just crave it so much I can even smell its fragrance before I start cooking. Its got this addictive potential. Some people hate it and some like me, just can't live without it.

Its not spicy or hot, so strong hot south Indian lemon pickles (that I bought yesterday) go wonderfully well with it. Its comfort food taken to the Malayali extreme. :)

The really simple recipe:

1. Cook rice in the rice cooker - Any rice will do, but Basmati is awesome. Don't smash the rice.

2. Wash and chop a good amount of spinach - blend the spinach in the blender to a smooth paste, add generous water to make it a smooth flowing paste but don't make it too watery.

3. Cook orange lentils (masoor dal) or toor dal

in the rice cooker. Toor dal needs around 5-6 hours of pre-soaking if you are not using a pressure cooker. Masoor doesn't need any and is readily cooked. The objective is to cook the lentils really well so that you can smash them to a paste with a ladle.

4. In a wide-bottomed pan, take a teaspoon (or 1.5 tsp) of peanut oil, heat the oil till it flows freely. Add a pinch of black mustard seeds,

, a pinch of urad dal (while lentils), pinch of channe ki dal (split yellow lentils), whole black peppercorns and several dried red chillies.

5. When the mustard seeds just start to pop, invert the whole blended spinach paste into the pan and stir well. Add a pinch of turmeric powder and a pinch of red chillie powder.

6. Fresh-grind around 2 tablespoons of cumin in a mortar and pestle and add to the spinach. Next, add around 4 tablespoons of coconut powder or coconut shreds to the spinach.

7. When the spinach paste starts bubbling a bit (around 2 minutes) add the cooked lentils (masoor or toor) and some more water to take it a to a hearty thick soupy consistency.

8. Bring to a rolling boil. Turn off heat. Its VERY important not to overcook the spinach. Unlike North Indians who murder their spinach in that insane dish called palak paneer, South Indians value the art of just-enough cooking to preserve that fresh awesome taste of veggies. If your keerai molaguttal has turned a dark green tinted with yellow (the colour of palak paneer, btw), you have got it all wrong. It needs to be a bright dark green and when you taste it, the raw spinach smell is gone but the fresh spinach fragrance remains accented by the coconut, cumin, lentils and red-chllies.

9. Serve over cooked rice.

10. Garnish with a nice big scoop of south Indian lemon pickle!

PS: Keerai: Spinach in Tamil. Molaguttal: I really don't know what this means. Molagu means peppercorns. I guess it could mean seasoned with peppercorns. Its a word that is neither Tamil nor Malayalam but somewhere in between - very typical of the border-district of Palakkadu.

dcoffee - 02/08/09 17:15
oh boy. I have to try this. I usually invent recipes based on what's lying around. This looks tasty!

james - 02/08/09 17:09
ya, I was also out of cumin.... BUT! it was delicious. I licked my bowl.

And if their is an Indian cooking party I would be giddy, GIDDY to be invited.

heidi - 02/08/09 14:58
Yea! Indian cooking party @ (e:heidi)'s apartment!

tinypliny - 02/08/09 12:39
The not-so-ideal but closer substitute for mustard seeds are cumin seeds - especially for this particular dish.

tinypliny - 02/08/09 12:37
YIKES! You did WHAT?! The "Mustard" paste and mustard seeds are like several solar systems apart. LOL. You know what, I am planning to get together with (e:heidi) to cook some south Indian food as soon as my grant craziness simmers off a bit, maybe you and (e:jim) should come along!

james - 02/08/09 12:29
Well, I only had green French lentils instead of the festive blend you listed. I didn't have any mustard seed so I just gave a squirt of mustard into the oil while I toasted the other spices. Also, I did not have any lemon pickle. Which I am now fiending for.

tinypliny - 02/08/09 12:20
Just curious... What substitutions did you make?! :)

There is a golden ditch-rule of south-Indian cooking that I didn't talk about - go north-Indian. If things don't go as planned and things are off-colour, take some peanut oil, add a generous heap of garam-masala in the oil and fry a nice juicy tomato in it till its almost pureed. Invert this on your off-the-mark effort. You will like the outcome whatever the disaster (short of charring). ;) Add some salt.

