Myriad Musings

Today I was done in 90 minutes flat! I made a complete breakfast and lunch with something green, something orange, lots of lentils.  The only dark spot was my white rice ;) I remember blogging about a vegetarian food pyramid a while ago, complicated.  Pyramids, such as these, are out of fashion now, plates are in .  The gist of a vegetarian diet especially, is, 1/2 the plate should be fruits and vegetables, 1/4 grains and 1/4 proteins. My usual plan is to cook to so that the resulting menu has 2 - 3 vegetables,  a good amount of protein and the usual grain(s). Today's lunch menu toed this guideline fairly well: Recipe / Meal Planner  This riff off the Weekly Menu Planner serves as a rather neat daily/lunch/dinner Menu planner right?  Kichdi with methi.  1 cup moong+masoor dal in any proportion or just 1 or the other dal 1 cup raw rice 1cup methi leaves 1 medium sized onion 2 spring onions cleaned and sliced white and green ...

I never managed to cook by 7 am.  Not once in the 31 days of August.  My best time was 8.30 AM. I found 3 major roadblocks to getting out of the house early: My tendency to  complicate dishes - adding a larger variety of spices, vegetables, garnishes... My tendency to make up a recipe as I go along rather than follow familar methods. My 2 year olds clinginess and cuteness :) I can fix the first two w better planning, the third will be enjoyed while it lasts :) I have a 9 days reprieve in September.  Gau's school is closed for first term break.  I am going to take a hard look at my pantry, figure out staples and simpler cooking methods. Tupperware anjalipetti       South Indian staple Anjalipetti with 7 boxes containing mustard, jeera, methi, split urad, chana, red chillies and black pepper Turmeric Powder Hing Fresh sprigs of curry leaves and/or coriander leaves Sambhar Powder Rasam Powder Oil Salt Simple 3 - 5 ingredien...

Once every couple of months I try to clean up all the lentils and beans stocked in my Pantry before I restock.  I always replace Toor Daal (Staple south Indian sambhar), Urad Daal (Idli dosa ingredient) and Moong Daal (easy to digest) as soon as they get used up. The rest - Chana, Rajma, Back Masoor, Yellow Masoor, Green Whole Mung, Black Chana, Black-eyed peas, Red Karamani, Yellow Peas, procured Lima Beans, butter beans, Thatta Payiru get cycled.  I make it a point to buy low quantities of all these except  Chana and Masoor. Chana and Masoor are versatile and work very well in many dishes. This again is rescue cooking - Pantry rescue.   I love to cook in earthenware pots, looks pretty and supposedly very healthy according to all the siddha medicine doctors. Daal cooked in such pots is supposed to be very tasty, but, my palette is not sensitive enough to identify such gastronomic differences as steel/earthen pots. I made a quick daal with Chana and le...

I loved the last elimination challenge in Masterchef Australia Season 4 - cooking with 8 ingredients in the first round, 5 in the second and 3 in the last.  Cooking up recipes with just 3 ingredients and staples sounds like a lot of fun.  The staple in indian cooking would be a basic tadka with mustard and jeera (heat oil, add mustard jeera, let it pop then use as desired).  I would also add turmeric, green/red chili, salt to the staples list. Mananthakkali or Black Nightshade has been around since paleolithic time, predates agriculture, used medicinally, healthy and high in antioxidants like most other greens, forms famine food in famine hit Africa but it is considered a weed amongst cultivated crops like cotton!  Sad no?  It is a tad bitter and only my MIL and I liked the chutney I made with it a while ago.  I disguise the keerai in other dishes - Sambhar, Salad etc...  I love the dried berry and use it invariably when I make vatral kuzhambu. ...