I think I typed this recipe for the life-saver garam-masala earlier. Here it is again.

Dry toast:
5 parts coriander seeds
2 parts cumin seeds
2 parts cloves
2 parts whole black peppers
Dry red chillies to taste (A LOT! :)
in a cast iron skillet till the coriander seeds are a lightish brown and aromatic. DO NOT CHAR.

Pour everything in a blender. Add
1 part dried mango powder (Amchur)
3/4 part cardamom pods (shelled)
Dash of cinnamon.

Grind to a fine-coarse powder. Store in the fridge to retain freshness (around 6 months).

james - 02/08/09 11:53
I tried making this today for lunch. Of course, I didn't have a few ingredients so I had to make substitutions. It is pretty yummy but I will make it better next time. Thanks for the post.

tinypliny - 02/08/09 09:13
Unfortunately not :(.

But hey, it *really* easy to make! Try it out! :)

heidi - 02/08/09 02:11
mmmmmmmmmm.... got any leftovers?

jacob - 02/07/09 21:39
You and the amazing food porn!

02/04/2009 20:37 #47643

9/11

I learned today that someone I know really well lost a sibling in the 9/11 tragedy. It ripped their family apart and brought them together at the same time. It's extraordinary how something that was rather remote suddenly has taken on a very personal hue.

It's like being shaken back to the remote shock you once knew you felt but only more intense. It's a very weird feeling of helplessness and sadness. Lives lost remain lost forever regardless of what political agenda is or has been for the past years. None of it matters even an iota to the ones who were really affected.

tinypliny - 02/06/09 08:01
(e:imk2): I agree. Have you driven past a massive car collision, witnessed a street shooting, read a tragic de-identified rape story, felt disturbed and hoped that no one you knew was involved, got home and then heard that one of your friends lost their family in one of those incidents? In this particular case, it took me more than 8 years to get home to hear this news.

I had read about numerous gang shootings before I came to the States. I got home when I heard you telling me about your story last winter.

Rapes in the news were never personal to me until my friend got raped when I was in med school. It was terrible that I didn't hear it from her, I read it in on front-page news first and then realized in massive shock that it was her.

Time dilutes your first impression of violence you read about. But recounted personal experiences always bring them back and somehow make it worse because you know that you did not even begin to feel what it must have been like had it been your own family.

Would I have posted had no one here known about 9/11 - unlikely. I would have written a long email home or talked to my family. But the fact that this car-wreck was so public made me post.

imk2 - 02/06/09 03:28
oh and tiny, this was by no means a judgment call on who you do and who you dont feel for. i just read your post and started thinking about these things. so don't take it as an attack or anything, k?

imk2 - 02/06/09 02:24
ok, I am probably going to offend a lot of people with this but here goes. personally (and please understand that this is only my opinion, nothing more), I think it's easy to sympathize with people when they've suffered a loss that was so public and which included so many other victims. it not only brings the families of the victims together but also offers the support (however intangible or abstract) of the public . there is a whole collective mentality that developes during such events that acts as a support system, obviously ... of varying degrees, for the victims, the families and the public themselves.

what we forget to recognize are the millions of everyday people who TOO suffer tragic losses in their personal lives and live among us with no one but their family and friends (if that) to acknowledge, ease and recognize their pain.

yes, i'm certain that losing a loved one in the twin towers was a truly horrible experience but there are so many of us walking around each day who (as subjective as it may be) have experienced things they believe to be just AS horrible and painful, if not moreso, but have to learn to function in the real world with the truly debilitating weight of their pain, among people who do not realize, recognize or care about the problems of strangers. these people receive nothing more than a few, reluctant, and half assed efforts at sympathy, empathy and little understanding when their pain begins to affect their lives at work and home. who is willing to cut them some slack?

although the 9/11 experience was shocking, I cannot believe that its more painful and more traumatic than the pain, shock, terror and grief suffered by the mothers, fathers, children, wives and husbands of drunk driving, shooting, rape or stabbing victims.

i really am trying, hopefully without sounding too callous and without marginalizing the 911 victims' experience, to say that i just cannot feel or sympathize MORE for their loss than that of the average person who haS experienced a tragedy but didn't experience it alongside an entire nation.

ps. this was written on my phone so please excuse the shitty grammar abd formatting. its really hard proof reading on a phone

trisha - 02/05/09 09:16
it sounds so callous, but i was numb to 9/11 until i read this book: "extremely loud and incredibly close" by jonathan safran foer. it is told from the perspective of a precocious 9-year-old who loses his dad. an amazing book.

james - 02/04/09 22:43
I grew up just outside NYC and knew a ton of people who worked there. For a year after I would think of someone and that I hadn't seen them in a while. Work was just busy or they moved or a rumor circulated that they had died but were in fact fine. I was convinced two people I knew had died, but they resurfaced later. I lost touch with a wide network of people in NYC because it was just too stressful with everyone being uncertain.

libertad - 02/04/09 22:23
Every once in a while someone I speak to on the phone will mention it and how it affected them personally. We speak to a lot of people who live and work in NYC.

02/03/2009 19:42 #47624

Love 'em or Leave 'em
Category: music

Another music post, but nothing else seems worthwhile nowadays. This time, its the Scorpions.

I think this post should end here. They are the Scorpions and hence, they rule. But I will go ahead and add an example.

tinypliny - 02/04/09 01:53
Of COURSE they are SUPER AMAZING!!!!!

I haven't watched that - please do post a link if you can find one!

tinypliny - 02/04/09 01:48
Wow - they played in their acoustic set in Doha! They came to India but I was here. :/

And have you listened to their album with Berliner Philharmoniker (Moment of Glory) - its nothing short of phenomenally mind blowing. Words don't do it justice. I actually am playing it after so many years as I am typing this! I believe even the most tough-hearted kid would be won over and forced to smile in awe! Your dad had the BEST plan! :D

johnallen - 02/04/09 01:47
Amazing group? Did you ever watch them with Roger Waters when they perfomed The Wall?

rory - 02/04/09 01:31
Ah yes.... you can't beat a bit of 1980's German heavy metal.

They actually played an acoustic set in Doha a year or so ago. Wish I'd gone - my dad used to play their albums to me when I was a baby to stop me crying!

02/07/2009 08:38 #47665

30 items or more - February 2009
Category: grocery

All the reasonably priced orange-bags at Wegmans had greenish fungus on them so I didn't get them. I got these instead:

1. Milk - Fat-free 2 Gallons - $3.98 (1 Gallon @ $1.99)

(This is almost the first time in two years I have seen a gallon milk below $2.00).

2. Milk - 2% - 1/2 Gallon - $1.49

Coffee becomes so much more tastier with 2% milk!

3. Vanilla low-fat yoghurt - $1.99

4. Wegmans Wheat Pita Bread - $1.79

(The pitas are so much more tastier and cheaper at Guercio's. Why Oh Why do they close at 6.00 PM!?! :/)

5. Wegmans Lite Wheat Bread - $2.49 It is lite, it feels rite.

6. Wegmans Firm Organic Tofu - $1.99

(Used to be $1.29 when I first moved to Rochester)

7. Wegmans 1 Pound Sweet Cream Butter - $1.50

(Okay! I caved in. I am going to try baking some cookies with this evil addictive and gorgeously delicious substance. But mainly, I am going to have it on crisp toast.)

8. Dole Mixed Frozen Fruit - $8.59

Interestingly, they changed the fruit mix to strawberries, peaches, mangoes (yes! mangoes) and pineapple. I was not a big fan of the melons so I am pretty excited. :)

9. Edys's real fruit bars - 12 bars - $2.99

(Small pieces of heaven if you can pretend that its summer.)

10. Cheez its! - $$1.50

11. Natural Gruyere Swiss Cheese. - $4.95

I felt like I needed an indulgence. This is it! :)

12. Grapefruit 5lb - $2.99

13. Macintosh Apples 5lb - $4.75.

I am stuck with these for yet another week. Depression. I miss my Granny Smiths. But I refuse to pay $0.79 per smallish Granny Smith! That is atrocious.

14. Red Potatoes - $1.12 (1.13lb @ $0.99/lb)

15. Green Seedless Grapes - $4.95 (@ $1.29/lb)

16. Bananas - $1.88 (3.84lb @ 0.49/lb)

Total: $48.95

I also went to the Super Bazaar because I desperately needed a fix of Indian Snackies!

17. Gujarati Fulvadi - $1.99

18. Bhavnagri Gathiya - $1.99

19. Bikaneri Bhujia - 2 X $1.99 = $3.98

20. Gujarati Tam Tam - $1.99

21. Rice Khichia - $1.99

Like papads, but 1000x cooler and tastier.

22. Semolina - $1.49

I am intrigued by the one's I bought. They are from Greece. I can't wait to make the traditional upma with the Greek version...

23. Tata Tetley Elaichi Chai - $0.49

24. Mother's South Indian Style Pickle - $1.99

25. Roma Tomatoes - $4.15 (4.19lb @0.99/lb)

26. Indian Green Chillies - $0.99

27. Thai Green Chillies - $0.99

28. Karuvepelai ("Curry" leaves) - $0.99

29. Coriander - 2 Bunches - $1.00

30. Tender Okra - $1.46 (0.77lb @1.89/lb)

31. Bottle Gourd - $4.40 (2.95lb @ 1.49/lb)

32. Fresh Ginger Root - $0.98 (0.66lb @ $1.49/lb)

33. Super Long Indian String Beans - $3.70 (1.86lb @ $1.99/lb)

I LOVE these! They are very costly outside of ethnic stores. I think they come from the Caribbean.

Total: $34.57

Grand Total - $83.52

tinypliny - 02/08/09 09:14
I know! Those melons kind of stuck out like a sore... melon!

heidi - 02/07/09 16:41
I would love to see your meals! Please, more posts!

james - 02/07/09 14:02
OMG! I am so excited they took the melon out. I used to get the mixed frozen fruit and the tropical frozen fruit to mix them, picking out the melon (I would eat the melon and just be very unexcited with it).

tinypliny - 02/07/09 12:12
You know, if they were in downtown, I would probably shop there all the time. I run into many Indians in the one class I take on South Campus and they ALL shop at that store everyday. Its like shops back home. You never stock up, you shop daily and know the shopkeepers on a personal basis.

I miss such shops. I hate that the groceries are so far away and so impersonal. :(

tinypliny - 02/07/09 12:07
I forgot one more thing that went into that stuffing - chopped red onions!! They make all the difference.

And yes! They drop me back. Its pretty generous of them but I guess that's how they compete with the other stores around. With newer ethnic stores coming up in that area, I think they have people without cars as a kind of "captive customers". I could easily take a bus from the metro station and back (as I used to earlier) but that takes a lot of time. I don't really want to be captive but its convenient. If you go there regularly, you can actually have them pick you up and drop you as well.

I don't go there often though. Maybe once a month or once in two months. Apart from their fresh produce and Indian-cooking-specific stuff, things are on the expensive end. I guess they have to make up some way for all that expensive driving around.

libertad - 02/07/09 11:49
Sounds yummy! I can't believe they pick you up! Do they drop you back off at the metro?

tinypliny - 02/07/09 09:41
Hahaha.. Yes, I love drinking milk. I add it to the numerous cups of tea I drink. They help keep me cramp-free with the calcium and I get my VitD! Super Bazaar is on the corner of Sheridan and Bailey (3218 Sheridan Dr Amherst, NY 14226 (716) 835-4770) Here's a map -> :::link:::

It's great for groceries. They have very high turnover and things are mostly fresh. They are probably the only shop to have fresh tender okra around. I usually take the metro to the south campus and call them to pick me up from the metro station. They don't mind because I usually buy a ton of stuff. :)

There are so many ways to stuff pitas! I think I will do a post on that. Yesterday, I had a mixed greens-garbanzo-hummus pita dinner. For this you take mixed greens, cooked garbanzo beans, a generous dollop of garlic/roasted pepper hummus, 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar and a generous scoop of Bhujia (a lentil based noodle-like snack), toss them all together till everything is evenly coated. Toast the pita and stuff it all in! :)

libertad - 02/07/09 09:25
I love peaking at your groceries! Two and a half gallons of milk?! Where is the Super Bazaar? Do they actually sell fresh okra? What do you stuff your pitas with?